Abstract
When I was asked to review Integrative Therapies in Lung Health and Sleep, I thought I might be reading a book about integrating care pathways across different organisations—however, I was wrong.
So let me start with the March Hare and say what I mean—this book is about the combination of practices and methods of alternative and complementary medicine with conventional medicine. It also covers some aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. It is mainly written by authors from the United States and China.
The book includes some traditional medicine—it ‘has a mix of good and bad qualities’.
Therapies are categorised as either being mind–body medicine, natural products, manipulative and body-based practices or other whole system practices that include Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese homeopathy, Tibetan and Native American medicine.
Chapters on the evaluation of integrative therapies for research and practice highlight the lack of traditionally accepted evidence for much of the descriptions using yoga, meditation, acupuncture, tai chi, massage therapy, reflexology, and so on.
Other chapters on counselling patients with chronic lung disease using interdisciplinary strategies are practical and provide a useful framework for all healthcare workers to think about and practice.
Topics, by chapter, include asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, sleep, stopping smoking, end of life and counselling. All are referenced well and give a balanced description of the evidence base—or lack of it.