Spirituality and the Practice of Health Care

Modern medicine has been staggeringly successful in delivering better health and longer lifespan. But in the developed world doctors are still struggling to treat chronic, often lifestyle-related killers such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Physicians also have little in their armoury to cope with the huge increase in immune system problems such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Millions of people are turning to alternative therapies, feeling that they provide the relief medical science cannot deliver. Only a handful of these therapies have been properly tested so many scientists dismiss them as nonsense. The Whole Story Toby Murcott rounds up the latest evidence on the placebo effect, the randomized control trial, personalized genetic medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and more. It comes to a provocative conclusion: alternative therapies could provide valuable new ways to help chronic diseases. Biochemist and science journalist Toby Murcott challenges conventional medicine to drop its prejudices and investigate these treatments rigorously in pursuit of powerful new approaches to healthcare.