The LowVis Book Store Alternative Medicine Department Maintained by the MD Community in association with Amazon.com.

Alternative Medicine The Definitive Guide
by Burton Goldberg
Paperback - 1100 pages (September 15, 1998) Future Medicine Publishing. Other Editions: Hardcover

    The Definitive Guide is known as the Bible of alternative medicine. You may very well want to use a dictionary stand for this hefty tome; it weighs in at more than 1,000 pages. Nearly 400 doctors (M.D.s, Ph.D.s, naturopaths, Doctors of Oriental Medicine, and osteopaths) contribute their cutting-edge knowledge, and the list of names is impressive. You'll find words of advice from Joseph Pizzorno, the president of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington; C. Norman Shealy, the cofounder of the American Holistic Medical Association; Nobel laureate Linus Pauling; Deepak Chopra; and Joan Borysenko, author and director of the Mind-Body Health Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. After an intriguing, optimistic look at "The Future of Medicine," the book is divided into two sections. The first profiles 43 alternative therapies--acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, qigong, hyperthermia, and yoga among them--including their development, how they work, proven uses, and controversial or yet-to-be-proven uses, along with contact information for organizations. The second section covers 105 topics such as headaches, mental health, and allergies, along with the alternative therapies that are most likely to help alleviate pain and encourage healing. This guide is easy enough to understand to make it perfect for home reference, while it would also make a fine resource for health care providers interesting in learning more about alternative medicine. --Erica Jorgensen .

Bilberry & Lutein: The Vision Enhancers
by Beth M. Ley, Ph.D.
Hardcover Rev update edition (February 2001) BL Publications.

    From the book cover: "Facts about bilberry and lutein, which have been proven to help protect against, slow down the progression of, and even help reverse common vision disorders."

The Life Extension Foundation's Disease Prevention and Treatment Protocols
by Life Extension Foundation
Paperback - 471 pages 2nd expand edition (May 1998) Life Extension Media.

    This book offers specific advice for consumers and health professionals on 115 diseases, based on thousands of medical studies. Following two years of research, a fully referenced directory of Disease Prevention and Treatment Protocols is now available. It enables readers to quickly locate innovative solutions for medical conditions not being effectively treated effectively by conventional physicians.
    The Foundation's Disease Prevention and Treatment Protocols is a book that is dedicated to eradicating the ignorance that is causing humans to suffer and die today from diseases that may already have effective therapies reported in the published scientific literature. The protocols for "untreatable" diseases contained in this book will eventually become part of standard medical practice. Almost every protocol is substantiated extensively by peer-reviewed studies from mainstream medical journals from around the world.

Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution : Nature's Answer to Drugs
by Robert C. Atkins
Paperback - 407 pages (January 1999) Simon & Schuster. Other Editions: Hardcover

    For a quarter-century, Robert C. Atkins has been the world's leading proponent of a low-carbohydrate diet. His first book promoting that plan, Dr. Akins' Diet Revolution, has sold more than 10 million copies. Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution discussing the vital function of vitamins and nutritional supplements and then provides a list of diseases and complaints that the supplements can help cure or alleviate.

Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Revised 2nd Edition
by Michael T. Murray, Joseph E. Pizzorno
Paperback - 960 pages 2nd Rev edition (December 29, 1997) Prima Pub (P).

    Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine weighs three pounds and nine ounces, has 946 pages, and is as informative as it is hefty. The authors are naturopathic doctors--they focus on promoting health and treating disease with nontoxic, natural therapies. This book shows you how to improve your health through a positive mental attitude, healthy lifestyle, health-promoting diet, and supplements, with plenty of practical tips. Learn disease prevention through enhancing key body systems. The bulk of the book details natural remedies for treating more than 70 ailments. Each includes symptoms, description, therapeutic considerations (with discussion of studies), and a treatment summary, including nutritional supplements and botanical (herbal) medicines. If you have a disease, this book will give you a valuable perspective on natural treatments. If you're well, it will give you many pointers for maintaining and enhancing your health. --Joan Price

Food : Your Miracle Medicine : How Food Can Prevent and Cure over 100 Symptoms and Problems
by Jean Carper
Paperback - 528 pages (June 1998) Harper Mass Market Paperbacks.

    This comprehensive guide to the miraculous healing powers of food is written by an authority on health and nutrition whose syndicated column has more than 10 million readers nationwide. She shows readers how to use this miracle medicine to achieve optimum health, prevent disease, and avoid debilitating conditions, adverse side effects, and costly medical treatments. The book details how certain foods directly affect biochemical events at the cellular level and can actually alleviate and cure more than one hundred specific illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, diabetes, bronchitis, epilepsy, infertility, and tuberculosis.

The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: Your Comprehensive Reference to the Best Herbs for Healing
by James A. Duke, Ph.D.
Paperback - 282 pages 1st edition (December 15, 2000) Rodale Pr. Other editions: Hardcover.

    There's still a lot to learn about the healing power of plants, James Duke points out, but what we do know is already prodigious. Much of that knowledge is gathered in The Green Pharmacy, an A-to-Z guide to that relies on plant-based medicines to cure what ails us. Between the listings, Duke crams personal anecdotes from a lifetime of studying herbs, berries, and bark. For example, he relates how he worried about telling a pregnant niece that ginger could help alleviate her morning sickness because he'd learned from a pharmacologist that ginger could also induce miscarriage. Then he solved the mystery: he'd recommended ginger tea, which contains about 250 milligrams of ginger. The Chinese, he learned, use about 80 times that much to end pregnancies--another testimony to the amazing versatility of these natural medicines.

The Healing Power of Herbs : The Enlightened Person's Guide to the Wonders of Medicinal Plants
by Michael T. Murray
Paperback - 410 pages 2Nd/Rev&ex edition (July 1995) Prima Pub (P).

    In this up-to-date and carefully researched book on botanical medicine, Dr. Murray brings you the latest scientific findings about the power and efficacy of medicinal herbs. Some of the most powerful preventatives to modern ailments are not located in prescription drugs or vitamin pills but on a common spice rack. In this most up-to-date and carefully researched book, Dr. Murray shares the latest scientific findings about the power and efficacy of medicinal herbs.

Healing the Eye the Natural Way
by Edward C. Kondrot, MD
Paperback - 225 pages (February 21, 2000) Nutritional Research, LLC.

    "This is a very practical guide that patients can use to evaluate their condition, make choices and initiate a reasonable program for themselves. Hope reigns eternal, and hats off to you for explaining why it should, on a mind, body and spiritual level that emphasizes self empowerment." (Dahlia Hirsch, MD (Ophthalmologist and Wholistic Doctor)

Keep Your Vision--Defeating Macular Degeneration
(Not available through Amazon.com)
Charles E. Day, Ph.D.
Paperback - Michigan: Artery Press, 1999.

    Dr. Day is a strong believer in the benefits of nutrition. In his book he examines a host of different fruits and vegetable that could benefit people with macular degeneration. He provides a wealth of information for people who are concerned about age-related MD and the effects of this disease.

The Medical Advisor : The Complete Guide to Alternative & Conventional Treatments : Home Edition
by Time-Life Books (Editor)
Paperback - 960 pages Home editi edition (October 1997) Time Life.

    When someone you love is suffering, you want the best treatment. This breakthrough encyclopedic guide to family health care is the first to offer concise, authoritative guidance to alternative and conventional treatments for hundreds of health problems, from relatively benign conditions to the most serious diseases.

Natural Prescriptions : Dr. Giller's Natural Treatments and Vitamin Therapies for More Than 100 Common Ailments
by Kathy Matthews (Contributor), Robert M. Giller
Paperback - 370 pages 1 ballanti edition (February 1995) Ballantine Books (Trd Pap).

    The first step in treating any ailment should be simple and natural. A natural treatment is the best kind -- one that helps the body heal itself. Based on his years of practical experience as a doctor as well as on the latest research, Dr. Giller's book explains in crystal-clear terms how to treat yourself with vitamin and mineral supplements, herbs, diet, exercise, and stress reduction. He also indicates when it may be necessary to consult with a doctor.
    With a bulleted, step-by-step treatment plan for each condition, including specific amounts of nutrients and the length of time they should be taken, Natural Prescriptions can dramatically change the way you feel about yourself and your health.

The Natural Pharmacy: From the Top Experts in the Field, Your Essential Guide to Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals and Homeopathic Remedies
by Schuyler W. Lininger (Editor), Steve Austin, Skye Lininger, Jonathan W. Wright, Donald Brown, Alan Gaby
Paperback - 464 pages (July 1998) Prima Pub (P).

A reader writes:

    A wonderful guide. Not preachy. Gives you a sense of how effective and/or risky the recommended remedies are. Lots of footnotes to scholarly articles, if you want to read more about a particular condition or remedy. Covers vitamins, herbs & homeopathy. If you don't know your lysine from your licorice, or you have a medical condition that isn't responding to anything, this is a great place to look.

The Nutraceutical Revolution : 20 Cutting-Edge Nutrients to Help You Design Your Own Perfect Whole-Life Program
by Richard N. Firshein
Paperback (December 13, 1999) Riverhead Books

    The Nutraceutical Revolution is the complete low-down on the most frequently prescribed nutrients--the ones Dr. Richard Firshein finds he turns to most often in his practice; the most versatile; the safest; the ones that have shown the most promising, tangible benefits. Firshein has taken stock of the most common ailments and complaints he sees in his patients--everything from fatigue and stress to high cholesterol and sinus problems. What he has found is that he consults a core group of supplements--vitamins, herbs, minerals, amino acids, and phytochemicals--time and again to treat these various ills. That investigation has resulted in twenty chapters--one per nutrient--that explain everything you need to know about these little pills (or teas, or powders) and that enable you to design a healthy, healing regimen specifically tailored to your needs. As an added bonus, Firshein includes a final chapter that points the way to the future, outlining five "future nutrients" that are showing promising results in early research and testing.

Optimal Wellness
by Ralph Golan, M.D.
Paperback (September 1995) Fawcett Books (Mm).

    By means of a mixture of commonsense advice, concise definitions, and comforting bromides, Golan melds New Age health strategies and practices with responsible conventional medical care. Probably more useful to true believers and those sympathetic to New Age culture, his big book may serve well as both a small library's one resource on "wellness" and a larger collection's most accessible book on the point "where mainstream and alternative medicine meet." Including copious bibliographical references, many nice mnemonic touches, and plenty of handy tables and charts, the comprehensive tome is just the thing to help those seeking "wellness" avail themselves of it. --Mike Tribby Copyright© 1995, American Library Association. All rights reserved

Prescription Alternatives : Hundreds of Safe, Natural, Prescription-Free Remedies to Restore and Maintain Your Health
by Virginia Hopkins, Earl L. Mindell
Paperback - 608 pages 2nd edition (September 1999) Keats Pub.

    Earl L. Mindell draws on his encyclopedic knowledge of pharmacology, nutrition, and natural healing to present a comprehensive survey of more than 1,000 simple, safe, nature-based remedies. Learn how you can replace many of the most commonly used prescription drugs in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, sleep disorders, prostate enlargement, diabetes, asthma, depression, anxiety, and the common cold. In this new edition of his authoritative guide, Dr. Minell shows that you can solve your health problems without using drugs and teaches you how to monitor your body as you switch from drugs to natural health.

Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, and Food Supplements
by James F. Balch, M.D., Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C. Balch
Paperback - 776 pages 3rd Rev&ex edition (October 19, 2000) Avery Penguin Putnam.

A reader writes:

    I had no idea what vitamins and minerals could do! I have trouble with my serotonin levels in my brain, and I started taking more B6. I have already seen a significant change! Other supplements are well worth looking in to.

    NOTE: This book contains repetition of some material from Part One of the authors' larger book, Prescription for Nutritional Healing.

Prevention's Healing With Vitamins : The Most Effective Vitamin and Mineral Treatments for Everyday Health Problems and Serious Disease
by Alice Feinstein (Editor), Prevention Health Books
Paperback - 608 pages (May 1998) Rodale Pr. Other Editions: Hardcover

    Based on hundreds of interviews with the nation's top physicians and researchers, this easy-to-use reference tool provides an overview of the different vitamins and minerals and their effects on the body. 10 illustrations. The current explosion in research about vitamins and minerals makes all previous books on the subject obsolete. This single volume presents in pratical, use-it-now form, the best of what doctors currently know about using vitamins and minerals to cure diseases. Highlights include vitamins to take to prevent heart disease, those recommended by cancer specialists, and the various uses for the B vitamins.