The alternative medicine handbook

This is a rare chance to do a book pre-view; the volume will not be published until early 1998! Barrie Cassileth is known to many in relation to her excellent work in the area of complementary therapies for cancer. She is a critical, knowledgeable and rigorous researcher of international standing. Her present book has the subtitle “The complete reference guide to alternative and complementary therapies”. The fact that someone of this calibre is writing a book for lay people may amaze at first glance. Quite frankly, I think that so many terrifyingly bad lay books already exist that it is almost a duty of those who have a clear understanding to offer reasonable alternatives. The stupefaction of the general public in terms of complementary medicine has surely gone far enough.

This book fulfils all my expectations. It is nearly complete, covering over fifty forms of therapy. It is certainly authoritative. It is easily accessible, using both simple language and a standard structure for all chapters. Most importantly, it tells the truth and does not bow to political correctness, for instance, by hiding the fact that a given treatment is not safe, not effective or neither.

The book should be read by patients who are tempted to use complementary medicine. It should be recommended to patients by doctors who know too little about this area to give responsible advice. It should also be read by complementary therapists who have an honest interest in differentiating between belief and knowledge.