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Book tip: Alter­na­tive and effective?

Jo Marchant
Heilung von innen
Die neue Medizin der Selbstheilungskräfte
Verlag: Rowohlt, Reinbek 2016
ISBN: 9783499619359 | Preis: 16,99 €

The title of the original English publi­ca­tion “Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body” does not contain the word “science” for nothing. The title, blurb and cover of the German edition, on the other hand, lead buyers down a false path by giving the book an esoteric guise — that defi­ni­tely does not reflect the content. Even if readers do get some advice here and there on how to take their health into their own hands, this is over­whel­mingly a scien­tific nonfic­tion book.

Jo Marchant, an English science jour­na­list with a docto­rate in micro­bio­logy and a former editor at “Nature,” shines with exten­sive rese­arch and clean evidence as well as cita­tions. The book provides a compre­hen­sive over­view of those pheno­mena where the psyche some­times influences the body in pheno­menal ways. The author thus repea­tedly pleads for a more open approach to methods of alter­na­tive medi­cine: “We don’t have to deny scien­tific findings and logical thin­king (…) in order to benefit from the healing proper­ties of the psyche.”

The bottom line is that, despite some weak­ne­sses, this impres­sive work is an inte­res­ting, well-rese­ar­ched contri­bu­tion to a field that is prac­ti­cally flooded with esote­ri­cally inclined publi­ca­tions. It would be a pity if the book simply drowned in this swamp.

You can read the full review here:

https://www.spektrum.de/rezension/buchkritik-zu-heilung-von-innen/1436467