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Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic; Complementary and Integrative Medicine Clinic Director, Division of Consultative Medicine, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ
Published Online, March 18, 2008. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1K620
Audience: Although this handbook is directed at the lay reader, it may be a useful general resource for anyone in the medical profession who wants an evidence-based review of alternative medical practices.
Purpose: The authors' stated purpose is to help individuals understand how effectiveness of therapies is determined by using evidence-based medicine; they then apply these principles to alternative medical therapies and practices. From their Christian worldview, the authors also explore the philosophic background of alternative medical systems.
Content: The book is organized into 3 sections. Section 1 contains 6 chapters covering definitions, an overview of alternative medicine, an explanation of evidence-based medicine, the authors' philosophic worldview, and recommendations on how to evaluate alternative medical practices. Section 2 is an alphabetically organized listing and review of alternative medical therapies. Section 3 reviews herbal remedies, vitamins, and supplements, also organized alphabetically. These reviews are followed by a very concise chart of therapies listed by the disease or symptoms for which they are used; the chart rates the effectiveness of the therapies through the use of varying numbers of smiling or frowning faces.
Usability: The book is very easy to use and is well organized in understandable sections. It is written at a level that is suitable for the better-educated lay reader and makes some rather difficult material understandable without becoming bogged down in detailed explanations of statistics or study design. Section 1 is quite valuable in explaining how the authors review and rate the various therapies in Sections 2 and 3.
Highlights: The various alternative therapies and the claims made for their effectiveness are evaluated and rated based on the evidence from recent medical literature as well as the philosophic background of the therapy, where appropriate.
Limitations: The book is directed primarily at Christians who share the worldviews of the authors and understand their concern about the possible spiritual implications of alternative therapies.
Comparison with Previous Edition: The new edition has added several therapies that were less well known when the first edition was published in 2001. Information about alternative medicines' effectiveness has also been updated based on new medical studies and literature.
Comparison with Other Related Books or Products: Other books discuss health from a biblical viewpoint, but none evaluates individual alternative medical practices. The authors rightly point out that much of what is reported as evidence for the effectiveness of alternative medicine practices is just anecdotal in nature and that many Christian books advocating alternative medical treatments are also guilty of this error.
Reviewer's Summary: The authors have done an excellent job of identifying the most common alternative medical therapies and reviewing them using up-to-date evidence-based medicine techniques. The use of alternative medical practices by the public was estimated in 2002 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be 62%; therefore, as medical professionals, we are obligated to know not only what is being used but also how these therapies affect patients and interact with conventional medical therapies. In addition to educating the lay public, this volume may also be of use to medical professionals as a quick resource for therapies with which they may not be familiar.
The authors' Christian worldview introduces another aspect with which to evaluate alternative therapies: that not all knowledge is neutral. This worldview believes that good and evil exist and that Christians should avoid what appears to be evil. Where applicable, the authors provide biblical references that seem to apply to therapies, thus giving authority to their analysis of the spiritual aspects of alternative medical therapies. Alternative Medicine fills this niche better than any other source of which I am aware.
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