Alternative Health Care for Women. . - BookCorners - Women's Health, 2 vols - book review

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Jan, 2002  by Jule Klotter

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Women's Health (2-volume set)

by Burton Goldberg and the Editors of Alternative Medicine

Future Medicine Publishing, Inc. 1640 Tiburon Blvd., Suite 2, Tiburon, California 94920 USA

800-333-HEAL; www.alternativemedicine.com

Softbound, ISBN 1-887299-41-6, [C] 1995, $19.95 (US)

Future Medicine Publishing offers several researched-based alternative medicine guides to educate laypersons and practitioners about various conditions and therapies. Each of these guides focuses on treating underlying factors rather than suppressing symptoms with drugs. The 2-volume Women's Health series is no exception. Originally published and sold as individual titles in 1998, Future Medicine Publishing now sells the two books as a set. In this set of books, Burton Goldberg and the editors of Alternative Medicine have compiled advice from 69 alternative medicine physicians to offer effective treatments for 17 women's health conditions. Volume 1 looks at infertility, endometriosis, vaginitis, yeast infections, PMS and menstrual problems, ovarian cysts, fibroids, cystitis, and urinary tract infections. Volume 2 contains information on fibrocystic breasts, breast cancer, environmental illness, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, osteoporosis, and alternatives to mammograms. Each of these conditions is viewed through the lens of holistic alternative medicine which seeks to identify and treat the underlying causes of an individual woman's condition rather than prescribe a drug that suppresses symptoms.

Each chapter gives a basic explanation of one of the 17 conditions, its symptoms, and tests and/or criteria for making that diagnosis. The effectiveness and drawbacks of conventional treatments, according to medical literature, are explained. Factors that, according to research, cause or contribute to the condition are also discussed. Hormone imbalances, underactive thyroid, and nutritional deficiencies are the primary contributors to gynecological illnesses. Alternative treatments that address these factors include diet changes and nutritional supplements, acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, enzyme therapy, natural progesterone therapy, and thyroid support. Case histories illustrate the ways in which these therapies have been combined effectively.

As in all of the other Alternative Medicine Guides, Women's Health is amazingly user-friendly. Sidebars with icons are used generously throughout the book to provide quick definitions of terms that may be unfamiliar to lay readers, to refer readers to other chapters for more information on a subject, and to emphasize important points. "Cautions" highlight risks, uncertainties, side effects, or special contraindications regarding a procedure or substance. Sidebars also tell readers how to contact physicians or how to obtain substances mentioned in the text. Endnotes for each chapter are provided for readers interested in further investigation.

Women's Health contains practical information that does not always find its way into other books on alternative medicine. For example, after discussing the risks and unreliability of mammograms, the authors suggest an anti-malignin antibody screen (AMAS), which was developed by biochemist-physician Sam Bogoch, MD, PhD. The test measures the amount of anti-malignin antibodies present in the blood and is said to "detect cancer up to 19 months before conventional medical tests can find it." AMAS detects the presence of all types of cancer with a reported 95% accuracy on the first test and 99% accuracy when repeated. It can also be used to monitor the effect of cancer treatment and to track remission. The FDA approved the test in 1977. Clinical trials involving 4,278 patients, completed in 1994, verified its effectiveness. More information about AMAS can be obtained from Oncolab in Boston, Massachusetts (phone 800-922-8378; fax 617-536-0657).

I have been consistently impressed by the comprehensive scientific and clinical information, organization and layout, and ease of use found in the Alternative Medicine Guides. This 2-volume set on women's health is no exception and well worth adding to one's library.

COPYRIGHT 2002 The Townsend Letter Group
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group