[.ca] Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Multiple ... (ISBN 1932603549)

This Book Is Not My First Choice:
Allen Bowling, MD, in his book Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis, is barking up the wrong tree. I don't think he is the one that should be writing this book. He writes to his targeted audience as if we are stupid, and must continually be warned to watch out for bogus practitioners, or methods that have not been proven with scientific studies. He cautions us to always discuss our treatment plans with our physicians, and to always consider conventional medicine first. Why would this be? We all know that most physicians would scoff at any "alternative" treatment, and the "arsenal" that most doctors rely on in their treatments is almost exclusively pharmaceutical drugs. (Although I recently had a doctor suggest to me that I should begin supplementing with Vitamin D.) It is because I want an alternative that I have purchased this book. If a person had never heard of any alternative medicine in their life, and wanted an introduction to what is out there, this book would be the one. There is lots of useful information contained therein (example - "Some claims exist that aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in soft drinks, causes multiple sclerosis or worsens MS-associated symptoms." That was something new I learned, and I have since deleted all products containing aspartame from my diet.), and also a lot of not-so-useful information that comes across as slightly disparaging of alternative and/or complementary medicine. Our health is ultimately up to us, whether we have MS or not. I have MS, and I have a great desire to learn as much about MS as possible. So to that end, this book has a place on my shelf. Here comes the BUT... if a person was to only read ONE book on MS, I would recommend "Multiple Sclerosis, A Self-Help Guide to Its Management" by Judy Graham instead.