Reference Reviews

Doug's Student Reference Room

Alternative Medicine. Edited by David M. Haugen. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2008. 222 p. ISBN 13: 978-0-7377-3820-9; ISBN 10: 0-7377-3820-0. $36.20

Another volume in the Opposing Viewpoints series, Alternative Medicine offers readers multiple viewpoints on the worthiness of complementary and alternative medical treatments. The introduction provides a brief history of alternative medicine in the U.S., noting that “eclectic medicine,” which incorporated herbal cures from Native American tribes into conventional medicine, was popular in the early 1800s. At the end of the nineteenth century, the popularity of “drugless healing,” including chiropractic treatment, naturopathy, and hydropathy, arose in part out of a mistrust of conventional medical practices. A willingness to try whatever works, as well as a dissatisfaction with health care options, the author suggests, did not begin with our current interest in alternative medicine. The first chapter addresses the fundamental question, “Does Alternative Medicine Work?” Three opposing essays attempt to answer this question through the topics of homeopathy, chiropractic, and herbal medicines, respectively. While the essays in this section are well-reasoned and effectively presented, it’s a shame there wasn’t room for a more extensive exploration of the very broad field of alternative medicine, which includes ayurveda, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, massage, and light therapy. The second chapter explores reasons for alternative medicine’s rise in popularity, which range from falling for marketing pitches to individuals seeking more personal control over their own health treatment. The third chapter addresses the question of whether alternative and conventional medical practice can be complementary, and the final chapter looks at the role of government in researching and regulating alternative medicine. Like other Opposing Viewpoints titles, this one includes an overview preface to each chapter, a bibliography of periodical articles at each chapter’s end, contact information and short descriptions of relevant organizations, a bibliography of longer print resources, and a substantial index. Like other pro/con collections dealing with medicine, this volume affords teachers the opportunity to emphasize the importance of investigating all sides of health treatment issues before coming to a decision about what’s best, a lesson that goes far beyond the classroom into everyday life. Recommended for high school and college libraries.

—Doug Achterman