What Your Doctor Hasn't Told You: And The Health Store Clerk Doesn't Know    by Edward Schneider Order:  USA  Can Avery, 2006 (2006) Paperback     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Most of us take some form of alternative pills that our doctors have not recommended. I know I sneak in one or two. Do they work? Are we hoping that the hype surrounding this particular alternative is not just that - hype? Why don't most doctors prescribe such alternative treatments? Many questions go unanswered. In What Your Doctor Hasn't Told You and the Health Store Clerk Doesn't Know, Dr. Edward Schneider reveals important information to help you make your own informed decisions about what alternatives to take and what to avoid. Depending on your own set of specific maladies, Dr. Schneider may have answers for you. He is not promising cures, just giving information that will make it easier for you to make more knowledgeable decisions. Many annoying and debilitating ailments are referred to here: Joint Pain: Improving Function, Easing Discomfort; Relief for Back and Neck Pain; Making Menopause More Comfortable; Revving Up the Male Libido; to name just a few. In this day and age, what all older people fear the most, in my opinion, is Alzheimer's. Health store clerks push certain remedies, citing tests that prove their efficacy. What they often don't know is that other studies disprove the claims. This is true, Dr. Schneider tells us, of many products on the market. Saw Palmetto, for instance, is taken by many men in the belief that it will be an effective treatment for an enlarged prostate. The down side is that it can mask the symptoms for prostate cancer. Licorice is touted to help with menopausal symptoms. But did you know that licorice has some alarming side effects? Kava kava has also been recommended for the psychological symptoms of menopause, but this herb has been known to cause liver failure. This informative book deserves a place on your bookshelf, to refer to when needed. Everything you're looking for may not be covered, but there's enough information to make you hesitate before dosing yourself with alternative treatments and to ask pertinent questions of your doctor – looking for answers that will satisfy. The author has appeared on 20/20, 48 Hours, Good Morning America, Primetime with Diane Sawyer and Larry King Live. He is a professional educator on aging, and has edited and written many scholarly books and articles. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews