Alternative Healthcare

This important book addresses the vast array of treatments and philosophies that postulate supernatural phenomena as the key to health and disease. Jack Raso combines his own personal experience with "alternative" healthcare, in-depth research on the wide variety of methodologies, and an educational background in health science and nutrition to simplify the often confusing field of "alternative" healing techniques. Raso begins with an account of his own personal odyssey from believer to skeptic, demonstrating how easily a person raised in a devoutly religious tradition accepts supernatural explanations and mystical approaches to physical ailments. Raso examines the philosophic underpinnings of "alternative" medicine as well as such techniques as hands-on healing, Qigong, and faith healing. He shows that, whatever the specific philosophy, the common denominator is a rejection of the scientific approach of modern medicine in favor of a belief in paranormal forces that influence the well-being of mind and body. The final section is a firsthand account of Raso's many revealing visits to various "alternative" medical practitioners. The book concludes with an encyclopedic glossary of "alternative" healthcare terminology that explains to the uninitiated the formidable jargon so often used by proponents of "alternative" treatments.