“Did you know, Julie, that learning and blogging are both
non-linear processes?”
“It never occurred to me, Curmudge, so I’m going to need
some explanation.”
“When one learns a foreign language, he learns to say a few
useful phrases, such as ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye,’ before he learns the basics,
such as how to conjugate verbs.
When you and I study a new topic and write about it, we learn and
discuss aspects of the topic of our current interest. We don’t start with the basics at square one and blog about
the topic as if we were writing a textbook.”
“I think I’ve got it, Old Guy. When we began blogging on alternative medicine, we jumped
right into herbal medicines without laying a foundation for the whole of
alternative medicine. So perhaps
the sooner we do that, the better.
Let’s call it Alt. Med. 101.”
“And our text for Alt. Med. 101 will be the Mayo Clinic Book
of Alternative Medicine. (1) It is
authoritative and comprehensive; its main sections are Part 1 (Today’s New Medicine), Part 2 (Guide
to Alternative Therapies), and Part 3 (Your Action Plan). Contrary to other publications we
have read, Mayo’s authors don’t have major vested interests in their
contributions. They are promoting
neither practices nor potions.
Their overall views tend to be conservative, and their conclusion for
each dietary supplement and mind-body practice is indicated by a red, yellow,
or green ‘traffic light.’ “
“Right from the start, I am impressed by two things: (a) an
institution with Mayo‘s stature has a Comprehensive and Integrative Medicine Program, and (b) the book
must be so good that a skinflint like you, Curmudge, actually purchased it (at
$29.95).”
“Julie,
because we’re not going to discuss all of the book, we’d better tell our
readers a bit more about its contents.
Part 1 deals with lifestyle issues, from diet, to exercise, to
stress. Part 2 covers herbs and
dietary supplements, mind-body medicine, and energy-related therapies. Part 3 provides a two-page discussion
on each of 20 common conditions ranging (alphabetically) from arthritis to
vaginal yeast infections.”
Part 1
Compared
with traditional ‘diet‘ books, this book has broader lifestyle coverage and
fewer diet specifics.
Part 2
“Gosh,
Old Man, we have already read a lot about natural products and dietary
supplements. Does the Mayo book
tell us much that is new?”
“For
each item the book presents a few paragraphs of general discussion, then a
two-or-three sentence summary called Our
take, and then a research note called What
the research says. And of
course, the ‘traffic light.’ They
do this for 39 herbs (I wish there were more), 7 vitamins, 5 minerals, and 11
hormones and other compounds. A
common conclusion is that ‘more research is needed.’ But my answer to your question is a qualified ‘yes’ as well
as ‘no.’ We learned new stuff, but
several natural products of interest weren’t mentioned, including turmeric
(curcumin), quercitin, and resveratrol.”
Part 3
“Hey,
Curmudge! How can we move on to
Part 3 without discussing Mind-Body Medicine and Energy and Other Therapies in
Part 2?”
“We‘re
not going to skip those topics, Julie.
They are so important that we are going to defer them and put them in
several postings. But before we
leave Part 3 we must mention the Mayo book’s contribution to treatment of its
list of 20 common conditions. For
each condition, Mayo mentions the alternative medicine treatments that are
available. I can’t comment on the
treatments because I haven’t had hardly any of the conditions except the common
cold. The book says that the
Scandinavians use andrographis; that sounds like an interesting
recommendation.”
“I
consider it your promise, Old Guy, that we’ll be back within the next couple of
weeks to talk about the rest of Part 2.”
Kaizen
Curmudgeon
(1) Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine, Second Edition. (2010,
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Link to posting from blog archives: Patient Safety—Accidents, Trauma, and Luck 3/04/09
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