Medicine complementari

There are a number of books about complementary therapies for nurses, but these mostly take a therapy-led approach. This new book, written by an experienced nurse, health visitor and teacher, uses a problem-based approach that relates to conditions presenting in everyday practice. Childrens health, psychological and social needs are qualitatively and quantitatively different from those of adults and the author has for this reason addressed not only medical conditions but also psycho-social development problems. Well-referenced and evidence-based, this book is an essential companion for all healthcare professionals who treat children and young adults.

This book provides a clear and authoritative summary of the results and clinical implications of research in spiritual healing, energy medicine and the effects of intentionality. Recent publications in the "Archives of Internal Medicine", the "Western Journal of Medicine", "JAMA", and the "Annals of Internal Medicine" have focused on prayer, distant healing and spiritual healing. Therapeutic touch is taught in many nursing schools, and laying-on-of-hands and mental healing are of great interest to the public. But, what is the science behind these practices? Is there any research? Is it any good? What are the implications of this research for medicine and science? How should investigation of spiritual healing proceed, if at all? These are the questions this book explores. This book derives from a project sponsored by the Lawrence S. Rockefeller for the purpose of rigorously evaluating the science of spiritual healing. To produce the book, some of the best researchers in these areas were asked to use a standard set of quality criteria for the evaluation of science and clinical research. A conference of scientists, physicians, ministers and others then reviewed and discussed this literature and addressed methods for their further evaluation. The conference was organised by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Duke University, Wake Forest University and the Institute of Noetic Sciences. The evidence level of these areas was rated using standards established by government groups, and published in "JAMA" for classification of the amount and quality of evidence in medicine. Each area was summarised, and clinical implications identified. Recommendations for future research and investigating the impact of healing practices in the clinical setting were also made.

This popular, evidence-based overview of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) emphasizes clinical research, analyzes the effectiveness of each therapy, and presents practical information on how these therapies can be used to treat health conditions and diseases. It not only acquaints the reader with information about CAM, but provides evidence for the effectiveness of various therapies used to treat medical conditions ranging from allergies to psychiatric conditions - in all populations relevant to CAM including children, women and the elderly. Summary tables embedded throughout highlight clinical data, statistics, and major research findings. More thorough documentation in this edition is achieved through new tables and added commentary on the quality of studies, making research findings more relevant and useful.