Astronomy 336: Week 8

This is the first comprehensive history of alternative medicine in America, examining the major systems that have emerged from 1800 to the present. Whorton offers a fascinating look at alternative health systems such as homeopathy, water cures, Mesmerism, Christian Science, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, and acupuncture. He highlights the birth and growth of each system, and vividly describes both the theories and the therapies developed within each system, including such dubious practices as hour-long walks barefoot in snow or Samuel Thompson's "puking and steaming" regimen.

What exactly is 'alternative' medicine? Is the astonishing popularity of alternative and multicultural medicine really such a recent development? And, given the success story of modern biomedical science, why are alternative and traditional treatments now so fashionable?
This book seeks answers to all these questions and more. Comparing the medical systems of China, India, and the west - both mainstream and alternative - Roberta Bivins shows how medical expertise has migrated from one culture to another. Bivins unearths the roots of today's distinctions between alternative, complementary, and orthodox medicine, and shows how popular interest in medical alternatives - often of exotic origin - is a phenomenon with a long and fascinating pedigree.

"This book has been developed largely from the material included in the books called 'The Medical Follies' and 'The New Medical Follies.' Many of the essays appear here for the first time. The chapters have been arranged so as to trace the logical evolution of quackery from the earliest times to such master minds as exploit public weaknesses today through the mail and on the radio." (From the preface)

The 2nd edition of this highly successful essential clinical reference provides concise, evidence-based information on 69 popular forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and 46 common conditions frequently treated with CAM. Each section has a clear and accessible design for quick decision-making, and includes an analysis of the most up-to-date research available.

Prehistoric humans believed cedar ashes and incantations could cure a head injury. Ancient Egyptians believed the heart was the center of thought, the liver produced blood, and the brain cooled the body. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates was a big fan of bloodletting. Today, we are still plagued by countless medical myths and misconceptions. Bad Medicine sets the record straight by debunking widely held yet incorrect notions of how the body works, from cold cures to vaccination fears.

In light of the health care crisis and the proliferation of HMOs, Dr. Weil has written a new introduction to this groundbreaking study of conventional and alternative medicine. Health and Healing presents the spectrum of alternative healing practices - holistic medicine, homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, Chinese medicine - and outlines how they differ from conventional medicine.

In 19 essays, Weil describes his pursuit of altered states of consciousness as a means of realizing the full potential of the human nervous system. He makes a point of saying that altered states of consciousness are inherent in the nervous system and can be triggered by many sorts of events--dancing, drugs, the sweatbox, eclipse-watching, even vomiting--which cultists can learn to control. Most of the essays deal with drugs; here, Weil emphasizes what he considers to be significant differences between the use of the natural plant vs. the synthesized or purified extract. He also issues strong warnings on Datura (Jimsonweed in the U.S.), has cautionary advice on marijuana, and makes salient remarks about cultural relativism in relation to all drugs.

The Science of Yoga draws on a hidden wealth of science, history, and surprising facts to cut through the fog that surrounds contemporary yoga and to show - for the first time - what is uplifting and beneficial and what is delusional, flaky, and dangerous. The book takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of undiscovered yoga that goes from old libraries in Calcutta to the world capitals of medical research, from little-known archives to spotless laboratories, from sweaty yoga classes with master teachers to the cosy offices of yoga healers. In the process, it shatters myths, lays out unexpected benefits, and offers a compelling vision of how to improve the discipline.

This is the only peer-reviewed journal devoted exclusively to objectively analyzing the claims of "alternative medicine." Its purpose is to apply the best tools of science and reason to determine whether hypotheses are valid and treatments are effective. It will reject no claims because it fits, or fails to fit, some paradigm. It will simply seek justified answers to two questions: "Is it true?" and "Does this treatment work?" Its publication has been endorsed by the Council for Scientific Medicine, a panel that includes 50 prominent physicians and scientists and five Nobel prizewinners.

Spontaneous healing is not a miracle but a fact of biology--the result of the natural healing system that each one of us is born with. Drawing on fascinating case histories as well as medical techniques from around the world, Dr. Andrew Weil shows how spontaneous healing has worked to resolve life-threatening diseases, severe trauma, and chronic pain. Weil discusses: The truth about spontaneous healing and how it interacts with the mind; the foods, vitamins, supplements, and tonic herbs that will help you enhance your innate healing powers; advice on how to avoid environmental toxins and reduce stress; the strengths and weaknesses of conventional and alternative treatments; natural methods to ameliorate common kinds of illnesses; and much more.

In Willpower, researcher Roy F. Baumeister collaborates with New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control. In what became one of the most cited papers in social science literature, Baumeister discovered that willpower actually operates like a muscle: it can be strengthened with practice and fatigued by overuse. Willpower looks to the lives of entrepreneurs, parents, entertainers, and artists-including David Blaine, Eric Clapton, and others-who have flourished by improving their self-control. The lessons from their stories and psychologists' experiments can help anyone.

In Do You Believe in Magic?, medical expert Paul A. Offit, M.D., offers a scathing exposé of the alternative medicine industry, revealing how even though some popular therapies are remarkably helpful due to the placebo response, many of them are ineffective, expensive, and even deadly. Dr. Offit reveals how alternative medicine--an unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks--can actually be harmful to our health. Using dramatic real-life stories, Offit separates the sense from the nonsense, showing why any therapy--alternative or traditional--should be scrutinized. He also shows how some nontraditional methods can do a great deal of good, in some cases exceeding therapies offered by conventional practitioners.

Whether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or are simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity. In this groundbreaking analysis, over thirty of the most popular treatments--acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic, and herbal medicines--are examined for their benefits and potential dangers. Authors Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst also strive to reassert the primacy of the scientific method as a means for determining public health practice and policy.

This book reveals the numerous ways in which moral, ethical and legal principles are being violated by those who provide, recommend or sell ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (CAM). It presents a number of brief scenarios, both hypothetical and real-life, about individuals who use CAM or who fall prey to ethically dubious CAM practitioners. The events and conundrums described in these scenarios could happen to almost anyone. Professor emeritus of complementary medicine Edzard Ernst together with bioethicist Kevin Smith provide a thorough and authoritative ethical analysis of a range of CAM modalities, including acupuncture, chiropractic, herbalism, and homeopathy.

Self-proclaimed pit-bulls of truth, Penn & Teller use their trademark humor, knowledge of carnival tricks, and hidden cameras to blow the lid off popular notions about second hand smoke, self-help products, diet claims, TV psychics and more.

v. 1. P.E.T.A.; Safety hysteria; The business of love; War on drugs -- v. 2. Recycling; Profanity; Yoga, tantric sex, etc.; Fountain of youth -- v. 3. Death, Inc.; 12-stepping; The Bible : fact or fiction?; Exercise vs. genetics; Hypnosis.

Penn and Teller debunk a number of dubious enterprises, including the historical, religious, medical and ethical arguments associated with circumcision; the hysteria of the traditional family in America; conspiracy theories; the big business of life coaching; the dark side of sainthood; the myth of college guaranteeing future happiness; the latest on big brother; the big business of hair; gun control; the big business of parapsychology; the myth of endangered species; miracles; and the concept of "the best" in modern society.

The Boy Scouts; Prostitution; Death penalty ; Cryptozoology -- Ground zero; Pet love; Reparations; Manners -- Numbers; Abstinence. A humorous collection of taboo topics using the duo's trademark humor, knowledge of carnival tricks, as well as hidden cameras, and blatant confrontation.

This book provides readers with a variety of "reality-checking" tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity. It integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alike, and introduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implications. It also provides an innovative "Critical Thinker's Toolkit," a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and more, and explores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claim.

Bausell provides an engaging look at the scientific evidence for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and at the logical, psychological, and physiological pitfalls that lead otherwise intelligent people--including researchers, physicians, and therapists--to endorse these cures. He explores the remarkable phenomenon of the placebo effect--the biological and chemical evidence, how it works in the body, and why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect will inevitably produce false results. Readers will come away with a solid understanding of good vs. bad research practice and a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest miracle cure, be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.