Should be compulsory reading for all young doctors * * NEW SCIENTIST * *
Writing with simplicity, clarity and style, and covering an enormous range of material, [Marchant] surveys with grace what we think we know, and what we would like to know, about the mysterious and troubling relationship between our minds and our bodies * * GUARDIAN * *
A well-researched page-turner . . . may very well lead to widespread changes in the ways we practice medicine * * NEW YORK POST * *
A diligent and useful work that makes the case for 'holistic' medicine while warning against the snake-oil salesmen who have annexed that word for profit * * SUNDAY TIMES * *
A rewarding read that seeks to separate the wishful and emotion-driven from the scientifically tested * * WASHINGTON POST * *
This is popular science writing at its very best . . . I would recommend this book to anybody who has a mind and a body -- HENRY MARSH * * author of DO NO HARM: STORIES OF LIFE, DEATH, AND BRAIN SURGERY * *
A revved-up, research-packed explication of the use of mind in medicine, from meditation to guided visualisation. Marchant's nimble reportage on the work of scientists in novel fields such as psychoneuroimmunology and her discussion of placebos are as fresh as her reminders of how stress and poverty affect wellbeing are timely * * NATURE * *
Marchant is a skeptical, evidence-based reporter - one with a background in microbiology, no less - which makes for a fascinating juxtaposition against some of the alternative treatments she discusses * * NEW YORK MAGAZINE * *
This is an important book, and one that will challenge those dismissive of efforts to investigate how our thoughts, emotions and beliefs might directly influence our physical wellbeing . . . intriguing and trailblazing * * SYDNEY MORNING HERALD * *
A powerful and critically needed conceptual bridge for those who are frustrated with pseudoscientific explanations of alternative therapies but intrigued by the mind's potential power to both cause and treat chronic, stress-related conditions * * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * *
