Who is the author of Cure?

The author of Cure is Jo Marchant.

Mindfulness & Happiness

Cure Book Summary - Cure Book explained in key points

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Cure summary

Name: Cure
Rating: 4.5 (135 reviews)
Author: Jo Marchant

Jo Marchant

A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body

4.5 (135 ratings)

25 mins

Brief summary

"Cure" by Jo Marchant explores the mind-body connection in healing, challenging the traditional divide between modern medicine and alternative therapies. It examines how emotions, beliefs, and lifestyle choices can impact health outcomes.

Topics

Medicine & Natural Remedies Stress Reduction

Table of Contents

Cure
Summary of 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? A new appreciation for the power of the mind in curing disease.

Many of us tend to think of our body as a machine; if we fuel it with food and keep it hydrated it will keep running without any issues. Whenever one of our components stops functioning as it should, the most common reaction is to use a drug or surgical intervention to fix it up and keep the wheels turning.

But the machine metaphor omits the central switchboard of the human body – our mind. It is always our mind that makes a treatment effective, and it is our mind that can make us suffer from pain.

These blinks reveal the power of the mind in curing disease. You will learn about the power of suggestion and placebo, witness the healing effect of meditation, spirituality and hypnosis and see how modern, innovative technology can help us find cures otherwise thought impossible.

You’ll also learn

why blue sleeping pills are ineffective for Italian men;
how a patient suffered from pain he didn’t have; and
why wounded war veterans play computer games to alleviate their pain.

The success of a medical intervention depends on a patient’s belief in it.

Have you ever read the packaging of a prescription drug, only to be blown away by the incredible number of unpronounceable substances it contains? Medicine that sounds this cryptic must be effective, right?

Well, sometimes it is – and sometimes it’s about as helpful as a spoonful of sugar.

Regardless of whether drugs are effective, if you want to get better, it’s important to believe that they are. In fact, drugs sometimes have powerful effects simply because the person taking them believes they will. This is commonly known as the placebo effect, and it’s widely proven to impact the efficacy of drugs, from antidepressants to sleeping pills.

Just consider secretin, a gut hormone. The company Ferring Pharmaceuticals manufactured a synthetic form of the hormone that rose to popularity in 1998 following anecdotal reports on the NBC show Dateline that it could cure autism.

And this wasn’t just make-believe. Studies actually did find that children benefited from the drug. The only thing is, children were also benefiting from a placebo treatment: both the placebo group and the drug group showed a 30 percent reduction in autism symptoms.

Sometimes, even outcomes categorized as “dramatic” or “excellent” can be achieved through placebos. For instance, a 2012 study conducted by Janet Hardy and her Australian research team found that placebo pills had a “dramatic” effect in alleviating cancer pain, comparable to the powerful sedative ketamine.

But that’s not to say that the placebo effect is limited to pills. A 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal found that fake surgeries are as effective as real ones in treating a variety of conditions, from angina to arthritis.

For instance, a common treatment for fractured spines is to inject cement into the fractured bones. Surgeons found that about 80 percent of patients benefited from this procedure – but in the end, they realized it was all due to the placebo effect. Performing a fake surgery was just as effective.

And the placebo effect is all around us. One common example is the way people tend to like a bottle of wine more if they think it’s an expensive or sophisticated vintage.

So, having confidence in a drug or treatment can have incredible results. But what if you have negative perceptions about these interventions? You’ll learn all about this in the next blink.

Your mind has a powerful influence over your body’s physical symptoms and performance.

Most people don’t bother to read about the side effects of the prescriptions they take and, in the end, that might not be such a bad thing.

The truth is that the negative expectations this information breeds can actually result in bodily symptoms. In this way, believing in side effects is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy; this is known as the nocebo effect, using the Latin word for “I will harm.”

To fully exploit the placebo effect, make your drugs look right, use rituals and combine with real drugs.

For most people, the placebo effect isn’t anything new. But it might come as a surprise that certain physical features of a drug can also boost its efficacy.

In other words, pharmaceutical companies can benefit from making big pills with a large, recognizable stamp on them. Both size and this type of stamping have been proven to produce a placebo effect that enhances the effects of the medicine.

A caring environment helps patients cope with pain.

Do you ever wonder how much money pharmaceutical companies spend developing new painkillers? Well, the short answer is a lot.

Even so, there’s already a well-developed treatment that has proven to be highly effective – and it doesn’t cost a fortune. It’s called human care.

Friends rejuvenate your cells and build your immunity.

The morning after a night of partying with your friends, you might think your body is less than happy with you. But, as it turns out, friends keep your cells healthy.

Chromosomes in the human body are capped by telomeres, which prevent these genetic structures from fraying. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres get a little shorter. In this way, much like the rings of a tree tell its age, telomeres reflect the age of cells.

Stress can seriously harm you, but it has benefits too.

It’s never a bad idea to seek out help from your friends when you’re stressed out. After all, stress can be catastrophically harmful and, in extreme situations, even deadly.

Consider a 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles. After the tremor, a cardiologist named Robert Kloner noticed that, on the day of the event, 125 people had died of stress-induced heart attacks, about 50 more than on an average day. Similar outcomes were found when researchers looked at the aftermath of earthquakes in Athens, Greece and Kobe, Japan, as well as missile attacks in Israel.

Spirituality is good for your health – and that doesn’t necessarily mean believing in God.

Religion is a central aspect of everyday life for billions of people around the world. But did you know that people who return from religious gatherings or pilgrimages often report witnessing or experiencing miracles, like supernatural acts of healing?

Well, whether or not such healing miracles truly occur, there is strong evidence to suggest that being religious is good for your health. Plenty of studies have linked a belief in God to favorable health outcomes, such as lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer, as well as better outcomes in cases of HIV infection.

Hypnosis can help cure diseases.

When most people hear the word “hypnosis,” they think of a gimmicky magic show in which a host puts people into a trance-like state and makes them do ridiculous things. Despite this perception, however, hypnosis plays a serious role in scientific research.

For psychologists, hypnotic states are ones of increased focus that also result in reduced peripheral awareness and greater susceptibility. When hypnotized, people remain aware of their environment; as a result, when asked to walk around a room, they’ll avoid objects, while those who have been asked to fake being hypnotized will often walk into chairs or furniture.

Virtual reality can help people cope with pain.

In the world of modern digital technology, keeping your attention focused is harder than ever before. That being said, technological innovation – and the distraction it offers – can also help people overcome painful or traumatic events.

Consider virtual reality, which can help take patients’ minds off their pain. In an experiment at the Medical Center of the University of Washington, researchers had participants play a game called Snow World, in which they moved around freely in an arctic environment using virtual reality gear.

Modern technology is transforming health care.

You might think that virtual reality is a cold, or inhuman application of technology. But the truth is, modern approaches to medicine would be practically impossible without technological advances.

Some modern technologies can even help people regain control over their bodies, and one such technology is called biofeedback. This term refers to any technological device that enables patients to monitor their bodily functions in real time.

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What is Cure about?

Cure (2016) is your guide to the healing power of the mind. These blinks explain the true depth of the placebo effect, how hypnosis can cure illnesses and explain the fascinating, scientifically-supported alternatives to the painkillers and surgeries so prominent in Western medicine.

Cure Review

Cure (2016) by Jo Marchant is a captivating exploration of the mind-body connection, demonstrating how our thoughts and beliefs can affect our physical health. Here are three reasons why this book is definitely worth reading:

Packed with fascinating case studies and scientific research, it sheds light on the incredible power of the placebo effect and the mind's ability to heal.
Marchant's balanced approach to alternative medicine and conventional treatments offers readers a well-rounded perspective on the healing process.
The book tackles a wide range of health conditions, from chronic pain to depression, demonstrating the potential of self-healing and the importance of our mental well-being in physical recovery.

Best quote from Cure

Social isolation was indeed a death sentence, as much a threat to our survival as hunger, thirst or pain.

—Jo Marchant

Who should read Cure?

Anyone interested in the power of the mind
Patients who are tired of conventional treatments for their ailments
Health care professionals and students

About the Author

Jo Marchant, PhD, is a microbiologist, award-winning science journalist and the author of Decoding the Heavens and The Shadow King. She has been the editor of various scientific journals, such as New Scientist and Nature, in addition to writing for The Guardian and The Economist.

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