Alternative medicine : an objective assessment /

This muddled attempt from the American Medical Association might as easily have been subtitled "The AMA Bends Over Backwards To Please Everybody." It is a repackaged collection of articles published between 1997 and 1999 in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) or the Archives series of journals (each addressing a particular specialty but tied together by the AMA imprimatur); only the introductory and overview essays are new. Two-thirds of the pieces are devoted to sociocultural-historical reporting, i.e., Who uses alternative medicine and why? The remaining third are reports of investigations of therapies, ranging from barely controlled convenience samples to randomized controlled trials. Evidently, when choosing which trials to cover, the editor made a desperate attempt at impartiality, as the results are roughly 50-50, positive or negative. (What a coincidence!) Thus, despite some excellent articlesÄChapters 73 and 74, which discuss the scientific investigation of alternative medicine, are highly recommended reading for consumersÄsome definitely substandard work is included hereÄfor balance, it would seem. This volume should be read and considered in non-homeopathic doses, for only in its entirety is there any value. For larger medical collections.ÄCatherine Arnott Smith, Ctr. for Biomedical Informatics, Univ. of Pittsburgh (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.