The Alternative Health & Medicine Encyclopedia

Introduction to the Second Edition

Contains articles like 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.

Chapter 1: What is Alternative Medicine?

Contains articles like In the winter of 1988, San Francisco cardiologist Dean Ornish shocked the medical community when he proved that 40 advanced heart patients could actually shrink the fatty plaque deposits that were progressively blocking their coronary arteries. As the deposits disappeared, their arteries began to open and fresh oxygen was able to reach their hearts.

Chapter 2: Diet and Nutrition

Contains articles like “There is only one good, knowledge,” Socrates once said, “and one evil, ignorance.” His observation is certainly true about nutrition because the nutrients we consume–or do not consume–each day help determine our health, our risk of developing chronic diseases, and even our life span.

Chapter 3: Vitamins

Contains articles like In 1976, Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prizewinning chemist, announced that vitamins (especially vitamin C) could help prevent strokes, mental illness, heart disease, cancer, and infection. With “optimal intake,” he claimed, people could extend their lives an extra 12–18 years.

Chapter 4: Minerals and Trace Elements

Contains articles like Minerals and trace elements are essential parts of enzymes involved in many of the body's biochemical and physiological processes, including the transportation of oxygen to the cells. If the human body requires more than 100 milligrams of the element daily, the substance is labeled a mineral.

Chapter 5: Botanical Medicines

Contains articles like Botanical (plant) medicines have been the basis of all medical traditions since the dawn of civilization. Throughout history, various cultures have handed down their accumulated knowledge of botanical medicines to successive generations.

Chapter 6: Exercise

Contains articles like In 1991, public health specialists at the University of Michigan invited 75 men and women, most of whom were 75 years of age or older, to take part in a very unusual experiment. The majority of the participants, according to Alan Rees and Charlene Willey's Personal Health Reporter were overweight and had never exercised regularly.

Chapter 7: Strengthening the Immune System

Contains articles like In the course of a single day, the average American is typically exposed to a multitude of potentially harmful toxins. This exposure takes place while driving to and from work, inside the office or factory, when eating meals or shopping, and while carrying out simple household chores.

Chapter 8: Coping with Stress

Contains articles like In 1990, as reported in Alan Rees and Charlene Willey's Personal Health Reporter, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine invited 192 men and women between the ages of 35 and 64 to experiment with managing their stress levels. Each of the participants had two or more of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a smoking habit of 10 or more cigarettes a day.

Chapter 9: Stress-Related Disorders

Contains articles like As discussed in the previous chapter, certain experiences are so physically or emotionally stressful that they can severely compromise the immune system's ability to ward off disease. Prolongation of stress can exhaust specific organ systems, especially the heart, blood vessels, and adrenal glands.

Chapter 10: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Contains articles like Most people at one time or another have taken drugs to relieve unpleasant symptoms such as headaches, indigestion, tension, cramps, fatigue, or anxiety. Many different types of drugs exist, each differentiated by the effect it has on the body.

Chapter 11: Mental Health Disorders

Contains articles like Everyone periodically experiences emotional stress, and most people develop ways to cope successfully with these episodes. Some people, however, cannot control their own thoughts, moods, fears, or emotional reactions to stressful life experiences.

Chapter 12: Common Male Health Problems

Contains articles like The most common male health problems involve disorders of the genitourinary system, which includes the bladder, urethra, prostate gland, penis, and testicles. These disorders may encompass infections, weakening of organs, and sexual diseases.

Chapter 13: Common Female Health Problems

Contains articles like In 1900, the average life expectancy for a woman in the United States was 50 years. Today, that life expectancy has increased to almost 80, which means that American women can expect to live a third of their lives after menopause.

Chapter 14: Holistic Pregnancy and Childbirth

Contains articles like This chapter profiles important holistic keys to making childbirth one of the most beautiful and spiritual events of a woman's life. It outlines a medically safe and clinically proven program for conception, pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and childcare currently being practiced in the U.S., China, Japan, and Europe.

Chapter 15: Dental Care

Contains articles like Many people do not appreciate the importance of dental health to their overall well-being. This is because until recently dental care was considered peripheral to general health, and cavities and eventual tooth loss were commonly regarded as inevitable.

Chapter 16: Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders

Contains articles like The eyes, ears, nose, and throat, along with the skin and mucous membranes, serve as the body's first line of defense against external toxins and infectious organisms. They are often the first organs to decline with age, and many people assume that this is a natural process.

Chapter 17: Cancer

Contains articles like In 1993, more than five million Americans were diagnosed as having some type of cancer. Currently, one out of every five Americans is likely to develop cancer during his or her lifetime, and one person in five who develop cancer is likely to die from it.

Chapter 18: Heart Disorders

Contains articles like More than 1.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from heart attacks every year, and 500,000 die as a result, nearly half of them women.

Chapter 19: Aging

Contains articles like Anna Mary Roberts (“Grandma”) Moses took up painting at the age of 76. Norman Maclean published his first work of fiction, the award-winning A River Runs Through It, at the age of 75.

Epilogue: The Future of Alternative Medicine

Contains articles like Over the next 50 years, I believe that alternative medicine will change in astonishing ways. By 2050, for example, the most revolutionary technology in medicine will be the most familiar–the computer and the telephone–and will rank with antibiotics, x rays, and transplant surgery as milestones in the history of medicine.