- About the Book

OWN YOUR HEALTH:
Choosing the Best from Alternative & Conventional Medicine
by Roanne Weisman with Brian Berman, M.D.
Published by Health Communications, Inc.

Almost everyone is concerned about health these days, but the more information that is available, the more confusing it all becomes. Conventional medicine? Millions of people are dissatisfied with the care they receive from their doctors, including: The lack of personal attention; drug side effects; contradicting advice on diet, cancer treatments and hormone replacement, the list goes on.

Alternative medicine? Millions have turned to it: yoga, vitamins and herbs, traditional Chinese medicine and others. But are they safe?

So what really works -- and what doesn't? How can we live longer, healthier lives? How can we draw on the best from both alternative and conventional medicine and, yes, own our health? The answers are here in one volume that breaks through the confusion of how to reduce stress, prevent heart disease, treat chronic pain or illness, combat depression, fight cancer, manage menopause, and much more.

Written by an award-winning medical writer and the distinguished physician in charge of one of the first complementary medicine programs supported by the National Institutes of Health, this is an indispensable resource for understanding the best of both approaches. Containing interviews with -- and stories from -- more than 100 doctors, practitioners and patients, and filled with practical advice, easy-to-follow tips, reference sources and Web sites, this is one book on health every family needs.

"For readers interested in pursuing alternative treatments, this is a first-rate guide."
-- Publishers Weekly

"I recommend this book to all people who want to know how to navigate the confusing world of alternative medicine and choose sensible therapies that work."
-- Andrew T. Weil, M.D. author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health

"We learn through stories even more than facts, and especially through stories that illuminate and inspire. This book helps all of us to see what is possible -- when we open our eyes to the latest information on the world's medical traditions, when we open our hearts to our own healing potential."
--James S. Gordon, MD, Clinical Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at Georgetown Medical School; Former Chair, White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy

"Own Your Health is truly a landmark book in integrative medicine. It combines moving, personal stories with the latest scientific research in alternative medicine. Most importantly, Dr. Brian Berman is one of the few international authorities with the depth of both clinical and research experience to accomplish this task. With this practical guide, he and Ms. Weisman have elegantly articulated the potency of individual empowerment and informed choice as the cornerstone of health and healing."
--Kenneth R. Pelletier, Ph.D., M.D., clinical professor of medicine, University of Arizona and University of Maryland Schools of Medicine; former director, NIH Complementary and Alternative Medicine Program at Stanford School of Medicine; author, The Best Alternative Medicine: What Works, What Does Not

"Own Your Health is an impressive combination of the inspirational, the factual and the potential for integrative medicine. By telling the stories of patients who became 'medical pioneers,' determined to discover how to choose the best medical treatments from both worlds of medicine, this book is a welcome breakthrough and valuable tool for all patients and their doctors.
--H. Eugene Lindsey Jr., M.D., cardiologist, internist and chairman of the board, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates

"A responsible book for getting the best out of medicine. Inspiring yet grounded in science, Own Your Health is for everyone."
--Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., director, Samueli Institute; former director, Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health; coeditor, Essentials of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

"Own Your Health is a book with several important messages. For patients it is an exciting, beautifully written and well-informed guide to alternative medical strategies. In particular it offers direct first hand experience of several of these treatment options, with a careful discussion of the contribution each approach made possible. As a teacher of medicine I also found the volume important. Many of the comments are of great significance in a medical world increasingly incarcerated by technology, and in which the individual contribution of the physician as healer is being neglected. Finally it is essential for all physicians to be made aware of the other therapeutic routes available outside their normal professional experience - and this book eloquently describes many of the additional advantages of a clinical practice that integrates these.
--David V. Morris, MA, Associate Professor of Medicine (Reproductive Endocrinology), McGill University, Canada; Member, Royal College of Physicians

Copyright ©2003 by Roanne Weisman and Brian Berman. All rights reserved. Reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Health Communications, Inc. Please feel free to duplicate and distribute this file as long as its contents are not changed and this copyright notice is intact.