More Than Just a Few Alternatives

DR. ROSENFELD’S GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

by Isadore Rosenfeld

Soundelux Audio, abridged nonfiction, six cassettes. Length: nine hours. $26.95. Read by Bob Deyan. Available in bookstores or by calling (800) 227-2020.

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This is an extremely comprehensive rundown on alternative medicine by a professor of clinical medicine and author of several bestselling books. It is also very negative. Rosenfeld touches upon every kind of alternative medicine out there, from oxygen therapy to herbal therapy, from yoga to acupuncture. And he does not like much of it. He provides the positive and negative sides of each topic, but little seems to impress him positively. In his favor is his insistence that we watch for quacks, and he teaches listeners how to avoid them. The most noticeable problem with this audio is that Rosenfeld tells the listener to avoid therapies that do not come with documented evidence. Yet he does not provide firm documentation himself. Narrator Bob Deyan is pleasant enough, if a bit generic. He is energetic in that he keeps the pace quick and lively, but never speaks so fast that he loses us.

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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE FOR DUMMIES

by James Dillard and Terra Ziporyn

Harper Audio, abridged nonfiction, one cassette. Length: 90 minutes. $12. Read by Dillard. Available in bookstores or by calling (800) 762-2974.

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This is a quick listen, as this informative audio provides a useful summary of the alternatives when standard Western medicine just isn’t enough. Dillard, founding medical director of the Oxford Health Plans Alternative Medicine Program, and Ziporyn, who coauthored “The Harvard Guide to Women’s Health,” provide practical information grounded in common sense. They give the listener a quick rundown on everything from Chinese and ayurvedic medicines to such hands-on treatments as osteopathy, chiropractic and acupuncture. None of the information is extensive. However, it does provide you with enough of a basis to send you off for more research, should you think a treatment suits your particular ailment. Dillard, though rather middle of the road, is a suitable enough reader. His voice is pleasant, his manner professional. The presentation, however, is a major problem. Bells are used to announce a good tip, a fog horn blast announces a bad one. A great way to avoid the grating sound effects is to buy the book, which contains about twice as much information.