Book excerpt: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine is a contemporary, comprehensive glossary of approximately 6,600 terms and 500 illustrations, along with 24 appendices, useful for any health professional in today's medical field. The terms and definitions cover the five major areas of complementary and alternative medicine, as outlined by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health: 1) alternative health care systems; 2) mind-body interventions; 3) biologically based therapies; 4) manipulative and body-based healing methods; and 5) energy therapies. This dictionary is intended to be a quick and ready reference to the common terms used in those medical and healing practices that lie outside of conventional medicine. It's ideal for conventional health professionals who need to quickly find definitions of common CAM terms and descriptions of their meaning. It is also a handy reference for those in introductory courses on CAM in medical, nursing, and allied health schools, as well as the interested lay consumer.