Lecturer in Naturopathy, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia – City East Campus, Adelaide SA, Australia
Over the past decade, increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and its integration into mainstream health care, has raised questions about the level of evidence for the safety and efficacy of these interventions. This text is one of an emerging number about evidence-based CAM, and is claimed by the authors to provide readers with a ‘one stop shop' on some of the main CAM interventions in Australia. The book contains three sections and targets practitioners and consumers of CAM.
The first part of the book provides an overview of CAM, and an introduction to several complementary modalities, such as herbal medicine, nutrition and aromatherapy. The second section of the text discusses a number of CAM clinical practice issues, including integrative medicine, safety, preoperative care and cancer. These first two sections introduce CAM and integrative health care for nurses and other health practitioners. The final section of the book presents abridged monographs of 120 CAM products, including nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils and medicinal foods. Each of these monographs includes details about the history, chemistry, actions, clinical evidence, dosage, and safety of the intervention, as well relevant practice points and frequently asked questions. The appendices are on a CD and include a detailed list of herb-nutrient-drug interactions that is a useful desktop reference for healthcare practitioners.