Today, the reality is that we need to start taking responsibility for our health. If we think we can swallow a pill for every ailment we have, we are still living in the dark ages. Granted, it's not easy learning about alternative health care and distinguishing what is valid and what is not among the conflicting viewpoints of the medical world. Which is why I really appreciated Unbreak Your Health.

It's a reference guide that lists and briefly explains complementary and alternative therapies. I thought I knew a thing or two about this topic but I discovered, not one, not two, but many therapies I never heard before. I have to admit, some I am still sceptical about, most are growing in popularity and some are downright fascinating.

Smith organizes these therapies into three categories: Body, Mind and Energy/Spirit. For each therapy listed, Smith includes the web site URL so the reader can do added research, a summary of what each therapy involves with a brief history of its beginnings, and user comments or testimonials.

What I enjoyed most as I read through this book is that I learned what new technology is discovering about looking at the whole person versus just the symptoms in curing illnesses. Right in his introduction, Smith states: “The explosion of research in neuroscience is changing the meaning of the expression 'It's all in your head' because technology is showing how the mind is related to and controls the body. We're moving quickly from simple correlation of the mind-body connection to discovering the actual mechanism of interaction.”

That's exciting news! Here's an example of this. Under the heading of Energy Medicine, it speaks about the medical breakthrough of Dr. Bjorn E.W. Nordenstrom whose discovery that the electrical circuit that transports ions and electrons throughout the body helps maintain the body's equilibrium and healing processes by influencing cellular structure and function. This led to the successful treatment of cancer patients with electrochemical therapy (EchT) using Dr, Nordenstrom's BCEC concepts.

Unbreak Your Health opens your eyes to the possibility of better health, and may even help you discover a therapy that is just right for you and will heal you. There are other options to conventional medicine. You want to know what they are? This is the perfect reference. It's easy to read, well organized, and a smart addition to any home library. ( )

I've been in the alternative health world for a long time so was very interested in perusing this book. I was pleasantly surprised how thorough and concise Alan Smith's book is. Concise, yet, full of very valuable and researched material, this book gives the reader glimpse into a variety of therapies available to enhance health.

I can see this book being of great importance to those entering the field of alternative health, or those wanting to know what alternative/complementary therapies are available and what they consist of. The options are plentiful and it doesn't look like Alan missed any.

Great resource, a must-have in the library, and informative, Alan gives the reader options to healing. Highly recommend. ( )

Medicine that Heals you. Learn the alternatives A-Z

Surprise after surprise...very comprehensive!

UnBreak you Health by Alan E. Smith will wow you at the number of alternative therapies in his book.
As a practitioner of TCM, I thought I heard of them all---boy, was I wrong.

I was delighted to see how many modalities I was not familiar with. He breaks the book into health concepts, working with the body, the mind, and spirit with a thorough overview of each. He offers useful, “user” comments.
His level of familiarity with energy healing arts is astounding and is a great introduction for those who seek basic information and understanding.
He tells how these therapies are used and gives some solid, basic information about each. His chapter on insurance opens your eyes to being a proactive patient and not relying on what is paid for you. Each of us is in charge of our health and he offers non-traditional ways to resolve your health issues.
A lot of research went into this.
I enjoyed it and will use it as a referral source for my patients.
Well done.
This was a complimentary review copy. ( )

OMG. I can't believe there's a market for this kind of thing. It's nothing more than an e-directory for the lazy or the technologically inept. Call it Googling for Luddites. I received this book through Early Reviewers and to say I was disappointed doesn’t even come close.

This is less a book than a poorly-organized compilation of second-hand material culled mostly from public websites. There is no attempt to historically situate the rise and development of alternative health therapies, nor place them in any kind of coherent context. Now that would have been an interesting read. Given there is precious little medical evidence in support of even the most conservative of such treatment modalities, one would hope that a book claiming to be the “complete guide to complementary and alternative therapies” ranging from “the newest technology to ancient therapies” would provide readers with some meaningful analysis of their relative worth and hopefully steer them clear of bad medicine. But instead of taking this approach, Alan E. Smith presents a hodgepodge assortment of claims and suppositions, each more ridiculous than the next. Like the worst New Age drivel, Smith tries to rationalize his hyped-up claims by invoking science while simultaneously evading notions like, oh, evidentiary proof, declaring that because these practices (very loosely defined) “are based on a completely different paradigm (energy) they operate on different principles than the standard chemical model of the human body. . .[meaning they] can’t be studied using the same methodology. . .and cannot be examined piece by piece. Much like [God help us] quantum physics.”

Smith tries to paint those who uphold conventional scientific medical practice as nothing more than pawns of profit-driven corporations, misguided souls who passively rely on pharmaceutical or surgical interventions that address symptoms at the expense of a holistic cure. All the tired clichés are trotted out about people "taking personal responsibility for their lives" by taking matters into their own hands. There are many valid points that Smith could have made about the limits of traditional medical authority or expertise and what patients can do to become active agents of their health and well-being. Things like educating themselves about what ails them so that, armed with a deeper appreciation of their condition and having sufficiently researched available options, they can take some informed next steps either within or outside the scope of recognized practice. Within these pages, however, readers are simply urged to break free of mainstream medicine wherein "doctors are trained to see the human body as a bag of chemicals" and take charge of their health by plunging headlong into this brave new world of DIY alternatives. But that may be giving Smith too much credit as an author, because there’s not a whole lot of theorizing --- compelling or otherwise --- going on. The sum total of his position is contained in a 4-page Introduction and 2-page Conclusion. Legal disclaimers aside, the remainder consists entirely of information about various “therapies” largely gleaned from websites and wikis (much is cut and pasted directly from sponsor sites), and arranged haphazardly under the headings of Body, Mind and Spirit. A few passages describe familiar and, dare I say, respectable techniques like acupuncture, massage and chiropractic. Others are hardly therapies in any sense of the word (e.g., spirituality, nutrition) and suffer from being presented in such an abbreviated manner. But the majority are questionable at best, downright quackery at worst, including spirit channelling, chakra cleansing and distance healing. Even placebos (!!!) are offered up as "a powerful healing process." The good, the bad and the truly bizarre are all described in value-neutral terms, although much space is devoted to glowing testimonials from anonymous users, including the ubiquitous miraculous cancer cure performed by a Brazilian shaman.

Interested in diagnosing the cellular "energy frequency" of your disease? Telephone consultants are standing by for your call --- at the low, low price of $8.33 per minute. If this is the type of "healing" you're after, this book's for you. One user spent 30 minutes in a single session undergoing the above "treatment." You do the math. It's a lucrative field for charlatans banking on people's gullibility or desperation. I actually visited the above organization's website and took a close look at their legal riders. Beneath the expected pseudobabble ("[This treatment] is not about disease or illness—rather, its focus is on healing and wellness") is some refreshingly straightforward prose: "[Statements] on the web site, manuals and products represent working theory rather than accepted science. . . Medical authorities do not recognize this work as “medicine”. We agree." So should you.

This book should come with a giant “buyer beware” label --- preferably over the laughable BEST BOOKS AWARD FINALIST! blurb on the cover, since it is a shining example of hucksterism and gullible boosterism at its best . . . or do I mean worst? Avoid at all costs. ( )

During these trying economic times, more and more people are looking into complementary and alternative medicine to help them deal with stress related and other ailments, diseases and medical conditions. Besides the use of Western, or traditional medicine, there is a growing interest in the use of alternative therapies. Many people are intimidated by the wide variety of alternative/complementary medical processes and procedures that exist. There is a wealth of information available, not all of it is reliable, and people are unsure where to start researching, and question whether they should even try.

This book is probably the most useful reference I have seen in this large field of study. It's exhaustively researched, and contains information that ranges from A to Z on the spectrum of alternative medicine. It's written in an easy to understand style, and is set up in a very useful format. I especially appreciated the various comments garnered from people who have actually used these treatments, and their opinions and results. In addition to being a great overall reference, it's a great manual for people just beginning to look into these therapies. Additionally, there are available podcasts and interviews with leaders and researchers in this growing field of medicine.

If you have researched alternative and complementary medicine at all, you know that the field is crowded with books and publications, and knowing where to begin your research is daunting, to say the least. Often, traditional medical providers are less than helpful in this area, and the patient is left floundering on their own in trying to understand what is available to them. I think this book has a place on the reference shelves of anyone interested in better understanding this field, and would be invaluable to any beginner in starting their study of the field. In fact, I think this book can easily replace 5 or 6 other books on my shelves, a testimony to it's comprehensive coverage of alternative and complementary therapies. I discovered great information on age old practices, as well as information on brand new therapies that are not available elsewhere.

Any one interested in taking a more active role in the health and wellbeing of themselves and family members could greatly benefit from this comprehensive work. I applaud this author for a truly groundbreaking reference on an important subject for us all. ( )