werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (03/15/85)
> ** > One of my favorite unconvential therapies is in > "Anatomy of an Illness" Norman Cousins. > He "cured himself of cancer" by watching funny movies. > scc!steiny Recently (about a year ago), I saw a reassesment of that book. Nobody doubts that he did cure himself. However, the reassesment noted that the only thing he did not question about the medical establishment was his diagnosis, which may have been far too pessimistic, i.e., the disease he recovered from was not as nearly as bad as the one he thought he had recovered from. I don't think that detail really detracts from the MESSAGE of the book, just from some of the extrapolations commonly made from it. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (07/11/85)
Saw this letter to the editor in TIME. It concerns a story in the June 24 issue concerning a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that concluded in Cancer, the basic biology of disease determines the course, independent of patient attitude. The article contained some discussion of Norman Cousins, as well as some quotes and a photo. TIME says I cured myself of spinal arthritis by "adopting a healthy mental attitude, laughing a lot and taking Vitamin C." Incomplete. TIME should have added that I give primary credit to my physician. He encouraged me to believe that I was a respected partner in the program of recovery, and he recognized the importance of the patient's own psychological resources. Nothing was done that did not have his full support. I agree that attitudes are no substitute for competent medical attention, but confidence in oneself and in the doctor can create an environment in which medical science can do its best. I doubt that there is a physician in the country who minimizes the importance of the will to live in patients being treated for life- threatening illness. Serious disease requires a full mobilization of resources, including those that medical science offers and those of the patient's own healing system. signed: Norman Cousins School of Medicine, UCLA Los Angeles. [I know that I couldn't have said it any better myself] -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"