The Best Alternative Medicine

The Best Alternative Medicine is the only book available today that both evaluates the major areas of alternative medicine and addresses how they can be used to treat specific conditions. Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier explains such popular therapies as mind/body medicine, herbal and homeopathic remedies, spiritual healing, and traditional Chinese systems, discussing their effectiveness, the ailments each is most appropriate for, and how they can help prevent illness. In the second part of the book, which is organized alphabetically, he draws on the latest National Institute of Health (NIH)-sponsored research to present clear recommendations for the prevention and treatment of health concerns ranging from acne to menopause to ulcers.

Combining valuable guidance about alternative treatments with definitive health advice, The Best Alternative Medicine will be the standard reference for the increasing number of people integrating alternative medicine into their personal and organizational heath-care programs.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction by Andrew Weil, M.D.

Part I: Major Areas of Treatment

1 Think Horses, Not Zebras

2 Sound Mind, Sound Body: MindBody Medicine Comes of Age

3 Food for Thought: Dietary Supplements, Phytonutrients, and Hormones

4 Traditional Chinese Medicine: Three Thousand Years of Evolution

5 Acupuncture: From Yellow Emperor to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

6 Western Herbal Medicine: Nature's Green Pharmacy

7 Naturopathic Medicine: "Do No Harm"

8 Homeopathy: Like Cures Like

9 Chiropractic: Thigh Bone Connected to the Knee Bone

10 Ayurvedic Medicine and Yoga: From Buddha to the Millennium

11 Spirituality and Healing: As Above...So Below

12 CAM Insurance: Who Pays How Much to Whom for What

13 We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Toward an Integrative Medicine

Part II: CAM Therapies for Specific Conditions

General Precautions

Acne

AIDS

Alcoholism

Allergies

Alzheimer's Disease

Anxiety

Arthritis

Asthma

Atherosclerosis

Attention Deficit Disorder

Bedwetting (see Enuresis)

Birth Defects

Bronchitis

Bruises

Buzzing in the Ears (see Tinnitus)

Cancer

Cardiovascular (Heart) Disease and Cholesterol

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Cervical Spondylitis

Chronic Fatigue

Cirrhosis and Alcoholic Liver Disease

Colds/Flu

Colic

Constipation

Dementia and/or Memory Loss

Dental Craniomandibular Disorder

Depression

Diabetes

Diarrhea

Diverticulitis

Dyslexia

Ear Infection (see Otitis Media)

Eczema

Enuresis

Epilepsy

Eye Disorders

Fibromyalgia

Gastrointestinal (Stomach and Intestinal Disturbances)

Hay Fever

Headaches

Heart Conditions

High Blood Pressure

Impotence

Infertility

Insomnia

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Ischemia

Kidney Stones

Liver Disease

Lupus

Memory Disorders

Ménire's Disease

Menstrual Symptoms, Menopause, and PMS

Mononucleosis

Nausea

Obesity

Osteoporosis

Otitis Media

Pain

Parkinson's Disease

Prostate or Prostatic Hypertrophy (Prostate Enlargement)

Psoriasis

Respiratory Problems

Schizophrenia

Sciatica

Scleroderma

Sexual Dysfunction

Sinusitis

Sprains

Substance Abuse

f0 Tendinitis

Thyroid Dysfunction

Tinnitus

Tonsillitis

Tuberculosis

Ulcers

Vaginitis

Varicose Veins

Vertigo

Yeast Infections (see Vaginitis)

Bibliography

Index