Natural Prescriptions for Women: What to Do-And When to Do It-To Solve Dozens of Female Health Problems-Without Drugs

This compendium of non-drug therapies provides a wide variety of low-tech, low-risk options to traditional treatments, including herbal remedies, aromatherapy, exercise, nutritional approaches and lifestyle change. Addressing not only conventional illnesses, the editors consider such conditions as frizzy hair, computer anxiety, hot flashes and heart disease. The first chapter offers gentle remedies for about 30 everyday ailments, arranged alphabetically from aches and pains to yeast infections. Serious and chronic conditions are covered next, followed by hormonal and reproductive issues, and then pesky personal appearance problems. Emotional health is not neglected, with coping techniques offered to women who are single mothers, are in the throes of divorce, are frequent travelers or who have other demanding lifestyles. A clock or calendar in the margin marks treatments that are most effective when begun at a particular time of the day or month, and boldface warnings indicate conditions calling for a medical doctor's attention. Although a trifle hit-or-miss, this volume nevertheless is a handy reference for women interested in natural remedies for the hazards of 20th-century living. (Sept.)