Publisher's Synopsis
Sometimes you feel like a bystander when it comes to your own health. Everyone tells you what to do and it seems you have no say. Being well informed about your many choices and well prepared is the best way to feel like you're in charge. This book brings together a lifetime of reading and personal experience with alternative health practitioners from a wide variety of fields to provide an overview of many of the things you can do to soothe everyday aches and pains and be an active participant in health decisions for yourself and your loved ones. If you've ever been curious about complimentary medicine, including chiropractic, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapy, exercise or occupational therapy, nutritional supplements, aromatherapy, homeopathy, Reiki, hypnotherapy, yoga and meditation or many other ways to make your life healthier and ease daily discomforts, "Whose Health is it Anyway?" is for you. It's a primer for people who are looking for something other than prescription drugs or surgery. It touches on things you can do for yourself or with an alternative health practitioner.Sometimes, surgery or a prescription drug is the only choice that makes sense, but that doesn't mean that other methods can't be used to improve healing, reduce side effects, control pain and increase comfort. We've included stories of real people who have had excellent results, using yoga and other body work, acupuncture, massage, exercise or other supportive therapies in conjunction with conventional medical treatment.A healthy lifestyle serves as the cornerstone of your plan to regain and maintain your health, incorporating diet, exercise, stress reduction techniques and more. Many books provide detailed descriptions of every morsel you should put in your mouth and every step you need to take. "Whose Health is it Anyway?" is more like sitting down with a knowledgeable friend and discovering ideas that may be new to you that you can use to feel better. You may find some self care and mome remedy ideas that are perfect for you, but not be convinced about others. You get to make your own decisions.In addition to all of the contributing authors who are alternative health practitioners, Linda Fostek, often known as The Crisis Planner, has provided a chapter on all the policies and documents you need to have to make any health crisis go more smoothly, Ilene Corina, Founder of the Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education and Advocacy tells us how to improve the safety level of our interactions with the health care system. Her advice goes far beyond the basic bill of pateints' rights. Richard M. Brodsky, Founder of the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation shares tips on how he has managed to not only survive, but thrive and run marathons with diagnoses of brain cancer and HIV.Often, when people receive a diagnosis of a chronic or terminal condition, they lose hope and may not even do the things that are within their power to get the most out of life, given their circumstances. Richard's story serves as an inspiration to all of us. He blends lifestyle choices and alternative health care with his modern Western medical treatment to continue to maintain a quality of life that might make others envious.
