Spontaneous Healing: How to Discover and Enhance Your Body's Natural Ability to Maintain and Heal Itself

by Andrew Weil

Overview

In this book, Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the most authoritative, and important voices in the field of health and healing, makes clear the reality of spontaneous healing. He illuminates the mechanisms and processes of the body's healing system, delineates the ways in which an individual can optimize the functioning of his or her own system, and outlines the alternative medicines and treatments available to aid the healing system, not only in the remission of life-threatening diseases but also in response to everyday illnesses and in day-to-day upkeep of basic health. In clear, concise language, Dr. Weil explains how the healing system operates, its interactions with the mind, its biological organization, its systems of self-diagnosis, self-repair, and regeneration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804117944
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/28/2000
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	93,653
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.83(h) x 1.04(d)

About the Author

Andrew Weil is Associate Director of the Division of Social Perspectives in Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Arizona.  He teaches in the areas of alternative medicine, mind/body interactions and medical botany.  Dr. Weil conducts a general practice in Tucson, Arizona, focusing on natural and preventative medicine  Previously he worked for the National Institute of Mental Health, served on the research staff of The Harvard Botanical Museum and advised Congress on alternative cancer therapies.  His articles have appeared in national publications including the New York Times Magazine, Nature and The New England Journal of Medicine.  He lectures often and appears regular on national television and radio shows.

Hometown:

Tucson, Arizona

Date of Birth:

June 8, 1942

Place of Birth:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Education:

B.A. in Biology, Harvard University, 1964; M.D., Harvard Medical School, 1968

Website:

http://www.drweil.com

Table of Contents

	Introduction	3
I	The Healing System
1	Prologue in the Rain Forest	11
2	Right in My Own Backyard	25
3	Testimonials	45
4	Medical Pessimism	59
5	The Healing System	71
6	The Role of the Mind in Healing	88
7	The Tao of Healing	107
II	Optimizing the Healing System
8	Optimizing Your Healing System: An Overview	129
9	A Healing Diet	136
10	Protecting Yourself from Toxins	154
11	Using Tonics	171
12	Activity and Rest	187
13	Mind and Spirit	194
14	An Eight-Week Program for Optimal Healing Power	210
III	If You Get Sick
15	Making the Right Decisions	221
16	Considering the Alternatives	238
17	Seven Strategies of Successful Patients	248
18	Managing General Categories of Illness: Secrets of a Hygeian Practitioner	253
19	Cancer as a Special Case	267
	Afterword: Prescriptions for Society	277
	Acknowledgments	282
	Appendix: Finding Practitioners, Supplies, and Information	284
	Notes	290
	Index	299

Editorial Reviews

Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil, M.D. provides a look at the world of alternative medicine though the eyes of a Harvard Medical School graduate. The book is chock full of testimonials from patients who recovered from their afflictions by what Weil calls spontaneous healing. Spontaneous healing occurs when conventional medicine can give no other reason for a patient's recovery. He breaks these testimonials into subchapters called "The Faces of Healing," outlining each patient's history and recovery.

Weil began his medical career receiving training in conventional medicine at one of the most respected medical schools in the nation, Harvard. Soon thereafter, he began exploring the world of alternative medicine and he liked what he saw. Weil has worked for the National Institute of Mental Health and was a research assistant in ethnopharmacology at the Harvard Botanical Museum. He traveled the world extensively collecting information about the medical properties of plants, altered states of consciousness, and healing. When the book was written, he was the Associate Director of the Division of Social Perspectives in Medicine and Director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he practiced natural and preventive medicine.

Chapter two, Right in My Own Backyard, describes Weil's return from his South American travels in 1973, and his settlment near Tucson, Arizona, where he lives to this day. This chapter is easily one of the most interesting, providing insight into Weil's beliefs. In this chapter, we meet kindly Dr. Robert Fulford, an unusual osteopathic physician who believes in "cranial therapy." At this time, Weil says he was prejudiced about osteopaths, and with the usual prejudices of medical doctors, considered them second-rate M.D's who "dabbled in the kind of manipulation of the body more frequently done by chiropractors." This chapter details Fulford's medical practices and how Weil was eventually won over by his techniques. At the end of the chapter, Weil states, "Dr. Fulford did not succeed with everyone, but he had a higher percentage of successful outcomes than any other practitioner I have met."

Although Weil provides detailed information supporting various types of alternative medicine, it seems the conventional medical community would not receive this book with open arms. However, Weil offers a credible look at alternative therapy that is worthwhile reading for any medical professional. For those who already support alternative medicine, the book provides valuable insight into both alternative and conventional worlds of treatment.

In various chapters Weil discusses, "Medical Pessimism," "The Healing System," "The Role of the Mind in Healing," "The Tao of Healing," "Optimizing Your Healing System," "A Healing Diet," "Protecting Yourself from Toxins," "Using Tonics," "Activity and Rest," and "Mind and Spirit." He ends the book with his "Eight Week Program for Optimal Healing Power." Here, Weil outlines his program for wellness and healing.

Some readers might be skeptical of alternative medicine, but this easy-to-read book provides solid evidence for considering alternative practices. Those who believe in alternative medicine will also find the book helpful and informative.
— FitnessLink

Marijane Green

As others argue the politics of health care, Weil ("Health and Healing") turns away from the usual practice of Western medicine, which is focused on alleviating symptoms rather than strengthening internal mechanisms of health, to closely consider the nature of the healing process. "At every level of biological organization, from DNA up,'' he writes, the "mechanics of self-diagnosis, self-repair and regeneration exist in us.'' To buttress his point, he cites such evidence as the placebo effect, inexplicable remissions and the commonplace repair of wounds, often marginalized by the medical community. In an effort to make the process of healing seem less obscure, Weil reports a wide range of dramatic case histories. Other sections detail various means, e.g., diet and breathing exercises, available for optimizing one's healing system, and suggestions for approaches to illnesses. Also included are an ``Eight Week Program for Optimal Healing Power'' and a guide to finding practitioners, supplies and information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Arizona doctor Weil leads the movement to combine alternative forms of medicine with standard treatment.

Library Journal

"DR. ANDREW WEIL IS AN EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON."
—The Washington Post

"MEMORABLE . . . DR. WEIL MAKES HIS CASE CAREFULLY AND CLEARLY."
—The New York Times Book Review

"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."
—Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher