Cure
"A rigorous, skeptical, deeply reported look at the new science behind the mind's extraordinary ability to heal the body... While we accept that stress or anxiety can damage our health, the idea of "healing thoughts" was long ago hijacked by New Age gurus and spiritual healers. Recently, however, serious scientists from a range of fields have been uncovering evidence that our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs can ease pain, heal wounds, fend off infection and heart disease, even slow the progression of AIDS and some cancers. In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients, and researchers on the cutting edge of this new world of medicine. We learn how meditation protects against depression and dementia, how social connections increase life expectancy, and how patients who feel cared for recover from surgery faster. We meet Iraq war veterans who are using a virtual arctic world to treat their burns and children whose ADHD is kept under control with half the normal dose of medication. We watch as a transplant patient uses the smell of lavender to calm his hostile immune system and an Olympic runner shaves vital seconds off his time through mind-power alone. Drawing on the very latest research, Marchant explores the vast potential of the mind's ability to heal, acknowledges its limitations, and explains how we can make use of the findings in our own lives"-- Provided by publisher.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
4mentions
4people
2016–2021years
50% recommend25% neutral25% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Please read the excellent popular science book "Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body" by author/journalist Jo Marchant. It gives an excellent overview of all things placebo related.
ps. the answer to your question seems to be "quite a lot".
- For anyone interested in further reading on the topic of the placebo effect, I'd recommend the book 'Cure'[0] by Jo Marchant
[0]:https://www.amazon.com/Cure-Journey-into-Science-Mind/dp/038...
- - Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown
- Tibet, Tibet by Patrick French
- Maya: A Novel by CW Huntington, Jr
- The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young
- Flask Web Development by Miguel Grinberg
- Buddha's Diet by Tara Cottrell
- A Feast of Vultures by Josy Joseph
- Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection by John Man
- Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari
- Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar
- Goliath by Tom Gauld
- This Will Never Happen Again by David Cain
- Cure by Jo Marchant
- If It’s Monday It Must Be Madurai: A Conducted Tour of India by Srinath Perur
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
- The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
and a few others that aren't worth recommending; all the above are.
- The claims made in the article kindly submitted here (which does, by the way, come from a pretty good source publication) far exceed what reliable evidence on the issue has shown, and is characteristic of the exaggerated misunderstanding of similar study results by the article author, Jo Marchant. Marchant writes in this vein in other publications, most timed to promote her new book Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body, but careful researchers who have examined the evidence disagree that the reported effects are real and meaningful.[1] A review of the book[2] agrees with me and with the whole planet that current medical care could emphasize empathy with patients more, but finds much to disagree with in Marchant's book after commenting on many things the reviewer liked about the book. The overall review summary is
"I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the book. Overall, it gives the impression that we know much more than we do. The studies described are very preliminary and far from ready for prime time; we know that preliminary studies are often overturned by larger, better-designed studies. I found some things in the book disturbing. I don’t condone her use of the term “Western medicine;” there is only one medicine. I was appalled that after a C-section she had a VBAC at home, giving birth to her second baby underwater with the assistance of a non-NHS midwife who she believed was less likely to transfer her to a hospital if something went wrong. In my opinion, that showed very poor judgment. She misrepresents the safety of home births. She even trots out the old “death by medicine” canard. She claims that statins may only benefit 1 in 50 patients (true, but misleadingly alarmist when taken out of context as statins do save lives).
"Conclusion: Marchant has interesting ideas, but a bad title"
[1] David Gorski, 11 January 2016, "Is 'harnessing the power of placebo' worthwhile to treat anything?"
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-harnessing-the-power...
[2] Harriet Hall, 26 January 2016, "Cure Is About Caring, Not Curing: Placebos, Alternative Medicine, and Patient Comfort"
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/cure-is-about-caring-no...
