Five Steps To Selecting The Best Alternative Medicine

Overview of the five licensed systems of alternative treatment: naturopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, chiropractic, traditional Chinese medicine, and M.D.'s as alternative practitioners.

In the late nineteenth century on the eve of the formation of Australia as a nation-state in 1902, the Australian medical system could be best described as a pluralistic one in the sense that while regular medicine constituted the predominant medical system, it was not clearly the dominant one in that regular physicians faced competition from a wide array of alternative practitioners. As regular medicine increasingly assumed the guise of being scientific, it evolved into biomedicine and developed a link with corporate and state interests in the early twentieth century in Australia, as in other capitalist developed societies. Relying upon state support, Australian biomedicine has achieved dominance over alternative medical system, such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, and naturopathy. Various social forces, particularly the development of the holistic health movement, have served to challenge biomedical dominance in Australia, like elsewhere. What started out as a popular health movement in the early 1970s has evolved into the professionalized entity that is generally referred to as 'complementary medicine' in Australia (as opposed to 'complementary and alternative medicine' in the US and UK). Complementary medicine in Australia encompasses many medical systems and therapies. Since the 1980s certain heterodox medical systems, particularly chiropractic, osteopathy, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, naturopathy, Western herbalism, and homeopathy, have achieved considerable recognition from the Australian state, either at the federal level or at the state and territorial levels. Indeed, the Australian state appears to have gone further than any other Anglophone country in terms of providing public funding for complementary medicine education. Conversely, it has committed a limited amount of funding for complementary medicine research compared to the United States.

One of the transformations facing health care in the twenty-first century is the safe, effective, and appropriate integration of conventional, or biomedical, care with complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, herbal medicine, and spiritual healing. In Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion, Michael H. Cohen discusses the need for establishing rules and standards to facilitate appropriate integration of conventional and CAM therapies. The kind of integrated health care many patients seek dwells in a borderland between the physical and the spiritual, between the quantifiable and the immeasurable, Cohen observes. But the present environment fails to present clear rules for clinicians regarding which therapies to recommend, accept, or discourage, and how to discuss patient requests regarding inclusion of such therapies. Focusing on the social, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of integrative care and grounding his analysis in the attendant legal, regulatory, and institutional changes, Cohen provides a multidisciplinary examination of the shift to a more fluid, pluralistic health care environment.

This book chronicles the transformation of the holistic health movement over the past three decades, as it increasingly influences the delivery of health care in America. In it, he describes the battle for legitimacy by alternative therapeutic practitioners, and the biomedical profession's increasing interest in the possibilities of a complementary and integrative medical system. Baer examines a variety of professionalized and lay heterodox therapeutic systems, including chiropractors, naturopaths and acupuncturists, homeopaths, bodyworkers, and lay midwives. He shows, ironically, how the holistic movement may become more limited as it gains acceptance and becomes integrated into mainstream, professional medicine. This book is a valuable resource for instructors, students, professionals and others interested in public health issues, health policy, medical studies, health economics, medical anthropology and sociology.

You Can Get Through This Your doctor told you it was breast cancer. So now what?! You'll need plenty of essential advice—the kind that only comes from someone who's been there. In Just Get Me Through This! Deborah A. Cohen and Robert M. Gelfand, M.D. help you deal with all the ups and downs of the breast cancer experience. From the shock of diagnosis to getting through treatment to getting on with your life, they pack it with plenty of straight talk and practical tips. This newly updated edition also includes advice from two prominent breast cancer surgeons. Discover: The latest data on hormonal treatments How cornstarch can help you breeze through radiation Why a calendar can help you get through chemotherapy Information on the latest drugs used as part of chemotherapy How to ease back into an intimate relationship Who might be your best ally when you're feeling blue The surefire way to beat insurance and workplace hassles What medical professionals say about everything from surgery to soy Each step of the way, this wise and witty companion will be there with unfailing inspiration and heart-to-heart support. It's also simple to use, with an accessible format—to make even the toughest days a whole lot easier. A Harvard Business School and Smith College graduate, marketing executive Deborah A. Cohen was, like so many others, going about her life as a young and healthy woman when she was unexpectedly struck with a diagnosis of breast cancer. As a result of her illness, the Wisconsin native became active in several breast cancer advocacy efforts, including "Climb Against the Odds," a Cancer Coalition's Leadership Education and Advocacy Development Program, and Peer Review Committees for the American Cancer Society's research programs. The research and writing of Just Get Me Through This! was a natural next step for Cohen in her commitment to helping others cope with and battle this disease. Robert M. Gelfand, M.D., is an oncologist with a private practice in New York City. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Weill-Cornell Medical Center and at New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he also teaches. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Brooklyn. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at The New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. Dr. Gelfand is married and has three daughters. Faith A. Menken, M.D., is a surgeon practicing at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. She went to medical school at Cornell University Medical College and did her internship at Mount Sinai Hospital and her residency at the New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center. She lives in New York City. Eugene J. Nowak, M.D., is a surgeon practicing at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. He went to medical school UMDNJ/New Jersey Medical School and did his internship and residency at the New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center. He lives in New York City.

A proven recovery plan for the over 8 million sufferers of repetitive strain injury, and a guide for the prevention of future injuries. Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a painful, potentially disabling condition that most commonly stems from damage to the upper torso. Long-term misuse or overuse of everyday tools like computers and cash registers results in the painful hands, arms, and neck that are symptomatic of RSI, a condition whose incidence has increased 80 percent in this country since 1990. The Repetitive Strain Injury Handbook is a unique, user-friendly guide that is broken into two parts: (1) the 8-step recovery plan and (2) an RSI prevention guide. The 8-step plan moves RSI sufferers beyond the common denial of this ailment and into a diagnosis and treatment plan with a doctor. It provides: o Nutrition advice o An exercise program o Breathing tips o Traditional and alternative pain management suggestions o A holistic maintenance plan for long-term health The second section is filled with suggestions, stories, and tips for RSI sufferers that will help them live pain-free at home, at work, and in their social and intimate lives. There is also a special section of information on women and RSI, since pregnancy, PMS, osteoporosis, mastectomy, and menopause can all aggravate this condition.

Do you often daydream and muse on how wonderful it would be for someone to regularly be attending to YOUR needs? Do you spend a large part of each day helping others to feel better? This book may challenge your old patterns of thinking but following Brockman’s Primary Directive to take care of yourself first, your life will start to transform and your health and well-being will begin to shift in a healing direction. Howard Brockman, LCSW has written his second book, this time emphasizing the importance of self-care for the legions of people supporting and taking care of others. While there are books that have been written about the challenges to professionals such as social workers, nurses and psychologists to becoming burned out, Brockman’s book is written also for the millions of untrained non-professionals who are being recruited daily to care for their elderly parents. Do you fit into either of these categories? He describes the many influences that lead to compassion fatigue and becoming “infected” by the feelings of others. This is all about how unconscious empathy can take sensitive caregivers down a never-ending spiral to adrenal fatigue and depression. In Chapter 2, “Characteristics of High-Intensity Relaters,” Brockman describes the primary personality of those helpers whose currency is relationship and who easily fall prey to subtle energetic influences that erode their vital force. Externally referencing to others’ needs first tends to be one of their traits. Chapter 6, “Prevent Self-Sabotage,” is filled with practical ways to stay focused and positive while overcoming old, repetitive and negative inner chatter. Confronting your tyrannizing inner critic is never easy—Brockman tells you how. He identifies different types of “energy drainers” that use our energy to enliven themselves and deplete ours. He does a good job explaining how to create secure and persistent energetic boundaries with difficult and demanding people and other disruptive environments. This is perhaps the most important theme woven throughout the book, for the helper personality tends to not know how to say NO to requests from others. Learning how to establish reliable energetic boundaries is incredibly important for protecting against the interpersonal hazard he refers to as psychotoxic contamination that can become cumulative over time and generate serious long-term health consequences. Dark and heavy energy can settle into and invade the body to wreak havoc with one’s health and emotional stability. The good news is that you can effectively create these boundaries and more importantly, learn how to sustain them amidst the ongoing demands of the people you are helping. He spends a chapter on how to use specific energy psychology techniques for emergency self-care, providing fascinating case examples to illustrate how to prevent post-traumatic stress from building up to become PTSD. Brockman spends some time explaining the importance of optimizing your self-care by managing your chi, and how plants, the natural world and flower essences can support helpers to maintain their inner balance and overall harmony. In Chapter 11, “Making It Happen From Within,” you will discover well-described and powerful imagery techniques for manifesting positive self-care outcomes for yourself. Brockman then teaches you how to connect to and work with your inner guides for reliable personal and professional guidance. The power of a caregiver’s presence is highlighted in the concluding chapter, discussing how “being the blessing” actually creates collective coherence in the immediate caregiver’s environment and thus positively affects those who are being cared for. For readers who would like to measure and determine the degree of their own present health and well-being, there are two self-assessment checklists for high-intensity relaters in Appendix 2 that can also be downloaded from his website, www.DynamicEnergeticHealing.com.

From preconception to adolescence to creating a healthy family lifestyle, this guide covers health during pregnancy and natural childbirth; healthful eating for the whole family; uses and abuses of TV, computers and video games; discipline issues; and more.