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CHIROPRACTIC PERIPHERAL JOINT TECHNIQUE
Media reviews CHIROPRACTIC PERIPHERAL JOINT TECHNIQUE
HERBAL MEDICINE IN PRIMARY CARE S Eldin & A Dunford
Raymond T. Brommeed Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 2000, 295pp + index, £39.99 (pbk) ISBN 0 7506 3289 5
Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999, 192 pp, £17.99 ISBN 0 7506 4053
When I received this title for review I was looking forward to a comprehensive overview of the role of herbal medicine in primary care, including the roles of different health care professionals, and a discussion of how herbal medicine will fit into the National Health Service in the future. The book does provide an informative account of the practice of herbal medicine by herbal practitioners at Wapping Health Centre. However, the reader is left with the view that the authors have not explored herbal medicine in primary care from other perspectives, with the exception of a short chapter on the working relationship between a GP and a herbalist at Wapping. The book begins with a chapter entitled ‘What is herbal medicine?’ which is mainly devoted to discussing what herbal medicine is not (homoeopathy, Chinese herbal medicine); this chapter does not set out for the naïve reader precisely what is Western herbal medicine, and how it differs, if at all, from phytotherapy and rational phytotherapy. Following this, there is a reasonably comprehensive and colourful account of the history of herbal medicine up to a mention of the Medicines Act 1968. However, there is no description here of developments over the last 30 years, a period which has seen significant developments with regard to the practice of herbal medicine and use of herbal products. With regard to the Medicines Act, details of the exemptions relating to herbal practitioners are not given, and there is no mention of the legislation relating to herbal products (these are considered later in the chapter on ‘Toxicity issues’). Also, in my view, this chapter could have discussed key initiatives in the development of standards for herbal medicinal products, such as the founding of the European Scientific Co-operative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) and the acceptance of several ESCOP monographs by the Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) as core Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs) for herbal medicinal products, the publication of monographs for herbal products by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Pharmacopoeia, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and so on (again, mentioned under ‘Toxicity issues’). The book goes on to address aspects of a consultation with a medical herbalist and also includes a lengthy chapter on diet. A particularly disappointing chapter is that on ‘Toxicity issues’. This chapter adopts a defensive stance and largely resorts to attacking orthodox Kent Edlund medicine and criticizing conventional drugs instead
This is a much needed and long awaited textbook for the chiropractic profession. Relatively few practitioners are truly comfortable with the manipulation of all joints of the body. To help others, Dr Broome has been giving seminars for years in the UK and Europe in the management of peripheral joint dysfunction through very specific manipulation. Dr Broome has worked with a team, most of these individuals having been affiliated with the AngloEuropean College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth where he was formerly Clinic Director, to assemble a very substantial and useful text for both the experienced and new practitioner. The text is divided into two main parts. Part 1, entitled Biomechanics consists of six chapters. These chapters cover the basics of manipulative skills, joint kinematics, neurology, and rehabilitation. These chapters are a very thorough introduction to the new doctor and an excellent review of the specifics that are often not quite as familiar as should be for the experienced doctor. The addition of the rehabilitation chapter is very timely as our profession is becoming much more aware of the importance of the proactive involvement of the patient. I must say that I cannot argue with the opening sentence of the author of the kinematics chapter, Christopher Good, when he states ‘Most clinicians would probably agree that studying the biomechanics of the peripheral joints is tedious at best’. The two chapters of Part 2 of the text, entitled Joint Manipulation, will be the main reason for interest in the text. The first chapter covers management of the TMJ, an often overlooked and misunderstood area. The second chapter details the assessment and manipulation of each joint of the upper and lower limbs. The techniques are well described and well illustrated for all areas. The procedures not only include many of the usual and commonly known techniques, but also the ‘short lever’ techniques that Dr Broome has become known within the profession through his teaching. There is wealth of techniques to allow the practitioner to choose the most appropriate one for themselves and their individual patients. I highly recommend this book to practitioners of all levels of expertise. It is an excellent in depth reference text for the student in the understanding of extremity joint structure and function. For the practising doctor it is probably the most complete and well organized reference text for the complete management of peripheral joint patients.
Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2000), 8, 127–129
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
127
HERBAL MEDICINE IN PRIMARY CARE S Eldin & A Dunford
Raymond T. Brommeed Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 2000, 295pp + index, £39.99 (pbk) ISBN 0 7506 3289 5
Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999, 192 pp, £17.99 ISBN 0 7506 4053
When I received this title for review I was looking forward to a comprehensive overview of the role of herbal medicine in primary care, including the roles of different health care professionals, and a discussion of how herbal medicine will fit into the National Health Service in the future. The book does provide an informative account of the practice of herbal medicine by herbal practitioners at Wapping Health Centre. However, the reader is left with the view that the authors have not explored herbal medicine in primary care from other perspectives, with the exception of a short chapter on the working relationship between a GP and a herbalist at Wapping. The book begins with a chapter entitled ‘What is herbal medicine?’ which is mainly devoted to discussing what herbal medicine is not (homoeopathy, Chinese herbal medicine); this chapter does not set out for the naïve reader precisely what is Western herbal medicine, and how it differs, if at all, from phytotherapy and rational phytotherapy. Following this, there is a reasonably comprehensive and colourful account of the history of herbal medicine up to a mention of the Medicines Act 1968. However, there is no description here of developments over the last 30 years, a period which has seen significant developments with regard to the practice of herbal medicine and use of herbal products. With regard to the Medicines Act, details of the exemptions relating to herbal practitioners are not given, and there is no mention of the legislation relating to herbal products (these are considered later in the chapter on ‘Toxicity issues’). Also, in my view, this chapter could have discussed key initiatives in the development of standards for herbal medicinal products, such as the founding of the European Scientific Co-operative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) and the acceptance of several ESCOP monographs by the Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) as core Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs) for herbal medicinal products, the publication of monographs for herbal products by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Pharmacopoeia, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and so on (again, mentioned under ‘Toxicity issues’). The book goes on to address aspects of a consultation with a medical herbalist and also includes a lengthy chapter on diet. A particularly disappointing chapter is that on ‘Toxicity issues’. This chapter adopts a defensive stance and largely resorts to attacking orthodox Kent Edlund medicine and criticizing conventional drugs instead
This is a much needed and long awaited textbook for the chiropractic profession. Relatively few practitioners are truly comfortable with the manipulation of all joints of the body. To help others, Dr Broome has been giving seminars for years in the UK and Europe in the management of peripheral joint dysfunction through very specific manipulation. Dr Broome has worked with a team, most of these individuals having been affiliated with the AngloEuropean College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth where he was formerly Clinic Director, to assemble a very substantial and useful text for both the experienced and new practitioner. The text is divided into two main parts. Part 1, entitled Biomechanics consists of six chapters. These chapters cover the basics of manipulative skills, joint kinematics, neurology, and rehabilitation. These chapters are a very thorough introduction to the new doctor and an excellent review of the specifics that are often not quite as familiar as should be for the experienced doctor. The addition of the rehabilitation chapter is very timely as our profession is becoming much more aware of the importance of the proactive involvement of the patient. I must say that I cannot argue with the opening sentence of the author of the kinematics chapter, Christopher Good, when he states ‘Most clinicians would probably agree that studying the biomechanics of the peripheral joints is tedious at best’. The two chapters of Part 2 of the text, entitled Joint Manipulation, will be the main reason for interest in the text. The first chapter covers management of the TMJ, an often overlooked and misunderstood area. The second chapter details the assessment and manipulation of each joint of the upper and lower limbs. The techniques are well described and well illustrated for all areas. The procedures not only include many of the usual and commonly known techniques, but also the ‘short lever’ techniques that Dr Broome has become known within the profession through his teaching. There is wealth of techniques to allow the practitioner to choose the most appropriate one for themselves and their individual patients. I highly recommend this book to practitioners of all levels of expertise. It is an excellent in depth reference text for the student in the understanding of extremity joint structure and function. For the practising doctor it is probably the most complete and well organized reference text for the complete management of peripheral joint patients.
Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2000), 8, 127–129
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
127