Trick or Treatment or Hunger Free Forever

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine

Author: Simon Singh

The truth about the potions, lotions, pills and needles, pummeling and energizing that lie beyond the realms of conventional medicine.

Shether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or are simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity. In this groundbreaking analysis, over thirty of the most popular treatments—acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic, and herbal medicines—are examined for their benefits and potential dangers. Questions answered include: What works and what doesn't? What are the secrets, and what are the lies? Who can you trust, and who is ripping you off? Can science decide what is best, or do the old wives' tales really tap into ancient, superior wisdom?

In their scrutiny of alternative and complementary cures, authors Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst also strive to reassert the primacy of the scientific method as a means for determining public health practice and policy. 16 illustrations.

The Washington Post - Susan Okie

For anyone who has ever wondered about the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of such alternative therapies, Trick or Treatment by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst offers fascinating and clearly presented information.

Publishers Weekly

Noted science writer Singh and British professor of complementary medicine Ernst offer a reasoned examination of the research on acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine and other alternative treatments. Singh (Fermat's Last Theorem) and Ernst work hard to be objective, but their conclusion is that these therapies are largely worthless. As they examine the research on various alternative therapies, the authors explore the principles of evidence-based medicine on which their conclusions are based, including clinical trials and the placebo effect; they also explore related ethical issues. The authors report that many patients will improve with any alternative remedy-but no more than those given a placebo. Exceptions exist; some herbal remedies (e.g., St. John's wort, echinacea) can be helpful though not always advisable, and chiropractors can relieve low back pain under certain circumstances. This is a stimulating and informative account that will be indispensable to anyone considering an alternative treatment, though it may not dissuade true believers. 16 illus. (Aug.)

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James Swanton - Library Journal

Exaggerated claims, misleading advertisements, and false information about complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) make it virtually impossible to protect the public from today's snake oils readily available, inter alia, by Internet, TV, radio, and pharmacy shelves. Science journalist Singh (Big Bang) and Ernst, billed as the UK's first professor of complementary medicine, seek to provide important, up-to-date research about CAM so that readers can make informed health-care decisions. Quoting Hippocrates that science begets knowledge and opinion, ignorance, the authors explain in clear, comprehensible language what works and what does not, what is good evidence-based therapy, and what is no more than puffery. Acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic and herbal medicine receive extensive coverage as therapeutics for treating disease. A "rapid guide" appendix to CAM summarizes the background, the evidence, and scientific conclusion for 36 additional popular therapies, including aromatherapy, ayurvedic tradition, colonic irrigation, food supplements, hypnotherapy, magnet therapy, massage therapy, spiritual healing, and traditional Chinese medicine. The authors have interspersed bits of enlightening medical history with the scientific evidence supporting their theses. This solid piece of reportage includes the reasoning behind clinical trials and science methodologies; highly recommended for all health-care libraries, for general and professional readers.

Look this: The Reagan I Knew or Sarah Palin

Hunger Free Forever: The New Science of Appetite Control

Author: Michael T Murray

From two leading authorities on appetite control, obesity, natural medicine, and food comes a breakthrough in getting healthy and staying slim without starving.

Millions have spent years searching for the perfect diet, one that enables them to lose weight without going hungry, and now they can finally find it — and make it work for life — in Hunger Free Forever.

This blockbuster book gives readers the secret to feeling full while staying fit, revealing for the first time ever the newly discovered PG X® "super fiber." Simply by taking PG X before or during a meal, readers can painlessly shed pounds without ever feeling starved, because PGX creates and maintains a satisfying sense of fullness. Based on sound clinical research, the Hunger Free program restores normal appetite regulation, eliminating the trap of yo-yo dieting. With plenty of easy-to-prepare recipes, food plans, and valuable information, Hunger Free Forever teaches readers how to eliminate food cravings and never feel deprived.

By retraining appetite and metabolism, readers will gain the power they need to change their unhealthy relationships with food forever.

Susan B. Hagloch - Library Journal

Lose weight without going hungry? We all thought it was impossible, until we began to explore the possibility of using fiber-rich foods to fill us up without packing on the calories. InovoBiologic Inc. used studies conducted at the University of Toronto to produce PolyGlycopleX™ (PGX), a water-soluble "super fiber" that absorbs 600 times its weight in water. Lyon is one of the doctors who developed the product, and together with Murray (The Condensed Encyclopedia of Healing Foods), he here presents a weight-loss plan that involves ingesting PGX in tandem with foods that raise the metabolic rate and improve the body's ability to utilize its own insulin, a process called thermogenesis. The plan also includes menus and recipes. Though following the diet might induce weight loss, the added fiber may not deter a determined nosher. Also, PGX will create severe blockage unless the user is careful to drink sufficient fluid. Not a necessary purchase, but there could be demand around the holidays. [Visit author Murray online-Ed.]