Cure

There are headaches and then there are migraine headaches. The difference is an emotionally and physically inbalance of toleration. In this easy to read informative book, Dr. Elkind has put together in Q and A form some of the more recent solutions for migraine sufferers.

Interestingly, migraines can be genetic. I have a very good friend who has kept track of her medical history and found that on her maternal side, migraines run rampant. She has also found that one of her triggers to such pain is bologna--the food. I have witnessed her using ice packs, darkened rooms, medications--anything to stop the excrutiating pain which sometimes goes on for days. I must admit though, I have also noticed her using her migraines as a way to defer from work or any unwanted activity. Leading me to believe, as mentioned in the book, migraines can almost be emotionally contagious.

I liked the way this book is arranged and can be used often by sufferers or those around migraine patients. It is helpful and fairly complete. There are some newer meds on the pharmacutical market now. But, all in all a good additon to medical collections.

Your interest & comment votes are appreciated--CDS

I grew up using all natural cures. We were poor and couldn't afford to run to the doctor for every little thing. This book contains information doctors do not tell about, and don't want you to know. I know surgery is inevitable sometimes, but give me the "natural way" first!

This book is a wealth of knowledge that explains the healthiest and best ways to combat and prevent all sorts of illnesses and problems. I have found it to be one of the best sources of useful tidbits in a long while. I am a very health concious person and this book has taught me more in just a few chapters than I had known previously

Although it is not as definitive as the editors would have you believe, "Nature's Medicines" quite thoroughly covers a number of herbs, vitamins and other supplements. The book is divided into 3 sections for easy reference: What You Need to Know About Supplements; The Powerhouse of Nature's Medicines; and Fighting Disease with Supplements. The first chapter discusses the role that vitamins, minerals and other supplements play in your health. The second chapter discusses the efficacy of numerous supplements, to include side effects and interaction precautions. The third chapter is a very thorough discussion of numerous diseases/ailments (such as AIDS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, headaches, cancer, Alzheimers, etc.)and what supplements are most beneficial to those suffering from them. If I could only have one book on natural supplements, this is the one I would choose: it's a very useful reference.

If you need a way to cook stuffed mushrooms, potato salad, red-bean chili, cornbread, salad dressings, even pie or bread with no cholesterol, then this cookbook is for you. The authors discuss the different types of cholesterol, and list the amount found in many common foods (631 mg. in a 31/2 oz. serving of chicken liver was at the top of the list.) Enough for 2 days max! If that is not your favorite, then how about some yummy shrimp (166 mg. in 3 oz.) It doesn't take long to reach the 300 daily maximum amount. Being new to the joys of tofu,tempeh and miso, I needed some ideas of how to cook with it. The Vegetable breakfast scramble on pg.176 is as close to scrambled eggs as you can find. It is also possible to make tofu resemble veal cutlets when marinated in the right ingredients. It has been a gold mine of good nutritional information!

This audio cassette contains some good tips on how to think about one's own procastination. I believe it would be helpful for a procastinator. However it is not the perfect cure either. Some of the stuff is 'blame-your-parents-...' so I don't know if I would apply that part. But it is good anyhow.

This collection of sermons from the Cure d' Ars should be read as a daily devotional. What I found truly refreshing in this collection of sermons is that the dear saint pulls no punches. His sermons, unlike what you hear or fail to hear from the pulpit these days, are right to the point and utterly orthodox in their treatment.

However, the reader of biographies of the saints should expect to read that they were faithful to the Church in deed and word. What is also a delight with this collection is to read the love that comes forth from this pastor. This collection debunks the all too common impression that orthdoxy in faith and morals somehow equates to a lack of compassion and love.

Above all, let this book be a tool for your spiritual growth. Each day's reading should be cause for quiet reflection. In that sense, this collection is a book for every day. Pick it up, read it and don't shelve it away.

A complete and interesting compendium of recipes and smoke cooking methods. The advanced smoke cooker will enjoy this book and find some new ideas within. The section on sausages and pemican, two of the advanced smoke cooking skills, are expecially helpful. The beginer may be disapointed in the results of applying the recipes due to one major oversight.

The heart and soul of good smoked food is the cure. Smoke goes on the food last. This book although mentioning cures of many types fails to make this point clear and to provide the first time smoke cook with a simple first time recipe. In fact, the cure recipes provided do not have anywhere near enough sugar in them. Having smoked foods for 20 years I have found that the taste for sugar is strong and if not enough sugar is used the complaint of smoked food is that there is too much salt. First timers should use the cure on page 39 but substitute 4 parts sugar to 1 part salt. And don't leave the sugar out of meat cures like the author does.

Curing time is not covered adequately either. Lean meat absorbs salt while fat absorbs sugar (more or less), and time in the cure makes a huge difference in the saltiness of the food. The longer in the brine, the saltier the food will taste. The leaner the meat, the saltier the food will taste. Never leave your meat in the cure longer than the recipe states, or you will have salty meat.

Buy this book to improve your smoke cooking skills, but not to learn how to smoke cook if you have never done so before.

A wonderful effort by first-time author Dr. Daniel Miller. The absorbing plot, coupled with Dr. Miller's unique insight into the medical profession, provide for a "real good read". When is his next book coming out?

In Wash and Be Healed: The Water-Cure Movement and Women's Health, Susan Cayleff documented the expansion and collapse of the water-cure movement and its impact on a number of middle class women across America. The idea of "taking the waters" for health was an ancient notion. Spas were built all over Europe near hot springs, and the wealthy often spent time at these resorts. But hydropathy as it evolved during the early 1800s became a rest cure for members of the new middle class, particularly women.

Modern hydropathy started as a reaction against the heroic medicine of the 17th and 18th century by Vincent Priessnitz, a German farmer. He turned to using wet wraps when he broke several ribs in an accident in the early 1820s and a local doctor gave him up as incurable. Within a few months, Priessnitz's simple treatments led to his recovery, and he began to promote this cure to other people.

Hydropathy spread across America in the mid-1800s. Cayleff found that a number of prominent early abolitionists and feminists went to water-cures in America: Harriett Beecher and Calvin Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, Alice James and Clara Barton. While most people went to water-cures for only a few weeks or months at a time, some lived there for many years. As Cayleff observed:

"For reform activists and professional women, the live-in cures offered freedom from public scrutiny and demands, a legitimate focus on oneself as opposed to one's labors and relationships, the opportunity to commune with like-minded residents, the respite from the isolation and demands of home, the prospect of companionship and new or rejuvenated relationships, and genuine physical restoration."

Hydropathy died out as a health movement, partially due to the fact that its effectiveness could not be scientifically proven. However, hydropathy did have a subtle impact on medical care, which did re-emerge during the 1960s and 1970s--people needed to be treated as individuals, not merely a collection of symptoms. So even if the specifics of hydropathy lost its impact, the general belief people had the power to manage their health has returned.