Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine

February 1, 2003
Since more and more Americans have become interested in Chinese medicine, Han and Miller felt there was a need for a book that would make the subject easy to understand. They have succeeded admirably in creating such a book. The authors are practitioners: Miller is a pharmacist and physician, and Han is a doctor of oriental medicine who started out as a barefoot lay health worker in China's countryside during the Cultural Revolution. The first part of their book focuses on how traditional Chinese and Western medicine converged in modern China and describes the philosophical basis of traditional Chinese medicine. The text makes a complex subject quite clear without being preachy. The second part shows how people can integrate the best of both Western and Eastern medicine in treating common health problems such as arthritis, AIDS, and cancer. The book concludes with recipes for healthy living and ways to determine your individual constitution. Highly recommended for public libraries.-Natalie Kupferberg, Ohio State Univ., Columbus