Complementary-Therapy Books

I read this book while waiting to get in to see the MS Specialist to see if I had MS. I had never really paid attention to MS, at least the details of how it effects a person. As a person in recovery from alcohol and drugs, I wanted to see what alternatives exist.

I found the book full of hope. Got a good explaination of the disease and what it is. I like the fact that Dr. Bowling gives both sides of the arguement for a particular treatment and explains the type of studies done on it.

Once I got in to see the specialist, he was aware of this book and open to listening to my questions and discussing different alternatives. The MS Center offered some CAM mentioned in the book.

I had gotten so tired of all the internet information on MS, my brain was burned out. I had stopped reading anything on the subject for quite awhile. But, this book is worth keeping handy with its sensible and knowledgeable information. It also validates in many ways the path I had chosen to manage this horrible disease.

This book was actually recommended to me by my MS Specialist. I'm SO happy he did. Too often, I think people believe everything others tell them about what something might do. This gives actual medical references about studies done with alternatives. It doesn't make bogus claims about what might cure someone. Instead, it offers sound advice about what might help or hurt your body. Not only that, it recommends what amounts of vitamins and other supplements one should take if they are going to use them. I'm a research FREAK and this is by the far the best alternative medicine book I've read. It's also the book I reference back to the most as I'm eager to see what else is possibly out there that can help with my disease.

This updated book is great for someone with MS or even if you are just interested in CAM. He explains the different methods well even if I don't always agree with everything he says.

People diagnosed with an incurable disease are too-often targets of terribly unscrupulous or questionable methods of helping or curing them. When conventional medicine cannot cure us it is, to some degree, understandable. Dr. Bowling has put together a well-researched book that briefly discusses CAMs and various therapies, including yoga, tai chi, dietary supplements, vitamins and so forth. Each is briefly described, treatment method discussed, any known scientific research is summarized, side effects noted, practical information listed, and a conclusion and additional reading sources detailed. Dr. Bowling does note that some therapies, while not proven to help those with MS, may seem to help because of the "placebo effect." If it causes no harm, why not try it? However, some of these therapies can be detrimental to those with MS and it is wise to know what those are. This is a book for those who want objective and documented information. Some will claim it is biased against CAMs or undocumented therapies, but I did not find that to be the case. I found it very helpful.

Dr. Gaynor's book is a bold breakthrough in the field of cancer prevention. His excellent book details at great lengh the individual foods and nutrients which may prevent cancer and individualizes for the major cancers. Dr. Gaynor practises what he preaches. As a highly respected New York Cancer doctor, he practises the cutting edge of conventional medicine with the very best or preventive medicine. A must on everyone's medical bookshelf.

This is by far one of the best books on cancer prevention I have ever read. It is easy to understand, informative and an absolute wealth of information on the subject.

Not only do Drs. Gaynor and Hickey explain what foods are good for you and why -- they also break down how you can get each of the nutrients and antioxidants in supplement form on pages that immediately follow entitled "Pharmacist Corner."

After being diagnosed with malignant melanoma I immediately started to hunt around for resource books on how to lessen my chances of reoccurances and so far this is the best. It is an uplifting resource book filled with information on the subject as well as success stories that will be an inspiration to all who read it.

If prevention is worth a pound of cure, this book is worth its weight in gold. Dr. Gaynor's book offers some of the best current potential for reducing the terrible price we pay for cancer. At last we have a roadmap, beautifully documented, by a nationally renowned oncologist, that details the increasing amount of evidence that proves that diet offers enormous potential in reducing as well as preventing cancer risk and in cutting cancer deaths. Although we still do not know how to prevent all cancers, this book clearly demonstrates that we know more than enough to dramtically reduce the high cancer incidence rates that we currently have and to curb the growing cancer rates around the world. With the publication of this book, there can be no doubt that nutrition in cancer prevention has come to age. Kudos to Dr. Gaynor and Jerry Hickey for this magnificent book.

Dr. Mitchell Gaynor's Cancer Prevention Program offers many promises in this January title from Kensington Books. Some of them are indeed justified and backed by recent scientific research. Other such promises in the book border on the unfounded, while others are what would on a careful reading seem to be recycled but updated information - albeit information that is important to know, and in many cases necessary to act upon.

Perhaps that is the value of the recent release of a book whose packaging and theme so closely resemble Dr. Oliver Alabaster's "What You Can Do To Prevent Cancer," 1985; Simon and Schuster. Both authors are physicians and leading research oncologists. Dr. Gaynor at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center and Dr. Alabaster at The George Washington University.

The book is well written, easy to read and at times gives the reader more than an adequate dose of optimism in what the media often portray as a never-ending battle against this country's most feared killer. Specifically, the book seems to give the impression that one can easily "detoxify" the body by choosing a variety of enzymes and other chemicals to aid the liver in its work. Would that the job be so easy! It is an interesting idea, and one loosely based on some body of medical research, but as a concept it might be a bit more optimistic than practical.

The research that the "detoxification" approach is based on is generally valid and promising. In a sidebar in one chapter Dr. Gaynor lists supplements which are certainly of value and would at worst do no physical harm. These include the antioxidant glutathione, whey protein (which contains glutathione, but is seemingly only documented in one Canadian study), broccoli, green tea and selenium.

Dr. Gaynor brings to the reader a wealth of current information almost unavailable in the popular press and which is both useful and necessary.

He succinctly explains what cancer is, how such cells develop, and some of what can be done to prevent cancer in most individuals who are not already strongly predisposed by genetic factors. He correctly states that some 70% of all cancers can be avoided or by prevention but almost glosses over our largest and most constant exposure to the environment -- the very food we eat and the dietary choices we make on a day-to-day basis.

While his emphasis on phytonutrients and supplements is exciting, far too little attention is given to natural sources of these promising chemicals. Less attention is given to the preventive role of dietary fat reduction or restriction. Instead the author develops and promotes a program which relies mostly on supplements and/or foods which for many might seem initially odd and could too easily be avoided.

This is both the strength and the weakness of the book. So strong is the case to use these supplements that the casual and overly-optimistic reader might want to delve into a world of supplements immediately but might soon be disappointed by a lack of understanding, motivation or even in some cases taste. For example, he recommends a number of combinations in the juicer which some who are overly accustomed to high fructose corn syrup might not enjoy. On the other hand his recipe for a combination of apples, carrots, cucumbers, and broccoli was tasteful and left no hint of the "cruciferic" taste that some people try to avoid. This recipe alone might make the book a good investment in future health dividends.

Dr. Gaynor's research is current, sound and well presented. The use of a nutritional pharmacist Gerry Hickey, R.Ph., gives the book its strong emphasis on phytochemicals and other food-based cancer prevention chemicals. The book includes an appendix that is a good source of supplements and other cancer prevention products mentioned which will be of particular benefit to those who live in areas where such products are not easily available. Another appendix lists references of solid peer-reviewed journals for much of the book's information. Of particular curiosity in this regard is a chapter promoting Japanese mushrooms. A highly regarded National Academy of Science Publication, "Diet and Cancer" showed that mushrooms when uncooked contain one of the most potent cancer promoting chemicals known to man. Dr. Gaynor not only leaves this fact out but fails to mention whether or not these types of mushrooms need to be cooked in order to "detoxify" them.

This book is an excellent buy, full of current and useful information. It picks up where Dr. Alabaster's book left off and indeed given that book's emphasis on diet both books should be used in together. A good read, a better source of health information. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed reading Dr. Gaynor's book. His advice is easy to absorb and understand. I highly recommend this book.

I recently purchased this book and I haven't been able to tear my eyes away from it. It immediately became my number 1, as I tend to read multiple books at the same time. This is the first of two volumes, the 2nd covers plants of North America, or the new world. This one covers the old world medicinal plants

It has a brief introduction, review of the different energetic philosophies for herbal medicine (ayurveda, tcm, and western) It goes more in depth with the western energetic system of herbalism, although not as in depth as The practice of traditional western medicineThe Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism: Basic Doctrine, Energetics, and Classification . What I really like is it links these systems of energetics together. It is all energy just different terms are used for different cultures.

The materia medica is fantastic in that it feels like a thorough account of each herb. Taste, temperature, humidty, tissue state, body system, preparation are covered.

I believe this will be one of my top resources to deepen my knowledge and understanding of how herbs work energetically and how to best use each herb in a clinical setting.

This book is a valuable book for herbalists who are serious about expanding their knowledge for the benefit of their clients.

I was lucky enough to be able to use a draft version of this text in conjunction with one of Matt Wood's Herbal classes for most of the last year, and it fills virtually every hole [half the holes really] left open by the authors' earlier *Book of Herbal Wisdom*; a true masterpiece which I and all of my fellow healers turn to over and over.

BoHW had only 40 or so herbs and an excellent if brief Therapeutic Repertory at the end. This tome - or 1/2 tome really - has begun the process of providing a nearly complete Western Herbal Materia Medica; the like of which has not been seen since the Eclectics demise far back in the early 20th Century. And indeed goes beyond the Eclectics usual bare-boned and dry essentials for prescribing. Matt knows most of these plants like we know our friends. Like Tolkien's 'Smith of Wooten Major' he has been given a passport to go directly into the worlds of the plants soul and spirit, and while we may never have such direct access ourselves, Matt gives us a travelog in this [and all his books] simply unsurpassed in all of the worlds Herbal Literature [or at least the big slices that have made it into English!]

Another aspect makes this different from all other herbals out there is that it is a continuation of all that is good and true in most of the Schools of Western Herbology:
*Hippocratic and Galenic Humoralism
*Paracelsian Natura Sophia and medicinal specifics
*Physio-medicalism [Thompson and Dr. John Christopher]
*The Eclectics [Jones, Rafinesque and Scudder]
*Homeopathy - especially referencing the more eclectic Homeopaths like Burnett and Clarke - Matthew prefers the single remedy when possible but like most good herbalists - will use compounds if well indicated - and likely to benefit the patient]
*Chinese Medicine - which the author studied independently and with famed underground Herbalist/Acupuncturist William LeSassier also receives not just it's due, but it's still living energetic/elemental tradition updates and infuses the authors revised western system of 6 tissue states [below] at nearly every turn.
Heat/Excitation
Cold/Depression
Constriction/Tension [TCM=Wind]
Damp/Relaxation,
Dry/Atrophy
Damp/Stagnation
These are the Western equivalent of Chinese Medicine's Differentials - culled primarily from a 19th Century Physiomedical text but really being the medical/quasi-energetic terminology used by most 18th and 19th century healers of all schools to describe the conditions of all organs/glands/muscles etc [thus 'tissues'] as they could be perceived through palpation, pulse tongue and facial diagnosis.

For an acupressurist/homeopathic bodyworker like myself wanting an herbal-homeopathic system rooted in western plants but open to/informed by chinese medicine and human energetics, his system is exactly what I was looking for.

Keeping in mind this is ONLY Old -World plants [new world in the next volume due out shortly] undoubtedly many will find a plant or two they wish was covered, but far more importantly Matthew gives us the method [especially within his last books *Book of Herbal Wisdom* and *Practice of Traditional Western Herbalsim*] of seeing plants multi-dimensionally [essence and energetics, physical constituents, traditional uses], whether he has included them in his herbal or not!

Matthew has taken the hints of Bach for a new medical system; the potential equal of Homeopathy but based on the virtues of plants instead of the poisons of metals, chemical compounds and toxic plants, and combined it with the Eclectics TCM-like differential diagnosis and has essentially called Traditional Western Herbalism out of it's tomb like a 21st century medical Lazarus.

If you are wondering whether or not to buy this - the real question should be, as it is with *The Book of Herbal Wisdom* whether or not to buy 2. Because you are going to use it so much that you will quite possibly be loathe to loan your only one out.

This book and its New World sister are far more than herbals. To make a herbal of just this type, now, is a statement about the way medicine needs to go, and perhaps even civilization too. So it had to be done just right - which it has been.

Wood's approach is best conveyed in his own words:

'I have called this herbal "earthwise" to contrast it to other herbals reflecting the pharmacological approach. It is based on sources that the scientific approach ignores: historical uses, folk medicine, folk practitioners, the experience of actual herbalists, intuitive concepts of energy, plant properties, and medicine, daydreams, and dreams. It is, however, "scientific" in a broader sense of the word because it follows an organized and reasonably critical approach to understanding plant medicine.'

What a treat this book is! Respectful of every herbalist's approach, and of every herb, Wood places us back amidst a true and genuine western holism. Noting the systems of the Greeks, Chinese, and Ayurveda, he takes a simple approach (with which his readers will already be familiar) based on tissue states and actions. And Wood points out with perfect correctness that holism cannot take place without such an energetic approach.

Although, as he says, much of what was 'alternative' not so long ago is now 'complementary', and doctors are considering lifestyle and temperament issues just as much as biochemistry, even most 'holistic' western doctors haven't taken the plunge to a full western energetic concept as has Wood. They will look at bodily systems and say that all need to be addressed 'as a whole' - but (so far as I'm aware) most have had no overall concept by which to look at the human system as *one thing*, unless they were importing it from the East; this book will change all that.


Wood looks at *everything* about a herb. He wants you to understand its essence, its geist, its character and personality, the thing that makes a herb itself as a particuar entity. Of course he doesn't ignore molecular biology - why would anyone do that? - but he does acknowledge its huge limitations as a method of understanding the action of herbal remedies.

He will look at absolutely any piece of information that he can give which helps to form a picture of a herb - its taste is very important to him, for example, and in terms of indications he will give physical, emotional or mental symptoms as appropriate. Wood Betony, for example, is good for bronchitis or fear of vomiting, is traditional for demon posession, and thus good for those who are hysterical, good for 'tall persons, disassociated from their bodily instincts', etc. - from this plethora of well-organized detail a picture emerges, like a snapshot of 'what the herb is'.

This makes the herbal perfectly well suited for the amateur, but equally, more or less essential for the professional who wants to expand their knowledge, their instinct, and indeed their knowledge *about* instinct. Needless to say the list of herbs covered is very thorough (including bee propolis for example, or a dozen medicines made from grapes).

I have to say, the bibliography is no less interesting. The voices of Wood's favourite teachers and colleagues continue to ring through his work, passing on not merely particular information but also a general attitude - imaginative, awake common sense perhaps says it best.

This is a book about how to heal; it may yet heal, not just many of the maladies from which we suffer, but our relationship to illness, wellness and herbs as well.

Essential!

Those who are interested in herbs of North America will love this book. The authour provides detailed information about many poorly researched herbs that are valuable in natural medicine practice. He melds homeopathic provings with botanical information to create a full picture of each herb that he reviews!
For example, Lactuca is just a sleep herb, right? The authour reveals an entire personality and specific conditions that respond well to wild lettuce. Truely useful in any natural medicine clinical setting.

This book is now out of print. Because of the great success of this first edition, it has been replaced by an updated new 2nd edition. The new edition can be seen at amazon by clicking Natural Therapies for Emphysema and COPD: Relief and Healing for Chronic Pulmonary Disorders

For the natural treatment of emphysema this is the book.

I think this book was informative, helpful and written with the idea of helping COPD sufferes and their families. (Unline some other books that seem to have been written just for the money.) Mr. Green takes an honest and helpful approach to explaining why and how the condition effects the body and some very pratical ideas to help make living each day better. I would recommend this as great reading for anyone who has or knows someone who suffers from COPD.

Not having a medical background, I was impressed with the clarity,readability and organization of the book's presentation, as well as how exhaustively the subject of COPD was treated.

The book began with a comprehensive explanation of the nature of the disease, proceeded to the myriad protocols for treatment of the disease and ended with a summary of final thoughts on the topic. The appendices and the glossary proved useful resources as well.

Overall, the book was a very professional work that added to the general scholarship of COPD and to my understanding of this very debilitating disease.

Well written with substantial and accurate scientific evidence...there is a demand for such information by those suffering from COPD, and their families. My hope is that medical caregivers become enlightened, as well, with this book.
Robert F. Waters, Ph.D.

nice photos easy reading . i can say that a lot of work is being done and this book shows it every time i read it!

An excellent guide to using essential oils for cosmetic and therapeutic purposes. Beautifully designed book with no fluff, commercialism or overdone botanical details. Yet another winner from Neal's Yard Remedies.

this is the 3rd copy of this book that i am puchasing. i keep loaning it out, and nor getting it back. it is a wealth of knowledge. i have used this book for curing just about any ailment. i highly recommend it.

My avocation is making herbal medicines and cosmetics. This is one of the few reference books I cannot live without - ragged from constant consultation. The descriptions of the essential oils are thorough and quite useful, without being overly technical. The chart in the back of ailments and the oils that can be used to treat them is particularly helpful. The psychological profiles of the oils are also interesting, but not overstated. This book would be suitable for people new to essential oils and their properties as well as an appropriate tool for those who are more knowledgeable.

Easy to read and understand, Susan Curtis, has a wonderous understanding of holitic therapies. Essential Oils by Curtis gives the basics on aromatherapy (ie. how essential oils work, storage and care, blending, base oils etc.) along with a detailed discription of 42 essential oils. Each essential oil has informaton on its orgin, therapeutic properties, method of extraction, psychological profile and its' most common use. Paper quality and photographs add to the quality of this book, as well as, a table of "method of application" listed on each essential oil.

I have just started reading this book and for what I,ve read so far, it is great!
I would recommend it to anyone feeling sick or good.

This book is definitely worth checking out. It is written for the average layperson, so it doesn't bog down with difficult terminology or theories. It's a great start to develop an approach to achieving a lifetime of health and wellness. The book allows you to really arm yourself with the knowledge you need to get healthy and stay healthy, avoiding common pitfalls that lead to terrible dibilitating diseases. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a personal responsibility in maintaining their own health for a lifetime.

My daughter has MS and I bought this book especially for her.
She is fascinated and is trying out what it says.
It is good to get a book that goes along with the
title so you get what you order.

Leave it to Art Brownstein to take complex subjects and communicate them in ways any reader -- especially those of us not in medicine or the healing arts -- can understand and apply. His book is not only informative and well-researched, at its core it also offers hope, which may be the greatest healing agent of all time. While it is clear that Dr. Brownstein is knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, perhaps his greatest contribution is that he is the messenger of transformation to a positive mindset. I applaud his work and highly recommend Extraordinary Healing to those looking to shift into healing or, just as important, stay in the wellness zone.

In "Extraordinary Healing" Dr. Brownstein has given us the blueprint for
self healing using our greatest tools:The mind, the body and the breath. A
lay persons guide for improving or healing many of societies common
ailments. His work brings to mind a quote from the late Thomas Edison "The doctors of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause of and prevention of disease" Highly recommended!

This book was so much better than I expected. The information is well written and, although I collect books on Reflexology, I learned so much new information from this one. I plan to put much of it into practice.

The main objective of the Vietnamese facial acupressure system reflexology is to prevent health problems and relieve existing troubles before they are chronic: that said, Facial Reflexology introduces the concepts and methods of the healing method to English speakers for the first time, offering some thirteen summary diagrams locating numbered facial points and their reflex zones for the whole body. This isn't just an overview, though: chapters then offer detailed step-by-step applications for over two hundred common problems from insomnia to ulcers and back pain, pairing therapeutic direction with diagrams of zones. It's a fine beginning point for any who would learn facial reflexology and apply it to alternative healing paths.

Facial reflexology is a remarkably interesting and effective Vietnamese method for establishing and maintaining robust health and wellness.

The essential idea is that not only is the face crisscrossed by acupuncture channels, a.k.a. meridians that these link together scores of major acupuncture and associated points corresponding to most of the major organs of the body, but that there are 57 facial points - virtually all also acupuncture points - that correspond to reflex zones for the entire body. Carefully manipulating these points can improve the balance between the "organ" systems of the body. The system is not quite the same as any of the schools of facial acupressure that I know of.

When the Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese speak about "organs" they are referring to the information and energy associated with the organ, rather than the physical organ itself. Someone who has no stomach still has the information and energy associated with the organ. By manipulating the points on the face, we can induce positive changes in the information, then the energy and finally the molecules and cells of the physical organ.

This well organized book contains 13 summary diagrams that locate all 57 numbered facial points and their corresponding reflex zones. The diagrams are accompanies by straightforward and easy-to-follow instruction on basic massage and pressure-point techniques.

Marie-France Muller goes on to give clear point-by-point instructions for two general health maintenance programs. There follows a dictionary of treatment suggestions for over 200 common ailments from asthma to insomnia that could form part of a comprehensive approach to treatment and the restoration of health. For each condition she offers therapeutic instructions and simple diagrams of the relevant zones and points to guide the reader.

This is a most helpful addition to the literature on natural healing, and contains a great deal of information that is not widely known in the West.

Highly recommended.

A little confusing as to remembering the number and place of each spot to be worked.

This is a thorough and well-written guide to using facial reflex points, specifcally Dien'Cham' from Vietnam, to help the body heal. The author is a French doctor, naturopath and Ph.D. and has been using these techniques for many years. This is her second book on the subject.

The book starts with a thorough and interesting explanation of facial reflexology: the different positions of the points of the face and how to give a session. The remainder of the book is focused on different health conditions and how to treat them using Dien'Cham'. This section is very well done and includes a diagram of the face with the corresponding reflex points as well as an easy to understand explanation of what to do. There is also a section on how to use Dien'Cham' on your dog's or cat's face and an explanation of Japanese scalp massage.

This is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to learn how to help themselves or others with health or healing techniques very quickly; body workers, estheticians, care-givers, and parents would all benefit from knowing some of these points.

As a reflexologist, I highly recommend this book as both a working manual and a great reference guide for any therapeutic work on the face.

Dampness and phlegm are among the most vexing elements in treating patients with Chinese Medicine. This book is the best I have seen in discussing the physiological function of jin and ye fluids, pathogenic damp and phlegm and the organ systems that deal with them.

This book is excellent. For the advanced student or practitioner, this book enlightens the reader on all aspects of Fluid, Jin-ye, Phlegm, Dampness, and their origins. It also discusses herbs in a very interesting and useful way, comparing and contrasting phlegm and damp herbs and their specifics. This is my favorite theory book on my shelf.

This is simply the best book in the English language on Chinese herbal medicine. The depth of information goes far beyond anything else available and it is all backed up by the experience of one of the West's premiere practitioners

This book gives you a lot idea of understanding in oriental medicine. It bring to you real taste of classics especially huang di nei jing and nan jing.The majority books of oriental medicine in English don't give us real picture of oriental medicine, but the book does!! One thing I want to wish is when they using pin yin, should be accompained chinese character. Great book!!!!

This book is excellent. For the advanced student or practitioner, this book enlightens the reader on all aspects of Fluid, Jin-ye, Phlegm, Dampness, and their origins. It also discusses herbs in a very interesting and useful way, comparing and contrasting phlegm and damp herbs and their specifics. This is my favorite theory book on my shelf.

The supporters of Big Pharma and the Medical Establishment i.e. the general public, would call this story part of a greater conspiracy theory. Unfortunately it is not theory. It is the sad truth. As long as we support the continued drugging of America by participating in the medical system at all, we cannot expect anything to change. It is not about having medical coverage (Obama); it is about having "health" care rather than "disease" care. It is a good book and a great story. Everyone should read this book and then pass it on to a congressman. The "war on cancer" is our very own killing field. It is a war against a cure - a cure that is forbidden. Our medical doctors share the blame. They facilitate the Jimmy Keller story on a daily basis. Ellen Brown has done a great service by writing this book. Thanks!

It always struck me as odd that one of the so called "cures" or inhibitors of cancer was poison (chemotherapy). Why would you want to poison your body in order to get healthier? "Forbidden Medicine" confirmed my suspicions and put me on to a more logical path.

Jimmy Keller, while not a medical doctor, appears to be gifted in not only detecting cancers, but in eliminating some and putting others into remission. His use of Tumorex to shrink tumors has been an effective natural medicine and is a non-toxic cancer treatment.

After reading "Forbidden Medicine" and given the decision of traditional over non-traditional and non-toxic therapies, there is no doubt in my mind that I would choose the latter. Read the testimonials alone, at the end of the book, and you decide for yourself.

It is a travesty of justice that Jimmy Keller is in jail, while many could be benefiting from his knowledge and the positive results of his treatment. Ellen Hodgson Brown, lawyer and author, has brought to light the injustice of Keller's sentence and has revealed the more sordid side of the pharmaceutical companies and the American Medical Association's attempts to block alternative medicines to treat cancer.

Someday, hopefully soon, conventional medicine (allopathy) may begin to discover how to successfully treat cancer. Until then, there's a lot of money being made by a cancer industry with powerful, immensely well-funded support. "Forbidden Medicine" is about a little, credible guy on the alternative side who helped a lot of sick people, saved lives and who, in so doing, caused the wrath and weight of corporate and federal forces to be arrayed against him. This true story is not only a great read but preserves important information about some little-known alternative health treatments.

I found myself getting really excited while reading Forbidden Medicine. I would be looking forward all day to reading more. Someone should make a movie of this book. Jimmy, once good looking but now disfigured by surgery yet still charismatic, would make a great protagonist. Yet,even better, he is real and his story is true. I began the book for the information on cancer. As I read I would be saying "Yes, I've suspected that all along" like pieces of a puzzle fitting together. The author's writing style is friendly and easy to read. I enjoyed the way we can relate to her and the way she takes us back in time. But it is knowing the truth that makes this story exciting - exciting and sad and frustrating. Thank you, Ms. Brown!

This book is a great read - I simply could not put it down! I have long been aware of the influence of Big Pharma and the medical industry on the suppression of alternative therapies that have potential to alleviate much suffering. This book demonstrates very clearly the extent to which they are prepared to go to exert their power and control over `the little guy', but perhaps more importantly, the clear and present danger of the co-operation of government at all levels in the execution of their control mechanisms.

It is so very important that the public continue to be educated about the insatiable and repulsive greed of multi-national corporations that underscores so many aspects of life, but particularly in health, nutritional and agricultural industries. It will only be when there is a critical mass of informed individuals that there is any hope of these manipulations being overturned. It is so very important that the struggle for the freedom to choose be maintained.

Ellen Brown has done a great job and `Forbidden Medicine' makes a very important contribution towards that end. Yes, it would make a great movie, but The Powers That Be would probably not allow it!

This book was very helpful. It was a good guide to what I can do to help myself when I get a cold or the flu and included ways to protect against contracting it (which I wasn't aware of until I had read it).

I picked up 3 copies for my brothers and sister because they have kids and I think this book can help them understand how to keep their households healthy.

And because of the great timing, I was able to stay healthier this cold and flu season!

Few books written by health professionals can bridge the gap between providing comprehensive advice and information on a health issue and doing so in an interesting, readable and practically applicable manner. Dr. Schachter has achieved this and more. This book is "colds and Flu" for Dummies without treating the reader as one. There is a ton of good, common sense advice for cold and flu prevention through modifying activities of daily living. In addition, he informs the reader about the powerful alternative and nutritional approaches to maintaining everyday health that are available to everyone. This is a book I am happy to have in my reference library.

This is a very readable book that gives you the information your doctor often does not take the time to tell you. The Good Doctor's Guide to Colds and Flu is smart, practical and well researched. Not only does Dr.Schachter explain how to prevent and treat colds, he explains the science behind his advice. I also really liked the way he combined natural and traditional remedies. Excellent job!

I am not really ready to review this book quite yet having just read through it quickly and at this moment, being sick with a cold. But I thought it was urgent to say one thing and then return to edit this review later:

In the chapter called "Treatment" the author recommends (among other things) Zinc nasal spray, using it every two hours. Well I purchased Zicam yesterday for the first time and it seemed to really help... But then I read up about it and learned that there are several lawsuits claiming it caused people to permanently lose their sense of smell and taste after just one use. I believe those people (their stories were very compelling), and will never use a Zinc nasal spray (or gel) again. The reports are not limited only to Zicam, by the way.

To learn more, try looking up the following article from The Los Angeles Times online: "Zinc for colds losing its luster Users of some products reporting loss of smell, taste" By Jane E. Allen Tuesday, March 30, 2004...or "Federal Lawsuit Refocuses Attention on Serious Risks Posed by Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel" dated December 21, 2005...or just do a general search.

To be continued when I'm feeling better.

A very informative and well-written book describing colds, flu, sinusitis, pneumonia and other common winter ailments. Dr. Schachter tells you what's happening with the ailment, how to treat it, and best of all, how to prevent it for the future.

We find this book helpful in our household as parents of young children (and we've had plenty of colds in our house) and recommend it to other parents.

The practical advice (and the clearly defined science behind it) makes The Good Doctor's Guide a very worthhile read for you and your health. A great buy!