Anatomy of an Illness essays

Anatomy of an Illness essays Norman Cousins is senior lecturer at the School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, and consulting editor of Man and Medicine which is published at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. For almost all of his professional life, Norman Cousins has been affiliated with Saturday Review. He became its editor in 1940, a position he held for more than thirty years. He is presently its editorial chairman. Mr. Cousins is the author of eleven books, including Dr. Schweitzer of Lambarene, The Celebration of Life, Present Tense, In Place of Folly, The good Inheritance, and Modern Man Is Obsolete. Anatomy of an Illness is written in light of a serious illness a patient was diagnosed with. Through trust, hope, humor and many months of treatment the patient was cured. It is a piece published to share the gruesome and enlightening points of the doctor/ patient relationship the two main characters obtained. The author offers the idea of placebo healing as opposed to the prescription method, which he believes is overrated. The book is used in over two dozen medical schools for instructional purposes, not to mention being republished in fourteen separate countries. Undoubtedly, Anatomy of an Illness is an irreplaceable book. Norman Cousin ¡s main points include: h Laughter is the most powerful medicine. h  ¡Placebos, ¡ Dr. Shapiro has written in the American Journal of Psychotherapy,  ¡can have profound effects on organic illness, including incurable malignancies. ¡ h Current scientific research in the physiological benefits of laughter may not be abundant but is significant, nonetheless. h The body responds naturally to laughter and creativity, seeing it as a  ¡want to live ¡ way of life, and therefore working undividedly to fight the illness. h The best way to eliminate pain is to ...