INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

The first edition of The Alternative Health & Medicine Encyclopedia, published in 1995, presented new breakthroughs in holistic medicine, which offer the promise that each of us may live longer, healthier lives free of medical complications. More than 30 million Americans have used alternative or holistic medical therapies and spend more than 14 billion dollars annually on alternative treatments. As a medical system, alternative medicine is holistic–it views the mind and body as a living integrated system, and is based on the premise that the mind and body continually interact. For example, negative thoughts and emotions can adversely affect the body and lead to physiological disorders. In turn, physiological imbalances can directly impact the mind and lead to psychological or emotional disorders.

The first edition of the Encyclopedia presented more than 200 alternative therapies for more than 50 common medical disorders and was designed to acquaint readers of different ages, backgrounds, and interests with the major components of alternative medicine. This expanded and revised second edition adds more than 100 new therapies for 20 additional disorders. The following chapter outline provides more detailed information about what's new in the second edition.