patients. Conventional medicine is going through a
transition. A more humane physician who respects
patient autonomy is replacing the paternalistic, all-
knowing physician. As science increases our
understanding and our ability to treat disease as
never before, we continue to be forced to recon-
sider that science. The hormone replacement con-
troversy is one example of this. We continue to
struggle with finding a balance among science, eco-
nomics, and patient-centered humanistic care.
This transition, like most change, is neither all
good nor all bad. Few would argue that a more
patient-centered health care system in which
patients have autonomy is a bad thing, but patient
autonomy has a price. For the individual to make
health care decisions that he or she feels are in his or
her best interest, that individual must take the
responsibility of being fully informed. This applies
whether the treatment is conventional or alternative.
It is through comprehensive, reliable information
that one is able to begin to find the correct path.
It is for that reason that I am honored to be able
to write this Foreword. It is my hope that this ref-
erence will be used as a tool to help people inform
themselves and get onto the right path: a tool that
health care providers can use to educate them-
selves, a tool that will help foster communication
about alternative medicine between health care
providers and the public.—Adam Perlman, M.D., M.P.H.
Executive Director, Institute for
Complementary and Alternative
Medicine; Assistant Professor,
UMDNJ-School of Health Related
Professions, Newark, New Jerseyxii The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine