Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body by Jo Marchant

Author : Jo Marchant
Title : Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body
Published : 2016
Publisher : Canongate Books
Pages : 368
Genre : Nonfiction / Medical

     All in the mind? Can meditation fend off dementia? Can the smell of lavender affect the immune system? Can your thoughts ease physical pain? In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients, and researchers on the cutting edge of mind-body medicine. Asking how the brain can heal the body and how we can all make changes to keep ourselves healthier.

     I am always curious about the subject of how our bodies actually work. For everything we seem to know there are equal parts that we have yet to get to grips with. The human brain would defiantly appear to be one of those that we still have so much to learn about. It is capable of doing so much more than we give it credit for. So this is what brought me to Cure. Marchant going into this topic looking for answers that can be backed up with science in what I was told was a fair and even-handed approach to a topic that most have written off as scudo science and the world of new age and hippies. 

     The author starts off by telling us why she decides to write a book on the subject of how the brain can help manage pain and heal itself and the rest of the body. For me, this was a good pint as it gave me a good insight into her intentions and just how she was going to pick apart such a subject. From there she went on to break down many of the key subjects into chapters that were easy to digest. I found my self fascinated by which of these bits she chose to focus on. Somewhere to be expected such as our ability to use our minds when dealing with pain others I can safely say caught me off guard. It is also a case of how easily we can trick our own minds into believing things even when we know and have been told the very opposite. 

     There is a great deal to learn from this book, and for me, her style went a long way in making it not only an easy narrative to get on with but also enlightening me with so much new information. In following her top meet these people we get a more insightful look at such a subject than if it was simply dry fact and anecdotal stories. It was also interesting to see how the medical establishment reacts to these new findings. It makes you realize just how much the whole industry is driven by money. Be it from what they can make selling medicine to their worry of being sued for using less conventional methods. For me, if you can show me something works then I'm all for it, even if it's a matter of tricking my brain into being something works or not. For me, I think overall she did a good job of keeping her own biases to a minimum when going to look into this field. I appreciate that no one can truly complete keeps a neutral opinion on such matters. 

     Having never read anything by this author I was left feeling very impressed by this book. She did a great job in presenting not only her initial hypothesis but also where she was wrong in her own think and also where she had been correct. There is so much going on in this field that it is easy to mix in what truly works with people looking to make a quick buck. But for me the author this very well and I am left with the ability to recommend this book to all of you.