Anne Harrington
Prescribing Hope: How Willpower Became a Cure
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Sigmund Freud, a key link in the history of mind-body medicine.
THE CURE WITHIN: A HISTORY OF MIND-BODY MEDICINE
By Anne Harrington
W.W. Norton, 336 pages, $25.95
In the late 1980’s, two oncologists tested a chemotherapy drug called EPHO. One doctor’s patients did surprisingly well; three-quarters of them responded to treatment. But only one-quarter of the other doctor’s patients showed improvement. Why the disparity? The first doctor explained that he had rearranged the acronym EPHO to spell HOPE. Optimism, it would seem, is a potent drug. read more »
