Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness
Adding to their previous works on headache and cancer, the publishers of Alternative Medicine offer this new title in their series on alternative approaches to medical conditions. Although the title gives the impression that all three illnesses are treated equally, the bulk of the book is on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The text lacks significant coverage of manual therapies for fibromyalgia, and the coverage of environmental illness is just as superficial. The editors rely on anecdotal cases from 50 alternative medicine practitioners to describe nontraditional testing methods, detoxification regimen, and herbal, nutritional, or homeopathic treatments. Psychological factors involved with the disorders are briefly addressed as well. The introduction states that the treatments have not been "investigated, approved, or endorsed by any government or regulatory agency" and that the publishers have no financial interest in any clinic, physician, or product. But small-print sidebar icons are repeatedly used to lead readers to a product, service, clinic, or physician, and the information has the tone of an advertisement. Illustrations are interspersed throughout. Given the practitioner-driven treatments described, this is not a self-help book, but general readers frustrated with conventional medicine's approach to these illnesses may want this book in their public library.?Lisa McCormick, Health Sciences Lib., Jewish Hosp., CincinnatiCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.