1000 Cures for 200 Ailments: Integrated Alternative and Conventional Treatments for the Most Common Illnesses »

Alternative health practices have had a tradition of providing relief to people for hundreds in some cases, thousands of years, but doctors often suggest just one course of treatment, and you may not realize how many options are available. Here is the only all-in-one guide with professional medical advice from leading practitioners in five different fields conventional medicine, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, herbalism, and naturopathy on everything from aches and pains, sexual dysfunction, and the common cold to mind and spirit, anxiety, and general first aid. Compare traditional medicine side by side with four alternative treatments to decide what type of therapy best suits you and your family. This essential home reference offers information in symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment goals for the two hundred most common conditions, then provides advice from the five experts in an easy-to-read comparative format, along with key tips for prevention.

Whether you choose an alternative or conventional treatment for your ailment, the information here will let you take control of your health care and decide what path you want to take, so that you don't have to rely solely on the advice of your general physician or the misleading suggestions found on the Internet. This is the medical reference that no home should be without.

Janice Flahiff - Library Journal

Numerous consumer health guides and encyclopedias abound in the areas of conventional and alternative medicine. Sierpina (W.D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine, Univ. of Texas Medical Branch) brings these two broad approaches together with input from experts on both sides of the fence. Eight broad subjects (e.g., skin and hair, aches and pains) contain alphabetically arranged ailments that include a diagnosis and five condensed, practice-specific treatment plans. These plans generally agree or complement one another regarding when a doctor should be consulted (as with jaundice and leg pain) and what treatments are appropriate (as with thyroid conditions and arthritis). The few disagreements generally involve foods, e.g., the role of fruit in acid reflux. Drawbacks include many medical ailment headings (e.g., pruritis), a reliance on scientific measurements, no online ordering advice, uneven explanations of medical terms/concepts, and an incomplete glossary and resource sections. However, an adequate index and succinct, knowledgeable presentations serve the savvy consumer. Recommended where interest warrants in public and consumer health libraries. A good complement to Rajendra Sharma's illustrated Family Encyclopedia of Health, which is shorter on specific alternative treatments but stronger in physiological explanations.