"The Duke Encyclopedia of New Medicine: Conventional and Alternative Medicine for All Ages" by The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine, et al. - 640 page Hardcover

DESCRIPTION:

This encyclopedia is among the latest additions to the rapidly growing collection of consumer health books on alternative medicine. But as the full title indicates, this well-illustrated work is not a compendium of unusual remedies but rather a resource about an approach that combines both conventional and alternative practices, a method often termed "integrative medicine." With contributions from a team of health-care professionals, mostly from the Center for Integrative Medicine at Duke University, the encyclopedia starts with brief but helpful preliminary chapters describing the integrative-medicine approach. Following this, part 1 includes 15 anatomically or systemically organized chapters (for example, "Eyes", "Respiratory System"), each containing 8 to 23 articles on individual health conditions. Articles are concise, and each includes a description of the condition, its causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatments from both conventional and nonconventional perspectives. Part 2 consists of six chapters (for example, "The Natural World", "Energy Therapy"), each with 8 to 16 articles describing specific alternative therapies. Here the reader learns about well-known practices, like acupuncture, and some exotic ones, like chakra balancing, all associated with the "Scale of Evidence," a tool for assessing safety and effectiveness.

Increasingly the trend in health care is away from a disease-oriented, physician and technology centered model toward a wellness-oriented, patient centered approach that combines alternative healing therapies with conventional medicine. Nowhere is this holistic philosophy of healing practiced at a higher level than at the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine (DCIM). This medical reference, with hundreds of full-color images, is the most authoritative and comprehensive ever published on integrative care.

"The Duke Encyclopedia of New Medicine: Conventional and Alternative Medicine for All Ages" by The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine, et al. - 640 page Hardcover