The Guide To Complementary And Alternative Medicine On The Internet

Learn to identify Internet-based complementary/alternative medicine resources you can trust! This well-organized book takes a commonsense approach to getting the most out of the Internet when it comes to finding reliable information on complementary and alternative medicine. Author Lillian Brazin teaches classes on finding and evaluating health information on the Internet. In this book, she shares her years of experience in using and evaluating medical Internet sites to teach you to spot authoritative resources and avoid misinformation, sales pitches, and out-and-out quackery. In addition to showing you where to find the information you need, this book stresses the importance (the how and why) of working closely with your physician to get the best results from your complementary/alternative medical experience. More than 20 “screen shot” illustrations give you a preview of what to look for on various sites! The Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the Internet will show you how to separate the wheat from the chaff when confronted with hundreds of Web sites purporting to provide reliable information. This jargon-free book addresses vital questions, such as: How can I be certain that the information I find is correct? How can I locate a Web site that was recommended to me? How do I start out to research a particular health problem? What do Internet terms like .com, .edu, .gov, listservs, :), BTW, LOL, flames, “netiquette,” etc. mean? This book will also help you understand controversial “hot topics” that include: the Pilates exercise method that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis helped popularize in the 1960s is trendy again, with Pilates studios in most major cities supermarket supplements, such as St. John's wort, gingko biloba, and vitamins A-Z: how can I find out which, if any of them, are for me? the validity of celebrity endorsements for supplements and alternative therapies While providing you with the skills to find the information you seek, this book reflects the author’s cautious perspective. The Internet can be frightening and overwhelming because there is so much information to sift through, digest, and evaluate. The Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the Internet (first in the new Internet Guides to Consumer Health Care series from The Haworth Information Press) will help you identify Internet resources for complementary and alternative medicine that you can trust.

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.

From acupuncture to yoga, the increasing popularity of unconventional medical therapies has risen sharply during the past decade. Consumers are turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for a variety of reasons and are spending billions annually for treatments. Recognizing the growing need to locate authoritative CAM information, award-winning author Alan M. Rees has compiled a first-stop resource for those seeking information to guide their decisions. Noted health information expert Alan Rees organizes the best of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) information resources in this new guide for librarians and patients. The book is divided into twelve sections beginning with an overview of CAM terminology, safety concerns, ongoing research and education, and the movement towards integrative medicine. Best of lists of books, magazines, newsletters, CD-ROMs, and professional publications are augmented with contact information for several hundred CAM associations and professional groups, an extensive section on the Internet as a source of CAM-related information, and reviews of 355 popular books on CAM. Librarians will use the Source Book as a collection development tool. Consumers and students will find it an easy-to-use guide for locating hard-to-find resources about the latest in alternative medical therapies and treatments. This unique volume brings together in one volume print and electronic resources pertaining to an in-demand topi, provides recommendations of authoritative sources of current information on a wide variety of unconventional medical therapies, will fill the information gap in the rapidly growing field of CAM.

A comprehensive guide to using the Internet for research into all aspects of herbal medicine! This valuable and timely book will help you navigate the sea of information about herbs and herbal remedies on the Internet. In recent years, alternative medicine has come to the forefront of American culture. As editor David J. Owen points out, &

“The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.” — Samuel Johnson The Internet Guide to Herbal Remedies helps you find reliable online resources for the information you need about herbs used to treat a variety of medical conditions, including cancer, heart disease, depression, and AIDS. This easy-to-use consumer guide will help you steer clear of misleading—and potentially harmful—information that often amounts to nothing more than a thinly veiled product advertisement, as you search for the accurate and up-to-date news, facts, and advice that are out there—if you know where to look. Author David J. Owen, whose previous book, The Herbal Internet Companion: Herbs and Herbal Medicine Online (Haworth) won the 2002 International Herb Association Book Award, guides you through Web sites, mailing lists, listservs, newsgroups, and databases to uncover safe and sound health information that’s aimed at specific conditions and specific populations; there’s even a chapter on herbs for pets! You’ll find the information you need on the safety and effectiveness of herbal remedies, current laws and regulations governing their use, and the basics of botany, including how herbs are named and what parts of the plants are used. Internet Guide to Herbal Remedies provides the information you need on: decoding herbal product labels general and CAM Web sites PubMed (MEDLINE) Google versus PubMed Web sites that discuss side effects and herb-drug interactions consumer awareness Web sites Web sites for specific diseases and conditions Web sites for specific populations Web addresses, browsers, and navigating Web sites and much more! Internet Guide to Herbal Remedies also includes helpful tables, figures, and screen captures from Web sites. This book is essential for anyone looking for safe and reliable information online.

From acupuncture to yoga, the increasing popularity of unconventional medical therapies has risen sharply during the past decade. Consumers are turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for a variety of reasons and are spending billions annually for treatments. Recognizing the growing need to locate authoritative CAM information, award-winning author Alan M. Rees has compiled a first-stop resource for those seeking information to guide their decisions. Noted health information expert Alan Rees organizes the best of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) information resources in this new guide for librarians and patients. The book is divided into twelve sections beginning with an overview of CAM terminology, safety concerns, ongoing research and education, and the movement towards integrative medicine. Best of lists of books, magazines, newsletters, CD-ROMs, and professional publications are augmented with contact information for several hundred CAM associations and professional groups, an extensive section on the Internet as a source of CAM-related information, and reviews of 355 popular books on CAM. Librarians will use the Source Book as a collection development tool. Consumers and students will find it an easy-to-use guide for locating hard-to-find resources about the latest in alternative medical therapies and treatments. This unique volume brings together in one volume print and electronic resources pertaining to an in-demand topi, provides recommendations of authoritative sources of current information on a wide variety of unconventional medical therapies, will fill the information gap in the rapidly growing field of CAM.

The best evidence-based guide to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for practicing physicians! This new resource provides the comprehensive guidance on CAM therapies physicians need to responsibly counsel their patients and integrate these techniques into their own practices. Features:

The easy-to-use format directs you to the most useful, intriguing, and sometimes off-beat sites on-line.