Alternative Medicine and Spinal Cord Injury

by Laurance Johnston PhD

Overview

Studies indicate that 40% of Americans use some form of alternative medicine; for individuals with long-term disabilities, learning about their options is even more critical. Written by the former director of the Spinal Cord Research and Education Foundation of the PVA, this is the first book to cover alternative therapies for spinal cord injury. From acupuncture to laser-based therapies, herbal medicine, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy, magnetic healing, and more, the book empowers readers by:

• Providing clear, reliable information on alternative choices to traditional health care.
  
• Equipping readers to make more informed decisions about their own health care.
• Tailoring information to meet the specific needs of the approximately 450,000 individuals living with a spinal cord injury.
• Providing healing modalities that minimize the risks that are especially relevant to people with SCI, like overmedication, hospitalization, and life-threatening infections.

For those who have been forced to rely on the advice of the traditional medical specialist for their health care, this book opens a broad array of holistic options. It is essential for anyone suffering from a spinal cord injury, their families, friends, caregivers, and health-care providers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934559048
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/01/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Laurance Johnston, PhD became a regulatory scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and later Director, Division of Scientific Review, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NIH). After leaving NIH, he assumed the directorship of the Spinal Cord Research and Education Foundations, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). Supported by PVA, Dr. Johnston currently researches and writes about various alternative, complementary, or innovative therapies that expand the healing spectrum of people with spinal cord injury.

Table of Contents

Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. Eastern Healing
Acupuncture
Scalp Acupuncture
Qigong
Ayurveda
3. Laser-Based Therapies
Laser Therapy&Laserpuncture
Laser-Acupuncture Therapy for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome&Hand Spasticity
4. Natural Health&Vibrational Healing
Homeopathy
Herbal Medicine
Aromatherapy&Essential Oils
Flower Essences
Edgar Cayce's Vision: The Golden Touch
5. Body Work
Chiropractic
Craniosacral Therapy
Chronologically Controlled Developmental Therapy
6. Dolphin-Assisted Therapy
7. Electromagnetic Healing
Magnetic Healing: Overview
Pulsed Electromagnetic Therapy: Diapulse
Ferrite-Ring
Magnets
8. Indigenous Healing
Native-American Healing: Part 1 - Philosophy
Native-American Healing: Part 2 - Healing Modalities
Prayer, Consciousness, Energy,&Spiritual Healing
9. Prayer, Consciousness, Energy&Spiritual Healing: Part 1
Prayer, Consciousness, Energy,&Spiritual Healing: Part 2
Mind Instructor: Consciousness-Based Healing
10. Sci Health Problems
Natural Urinary Tract Health
Natural Prostate Health
Nutritional&Botanical Approaches to Diabetes
Creating Strength through Creatine
11. The Paradigm Expanding
Inert-Gas Therapy
References

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Aaron R. Gilbert, MD (Shirley Ryan AbilityLab)
Description: This is an overview of many of the complementary and alternative medical treatments available to persons with spinal cord injury. The book groups similar types of treatments into chapters. Each type of treatment is reviewed in terms of its theoretic basis, history, evidence, and use in spinal cord injury.
Purpose: The book intends to provide information on various treatments which can be used as an alternative or complement to traditional care for people with spinal cord injuries. It states that it is directed to an audience of those living with spinal cord injury, families, friends, caregivers, and health-care providers. Considering the prevalence, severity, and chronicity of spinal cord injury as a problem, these goals are quite worthy. It is valuable to have a discussion of the different types of treatments in one place and the book meets its objectives. However, the book will mostly be of interest to persons with spinal cord injury and their families. Medical professionals may find it too general.
Audience: According to the author, the book is written for patients, families, friends, caregivers, and healthcare providers. The level of material will probably be too general for most medical professionals. However, it should be of interest to the other target audiences. The author is a credible authority.
Features: The book covers a wide range of complementary and alternative treatments that can be used in the care of persons with spinal cord injury. The scope includes everything from common, well-known treatments (e.g. acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal remedies) to the esoteric (e.g. dolphin assisted therapy, inert-gas therapy). Each treatment modality is explored in terms of history, supporting evidence, theoretical basis, and potential uses. The author makes the volume of material manageable by grouping conceptually similar treatments by chapter. Brief patient vignettes are used to illustrate use of the treatments. While the author does briefly acknowledge some risks associated with alternative medicine, the prevailing message is that alternative treatments are safe, effective, and inexpensive. There is little discussion of the potential side effects or risks of the individual treatments. There is no information on the relative out of pocket expense to consumers.
Assessment: This is a good consumer-oriented book which provides an overview of alternative medicine and its use in spinal cord injury. It pulls together a lot of disparate information and provides an organized approach not covered in other books.

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