Review: Skeptical..
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2014
Internal Medicine was written by Scott Basto, who's been working as a chiropractor for many years.  This book was recommended to me by a friend, so I thought I'd give it a look and, upon reading the acknowledgements, immediately my woo-meter started going off.  I'm a skeptic at heart and seeing the phrase "Applied Kinesiology" as  Mr. Basto was thanking some of his colleagues immediately raised my eyebrow.  Reading through the book, you see that Mr. Basto mentions that he's studied alternative healing methods over his 30 year career.Some of those methods, such as shiatsu and physical therapy do have practical application and are demonstrably helpful for those suffering from chronic physical pain.  However, most of the other disciplines that Mr. Basto lists -- like the aforementioned kinesiology, meridian therapy (which is also known, I believe, as EFT or "tapping" therapy) and polarity therapy -- have not yet been determined to be particularly efficacious or helpful.  Mr. Basto does write from a place of genuine concern for people, and it does sound as though he does want to help make people's lives better, but he only devotes a few brief paragraphs to diet and exercise.The majority of the book is devoted to "strengthening your internal systems" by applying manual pressure and massage of various types to certain areas of your body.  The process to discover your "problem areas" is quite thorough, but judging by the size of the list, it looks as though it would be very time consuming to undertake.  If someone believes in this type of practice and wants to improve their health, I suppose any amount of time is worth it, if it means their complaints can be improved.  I won't be poking and prodding at myself to see what my weaknesses are, but for those who do believe in the efficacy of these alternative medicines, you should certainly give this book a read.