Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches [Hardcover]

Michael Lerner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262121808 | ISBN-13: 978-0262121804 | Publication Date: April 21, 1994 | Edition: 1

This text is designed for the cancer patient or health professional who seeks an overview of the available choices, both in treatments and in living with cancer. It offers guidance for the whole life cycle of cancer - from the initial shock of diagnosis to decisions about choosing a physician and conventional therapies, selecting complementary therapies, coping with treatment and living fully with the possibility of recurrence. The book explains and evaluates a wide range of complementary therapy programmes, including spiritual and psychological approaches, nutritional therapies, physical therapies, pharmacological therapies and traditional medicines from around the world. There are also sections on prayer and spiritual healing; psychotherapy, support groups, visual imagery and hypnosis; massage, therapeutic touch, yoga and Qi Gong; macrobiotic diet and other cancer diets; acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines; and numerous other unconventional therapies used by US cancer patients. The author describes his conclusions after more than a decade of study of unconventional cancer treatments in North America, Europe, India and Japan. He also draws extensively on his work with hundreds of cancer patients from the Commonweal Cancer Help Programmes, the residential support programme depicted by Bill Moyers in the 1993 PBS documentary, "Healing and the Mind". From 1988 to 1990, Michael Lerner served as Special Consultant to the US Congress Office of Technology Assessment for its landmark study "Unconventional Cancer Treatment". In 1983, he received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for his work in public health. He is the founder and president of Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this well-researched and thought-provoking look at cancer and its treatment, Lerner argues that several alternative options hold promise and should be further explored. The author, a MacArthur Prize Fellowship recipient who has served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment for a study of alternative therapies, notes that the reasons why such alternatives are sometimes not taken seriously are as often the fault of their practitioners as of the establishment bureaucrats who categorically consider them quackery. He evaluates complementary programs--spiritual, psychological, nutritional, pharmaceutical--and also describes unconventional approaches in Japan, Germany, India, Great Britain and Canada. Make no mistake: Lerner does not advise forsaking conventional for alternative treatment. In fact, he believes that people with cancer should be under the care of an oncologist. This is a must read for people facing decisions in their cancer treatment and for anyone who cares for them.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Alternative cancer therapies tend to be more controversial than other forms of alternative medicine. Many physicians feel that by using such therapies patients may avoid or delay treatments that have been proven effective. However, both these books offer a balanced treatment of the topic. Choices in Healing is a compassionate guide that discusses the science and politics of cancer therapy and describes alternative therapies as well as the spiritual aspects of coping with the disease. Lerner, an expert on alternative and complementary cancer treatments, pulls together research on alternative approaches and provides numerous references so that patients can make their own choices. Even those who choose only mainstream therapies will appreciate this book because of its helpful tone. Patrons looking for brief descriptions of immune enhancement therapies will find them in Alternatives in Cancer Therapy. There is some bias here-Pelton, a pharmacist with a Ph.D. in psychology and holistic health, is the operator of the largest holistic health hospital in the world offering alternative therapy for cancer-but on the whole the book indicates whether treatment effectiveness is based only on anecdotal evidence. There are numerous references plus a good resource section for patrons interested in further information. Both books are recommended for public libraries. Keep Pelton's in reference and let Lerner's circulate.
Natalie Kupferberg, Montana State Univ. Lib., Bozeman
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 696 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (April 21, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262121808
• ISBN-13: 978-0262121804
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scepticism and optimism combined, May 4, 2000

By 

Katrine Kirk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer (Paperback)

First a word about me: I'm one of those cancer patients who doctors either love or hate. I read up on everything, and I am openminded about the benefits and risks of both conventional and alternative cancer therapies. I question everything and want to understand where the limits of our current understanding lie. I want references!

If you are anything like me, you'll appreciate the exceptionally fine balance that Michael Lerner draws. He honestly investigates the extent to which various cancer therapies work, mostly by reviewing "serious" research which examines cancer treatment from different angles. In areas where scientific studies contradict each other, he doesn't draw unfounded conclusions. He manages to give specific guidelines for dealing with cancer without advocating any one therapy too much.

Of the many books I've read on cancer, this is the one I appreciate the most. The tone of the book is honest, warm and caring; personal without being sentimental. And best of all, it inspires hope.

The one caveat I have is that I'd love to see a revised edition with all the newest research reviewed! If you're considering a purchase, do a websearch for "Lerner" and "Choices in Healing", this should provide you with a reference to an online version of the whole book. Once you're convinced, buy the book!

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep, excellent., August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer (Paperback)

Now in paperback, this is the book to send your friends with cancer. Its wide-ranging, patiently and caringly written, scholarly but accessible, and chocked with interesting references and good insights. Michael Lerner has taken it upon himself to do a thorough 'work-up' on the best of that heterogeneous lot of hearsay cures and popular supplemental treatments that cancer patients will start hearing about from friends, relatives and distant acquaintaces practically as soon as they are diagnosed. Choices in Healing gives one a way to start sorting it out.

Lerner strives for, and I feel achieves, an excellent balance between optimism and skepticism as he covers (a) the different "cultures" of conventional treatment - aggressive, gentle, U.S., European, Japanese, (b) spiritual approaches, (c) nutritional approaches, (d) physical and energetic approaches, (e) non-conventional herbal and pharmacological approaches. Stanislaw Burzynski, Virginia Livingston, Joseph Gold and Emanuel Revici, are some of the famous off-range cure inventors that he dignifies with his patient research.

I also found his chapters on the spiritual and psychological dimensions of the cancer journey especially strong. He takes the reader up to death's door. And beyond. The chapter on pain is a revelation.

Highly recommended for anyone.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Book on Alternatives in Cancer Treatment, September 21, 2000

By 

CA newbie (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer (Paperback)

Until something better is written, this is THE book on the subject. Those who have reviewed this book before me have said it all, but I would add that Lerner is a writer of exceptional talent. At times reading this book is liking reading poetry or great inspirational prose and it is often quite moving.