Customer Reviews

Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient

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This work contains numerous strategies aimed at maintaining
health into the far future. For instance, the author explains
how cancer occurs more frequently in patients with significant
grief, anger or fear in their daily lives. He indicates the
importance of physician contact with the patient. The importance
of a balanced diet is articulated. The author decries poor
nutrition in some hospitals . i.e. white bread and bleached flour
Specific medical tests are referenced i.e. SED RATE
The sed rate is the speed with which red blood cells settle in a test tube measured in milli-liters~ severity of inflammation.
He explains the importance of Vitamin C in collagen maintenance.
This work would be valuable for any middle-age or elderly person
seeking to maintain health far into the future.

This book revolutionized the way Americans think about health and health care. Diagnosed with a life-threatening and incurable condition, Cousins checked himself out of the hospital and basically healed himself with laughter, rest and Vitamin C. A few years later, he recovered from a major heart attack on his own and wrote about that, too.

These books jump-started the whole field of mind-body medicine. Hundreds of books have followed in its tradition, including mine, The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness. Anatomy of an Illness holds up well. I just re-read it and it's still relevant.

Not everything here will apply to most readers, because Cousins was a major cultural figure with many physicians among his friends. Not everyone would have his self-confidence or his sources of support. But his ideas and his approach are more needed than ever today.

David Spero RN www.art-of-getting-well.com

Norman Cousins examines such topics as creativity and humor as being essential to treatment. Important to anyone touched by chronic illness. This was one of the first books my husband Tom and I read when we found out he had Alzheimer's disease. It was one I found particularly helpful in meeting the demands and changes Tom's illness imposed on me. It is a book that talks about outlook and attitudes and taking charge of one's life.

I highly recommend this book for several reasons. The author made a recovery from a terminal illness, and had a doctor who cooperated and encouraged him in his recovery. They even had the hospital run tests to verify whether the authors strategy was working.

The author's strategy involved the use of laughter, and found that 10 minutes of laughter, in his case watching Marx brothers movies would give him 2 hours of pain relief. Tests conducted by the hospital proved that the laughter caused the sed rate (which monitors tissue inflammation) to drop, proving the strategy worked. In addition taking megadoses of Vitamin C would also inhibit the deterioration of his connective tissue. Important elements of his recovery were his determination, the power of the placebo effect, and homeostasis, which is the body's natural ability to heal itself.

There are important topics covered in this book, and I particularly liked his stories from Dr Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Prize winner.

Interestingly, Linus Pauling, a two time Nobel prize winner popularised the use of megadoses of Vitamin C, but that was in 1970, according to the author, six years after the author used the same strategy on his own illness.

I am very impressed with this book. Having explored energy healing, and emotional healing techniques for myself, I agree unequivocally that good body chemistry emanates from good emotions, just feeling good. How would you feel if you felt 100% healthy? I also remember a quote from the movie The Secret that 'cancer cannot survive in an emotionally healthy person.'

If you or someone you know has a serious health challenge, this book could be enormously helpful. It is an easy read. I devoured it in less than a day, and gave it to my mother.

If you would like to read further and get a more scientific approach, I recommend Linus Pauling, on How to Live Longer And Feel Better. It is an easy read. I devoured it in less than a day, and gave it to my mother.

Hope this was helpful to you..

My husband has been very ill over the last 7 years and although the doctors were sure he's be dead by now... he's not and doing better every day. He has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, ITP, Lymphodema, as of now, everything it either in remmission or under control and I believe this book "Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient" and "Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do: Revised and Updated Edition" and "Getting Well Again: The Bestselling Classic About the Simontons' Revolutionary Lifesaving Self- Awareness Techniques" As well as the DVD "the Secret" have not only made a difference in his health, but in our lives and those of our family.
Keep things in prospective, give it to a higher authority and LAUGH!

As an essay, Anatomy of an Illness is engrossing. At as a work of inspiration, it is indispensible. Anyone you know who is ill, or who simply cares about his or her state of health, will gain wisdom and hope from this carefully constructed, sober, yet passionate memoir of healing.

As I have a rare form of cancer (mesothelioma) with no real known cure this book was one I was told about that may help.
It has, and it should be read by all those with so-called incurable diseases, as it explains how much power we have in our own minds and body's when we take control of our own illness.
And when you feel in control it changes your perception of what is uncontronable.
I believe all the current medicos should read this and start realizing the incredible power the body has to heal itself and stop relying on all the drugs that are really the big killers of the day.
Not only that in his book Robyn Cousin's says that over 90% of all visits to the doctor could eliminated if people knew about this.
Knowledge is power and reading this book will give you power.
Ron Sullivan

I don't recall when this book was first published, or who first told me about it. But, it definitely improved my outlook on things several decades ago when I was quite ill --- not incurably, or terminally, but a grave cost to quality of life, all the same.

Reading this, in the early 1980s, I think, was the first time I'd realized that my own attitude could actually make a difference in the outcome of my health, and the rate at which my injury healed. It was a revelation --- one that several doctors were not too pleased to hear --- and one which helped me enormously.

Of course personal attitude is far from everything. Having lost a friend to Hodgkin's --- which was totally curable when he was diagnosed in early stage one --- I'm painfully familiar with the risks individuals sometimes take by believing in phony spiritual cures and natural methods.

Still, there's a lot more to be said for state of mind and good humor than many physicians are willing to admit, or discuss with patients, even now. If this book is not assigned reading in the first year of medical school --- and every year after --- it should be.

At the height of inflation in America, Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins' oft-cited book, achieved wide-ranging acceptance. Thirty years later, people still frequently refer to Cousins and how he cured himself.

If there's one thing a graduate education taught me, was to go back to the source. Knowing that details change a little each time in the retelling of a story, I wanted to know:
What really happened?
What exactly was Cousins' illness?
What exactly did he do to become cured?

What really happened?
Cousins, long-time editor for the Saturday Review, had traveled as chairman of a delegation to the Soviet Union in 1964. During the hot nights, he slept in a second floor hotel room with the windows wide open. Diesel trucks spewing fumes drove through the residential area they were staying each night. The days were stressful for Cousins filled with overwhelming responsibilities and pressure. He believes his already compromised immune system (due to stress) succumbed to the fumes.

What exactly was Cousins' illness?
He had a collagen-related illness (related to arthritis) where the connective cell tissue was breaking down causing him agonizing pain and near paralysis. His doctors gave him a 1 in 500 chance at full recovery.

What exactly did he do to become cured?
Cousins partnered with his doctor. Being in a unique situation of having both a personal and professional relationship with his physician, Dr. Hitzig was open to discussing the ideas Cousins proposed for his recovery.

First, Cousins wondered if his stay in the hospital was unpleasant (noise and being woken for blood samples at all hours) and not conducive to recovery, what impact would positive experiences have? He also realized that the mega-doses of pain killers he was receiving (e.g., as many as twenty-six aspirin daily) were toxic; thus, hampering his body's natural defenses. Recognizing his urgent need to recover and have a normal life, his doctor supported him on a "prescription" of watching funny films. Cousins found that ten minutes of belly laughter were as effective as the painkillers. Again, with his doctor's consent, he stopped taking them.

After reading studies published in medical journals, Cousins was convinced that mega-doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) might be the cure. Instead of the 3 grams of intramuscular injections, he wanted to start at 10 grams, twenty times the typical 500 mg dose we take as a supplement. Since our bodies can only absorb so much, he discussed the idea with his doctor of an IV drip across 3-4 hours a day for one week. By the end of the seventh day, he had increased the dose to 25 grams.

Although, this bold treatment combined with laughter therapy didn't cure Cousins, it laid the foundation for his eventual recovery.


Two other points bear mentioning.
One, he credits his success with the single-minded focus of desiring to get better and doing whatever it took to get better. He emphasizes mind over matter.
Two, he believes as do other medical personnel who he quotes, that time to dialog with patients, understand their concerns, and explain courses of treatment play a more significant role in healing than all the modern technology we've come to depend on. (This was thirty years ago!) One cardiologist recommended the physician being at the emergency room to greet the patient. Imagine that!


Albeit thirty years old, An Anatomy of an Illness, bears revisiting by patients and doctors alike. Meanwhile, we need to listen to today's medical personnel, like Drs. Bernie Siegel and Peter Whitehouse, when they too emphasize the need for physician patient dialogue and understanding.


Brenda Avadian, MA
Founder, [...]

I am a physician and this book was a great read. It is one man's personal perspective into his own disease and his pontification on the health care system. Highly recommend. It is a non-scientific book and easy to read.