Holistic and Integrated Medicine Books

Integrating Complementary Medicine into Health Systems, a 725-page ASPEN PUBLICATIONS text, is a remarkable compilation of strategies, articles, how-to, and opinion which should prove to be the enduring core text for CAM integrators and would-be integrators. This definitive work is a labor of love from editor NANCY FAASS, who managed to bring between two covers exceptional information from diverse, hands-on workers who are all leaders in the multi-stakeholder, integration undertaking - from research to coding, from network-based CAM coverage to hospital-based CAM delivery, from present utilization to a vision of optimal placement in a patient-centered system. For newcomers, Faass wisely includes a half-dozen sections on leading CAM modalities. But even for seasoned old-timers in CAM, this volume will be repeatedly pulled off the shelf as a valuable resource. Among the contributors are long-time integrators like Roger Jahnke, Wayne Jonas, Marty Rossman, Sita Ananth, Debra Canfield, Tracy Gaudet, William Stewart, Chuck Si mpson, Andrew Weil, Eileen Stretch, Karen Hohenstein, Laura Patton, Dean Ornish, Carlo Calabrese, Deborah Grandinetti, Jeffrey Bland, Michael Cohen, Linda Bedell-Logan, John Weeks, Melinna Gianinni, Christopher Foley, Marla Orth, Mary Jo Kreitzer, Tom Trompeter, and many more. In total: 67 chapters, encompassing a total of over 130 distinct contributions. Buy this one. $125.

Integrating Complementary Medicine into Health Systems, a 725-page ASPEN PUBLICATIONS text, is a remarkable compilation of strategies, articles, how-to, and opinion which should prove to be the enduring core text for CAM integrators and would-be integrators. This definitive work is a labor of love from editor NANCY FAASS, who managed to bring between two covers exceptional information from diverse, hands-on workers who are all leaders in the multi-stakeholder, integration undertaking - from research to coding, from network-based CAM coverage to hospital-based CAM delivery, from present utilization to a vision of optimal placement in a patient-centered system. For newcomers, Faass wisely includes a half-dozen sections on leading CAM modalities. But even for seasoned old-timers in CAM, this volume will be repeatedly pulled off the shelf as a valuable resource. Among the contributors are long-time integrators like Roger Jahnke, Wayne Jonas, Marty Rossman, Sita Ananth, Debra Canfield, Tracy Gaudet, William Stewart, Chuck Si mpson, Andrew Weil, Eileen Stretch, Karen Hohenstein, Laura Patton, Dean Ornish, Carlo Calabrese, Deborah Grandinetti, Jeffrey Bland, Michael Cohen, Linda Bedell-Logan, John Weeks, Melinna Gianinni, Christopher Foley, Marla Orth, Mary Jo Kreitzer, Tom Trompeter, and many more. In total: 67 chapters, encompassing a total of over 130 distinct contributions. Buy this one...

This book is, indeed, the second edition of the book originally entitled `The Four Pillars of Healing'. If you read that book, then you have read this one: the only differences (besides the lurid cover) seem to be a couple of new appendices and a change to an existing one, and an extensive questionnaire to discover one's mediators, antecedents, triggers, and effects (terms explained in the book). But, since the first edition came out in 1997 and this one in 1998, the references are still quite current.

Basically, Dr. Galland is making the point that modern medicine has lost its way, and is now doing much damage in some cases, and little good in many others. Of course, this is a point rather stridently made by many authors advancing alternatives to the offerings of the medical establishment, such as meditation, acupuncture, herbal therapies, dietary supplements, and so on. Dr. Galland is sympathetic to many of these alternatives, but what is different about his approach is that he wishes to bring them into the fold, as it were, rather than break from the flock. He was trained as a physician in the usual way, a way he now feels is wrong, that modern medicine is expending much effort to solve the wrong problems.

Healing sick people by observing them, interacting with them, and restoring their balance is the foundation of medical art, but somewhere in the 19th century that approach got displaced when microorganisms began to be associated with disease. It was a short step to claim that these microorganisms "caused" the disease - one germ, one disease. Before long a new type of doctor began to dominate medical care, the "specialist". Specialists were trained to think of a disease as an entity with characteristics that were independent of the person it happened to be afflicting. They specifically rejected the view that individual differences mattered, except in a very superficial way. They were emotionally and intellectually ill-equipped to deal with the messiness of real people whose internal ecologies and external circumstances actually determined whether they got sick, and how it showed up. Many people are infected with the TB bacillus, but only a few get TB. And so for so many other diseases.

Dr. Galland believes that one's diet, exercise, habits, emotional life, physical environment, as well as one's intrinsic makeup and history (even one's developmental history in the womb!) should all be factored into any diagnosis, to interpret symptoms and suggest treatment. This he calls "patient-centered" diagnosis, to distinguish is from current practice, which might be called "disease-centered" diagnosis. He believes that many problems that are today attacked with a variety of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, or, more radically, with surgery, are really the result of imbalances in a person's life. Some of these, such as diet, are rather easily correctable, and simple changes in eating habits, perhaps with a course of diet supplements, can reverse the course of what had been tenacious maladies. Other problems, such as stress or loneliness, can impair immune function, but may sometimes be difficult to correct, intertwined as they are with a person's entire way of life. This book has many case studies that bring home the reality of all these issues, and form an entertaining narrative backbone to the discussion.

In general, the author favors the restoration of balance over bringing in the big medical guns. But sometimes the guns are necessary. It may happen, for example, that a person has allergies or nagging illness that result from an undetected (because unchecked-for) parasite, acquired years earlier. In this case, the doctor might prescribe a course of antibiotics to kill the parasite, along with dietary supplements such as live lactobacillus to restore the intestinal flora the antibiotic will also decimate.

This book gives good guidance in eating, in particular, and suggests methods to avoid the health hazards and toxins endemic to modern life. And for issues he does not discuss in detail he often refers to a book that does, so a reader can learn more if he or she is interested. Dr. Galland has no answers, really, to the social and emotional barrenness that afflicts many of us. (How could he?) But he observes that our health is as much a effect of our emotional well-being as it is of anything physical that happens to us.

What made this book so impressive to me was the references that backed up virtually everything the author said. And these were multiple references in the scientific literature to controlled studies. So the meta-message of this book is that you do not have to check your critical faculties at the door when you go in for an holistic approach to health.

This book is the exactly the same as his previous book "The Four Pillars of Healing", just in paperback and with a new cover. You save a few bucks by getting this paperback edition.

I am a health professional who worked for 21 years in a hospital, much of it in an intensive care unit. I saw many patients leave the hospital in much better condition than they arrived, and I assumed they were "cured". Eighteen months ago I moved to Home Care in the same community. I have been very disturbed by the poor medical management of chronic illness and the ineffectiveness of many family physicians and specialists in communicating with patients and care givers. My confidence in the medical establishment has been severely shaken and some days it is hard not to pass my cynicism on the my clients. Dr. Leo Galland's book, The Four Pillars of Healing, answered my questions and concerns in an outstanding way. The book is very well written and I read it from cover to cover in one long sitting. He supports his ideas with personal experience and lots of scientific research. His historical perspective on medical care was fascinating. I would love to be able to supply this book to all 300 doctors in our local medical academy. I have read several books on alternative medicine lately, but this one is the most balanced in the relationship of conventional and alternative approaches.

I read this book to learn more about Dr. Galland's style, medical practice, and his recommendations for those with inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Galland has done some research with positive findings as to the success of diet (especially the SCDiet) and IBD, and lists Elaine Gottschall's book, Breaking The Vicious Cycle, as a self-help resource.

Dr. Galland's book provides valuable insight into modern medicine and the need for patient-centric health care. He describes the evolution of medical history and how we arrived at the current dilemma. Through today's science of reductionism, reinforced by medical specialists, the connections between symptoms, underlying problems, and root causes are often lost. Galland's goal is to work to heal the patient, not just the disease. I agree with Galland's four pillars (positive, worthwhile relationships; diet and exercise; one's environment; detoxification). The reader is presented with many patient case scenarios, how they were treated by other doctors, and the benefits they received upon seeking Dr. Galland's patient-centric integrative medical care. Anyone who is looking for more answers and wants to take a more active role in their healing will be well served to read this book.

I am a healthcare worker, and am familiar with the problems in the way people view their health and expecting their doctor to "make them better". This book helps to outline what is needed in your life to truely improve general health, along with some of the pitfalls that we all encounter. I am ordering another copy for my local library, because I lend mine out more than want to.

This book is great because it taught me, a lay person, about medicine. And it taught me, in a very scientific way, about what is healthy, and what is not. I believe this should be required reading in every High School.

Leo Galland's book is a must have. It is the best owners manual for the human body. I started reading the book two years ago during my chemo treatments at the oncologist office. His information on nutritions has lead me to eat my fruits and vegetables daily. I exercise 3 time a week and keep my stress to a minimum. This book is a crash course on preventitive medicine. He has the best advice on how to stay healthy and make sure that your doctor doesn't kill you with meds.

This book is very informative and looks at women's health from a female point of view. Situations common to women's lives are taken into account and their impact on women's health is examined. Very interesting, you'll find things you have not considered before.

Good approach to the all-encompassing mind, body and and spirit of women, but needs to go further to be a prope textbook. Consider Gangi's view of holistic health and incorporate it with this one.

This book really opens up one's self-awareness. It is a way of life to be taught and learned. I swear and live by this book when it comes to my health and wellness. Highly recommended for any motovated woman.

I have arthirtis of the spine (ankylosing sponditis) and been told by doctors that there is no cure just PT. Dr Murray gives you an explanation of what went wrong, (while my disease is genetic why doesn't everyone with the gene get it?), nutritional vitamins and finally a diet to help and somewhat reverse the tide. Has it helped? In the two weeks I bought this book it has; my pain is less, much less, and while I am not totally faithful I am beginning to become a devout convert. If you have arthrits, ulcerative colitis (ra and uc are genetically related) or uncontrolled allergies, this man knows how to handle them. I've searched everywhere and he has the answer. Get this and the Balch Natural Remedies book and mate, you'll be right :-)

I am 40 and suffer from ankylosing sponditis (a form of rheumatoid arthritis) and before I found Dr Murray my back pain was intolerable to the degree I seriously wondered if I would ever have a pain free life again. Dark thoughts entered my head and I grew despondent. Then I found this book in a local bookstore and said, Why not, what do I have to lose? Well pain was the biggest thing :-). I read the book and have in the past 3 months followed somewhat faithfully. It is high on vitamins/minerals and that's where the cost comes in BUT when you figure what pain killers promise and what they deliver it's worth it. I am virtually pain free 75% of the time, sure I have relapses but I have hope and I believe I will be happy and painfree again much less deformed. I love this man and I love this book; what he has done for me goes beyond words. He is answer to a prayer and I thank him for that. He covers all types of arthritis from osteo to ra to as. He has alot of practical suggestions and most importantly it works.

The purpose of this book is not to weigh the evidence from biomedical and biopsychosocial models of health; it is to describe the under-represented view of biopsychosocial medicine from various perspectives, all of which purposefully focus on biopsychosocial concerns. Since Engel's description of a biopsychosocial model of health, very few have taken the time to investigate what this model may look like in practice. And this is not a concern only for psychiatry/psychology, a point made in Peter White's compilation. All of healthcare must consider how a new model may be implemented, but it is vital to remember that discussion will always take place outside of the clinic by those within the profession who can or will make the time for analytical discourse. This text aims to evaluate various perspectives of the biopsychsocial model to see if it more adequately represents the modern realities of healthcare, and if it does, then we can decide how to implement a new model. In healthcare, this is a painstakingly slow process; most practitioners will not make the time for it. This is not a fault. As the biopsychosocial model is only 30 years old, it is far too soon to expect that practitioners reasonably understand how such a paradigm shift may manifest itself in the clinic. Give this text a chance. It is will worth the read.

For the past two decades medicine has been engulfed in an ideological firestorm that is less about actual patients and their wellbeing than it is about professional promotion and a backlash against a medical model that does not give psychiatrists and psychologists a starring role in healthcare.

Although the editors and contributors of this book pay lip service to the concept of "integrated medicine" the biological portion of the biopsychosocial model is generally limited to the biological psychiatry (neuroscience and neurobiology) paradigm, which focuses primarily on the HPA axis.

This book gives a good overview of the thinking of one side of the raging battle in psychiatry as to how mental illness is defined, what is normal, and what is organic disease. However, I didn't find it to be balanced or mindful.

Just as there is more to medicine than mere mechanics, there is also more to medicine than the "mind." How such polarization is helpful to patients is not adequately addressed, possibly because the wellbeing of patients is not the real focus.

Although a number of organically classified diseases were used as examples, once again, balance was missing. When something is controversial, balance is presenting both sides, yet little or no attention was given to the large bodies of scientific research objectively refuting the stated views of the contributors.

If you want a good overview from a very specific point of view, you will find it here, but it essentially remains a book of self-promotion.