The Whole Story - (MacMillan Science) by T Murcott (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Alternative medicine is a fifty billion dollar per year industry, yet it continues to generate strong opposition by the orthodox medical establishment. The Whole Story rounds up the latest evidence on the placebo effect, the randomized control trial, personalized genetic medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and more. It reaches a provocative conclusion: alternative therapies' whole-body approach might be just what medicine really needs right now to help crack the tough, chronic conditions seemingly untouched by the revolutions of surgery, antiseptics, antibiotics, vaccines and molecular biology.

Review Quotes

'This book should be prescribed for bigots on both sides, to be taken thoughtfully, all the way to the last page.' - The Guardian

'An excellent overview of the subject...It is probably unwise to label any book as required reading. Nevertheless, when contemplating the entrenched attitudes of many in both the orthodox and complementary medical communities, the temptation to do so with The Whole Story is strong.' - Guardian Saturday Review

'Murcott provides a lay person's guide to what is happening in the industry and his book is excellent and thought-provoking for anyone interested in research into complementary therapies.' - Institute for Complementary Medicine Journal

'A book you ought to read.' - www.popularscience.co.uk

'A fun little book about complementary and alternative therapies. It is not about what works or what doesn't and remains impishly neutral...Whichever side of the argument you start, you will shout 'rubbish' at some point, but at least you will have been exposed to a different point of view and be no worse for that.' - Bandolier

'The Whole Story elegantly presents the challenges of testing therapies from acupuncture to reflexology and in so doing makes an original, thought-provoking and worthwhile contribution to the debate on complementary medicine.' - Dr. Susan Aldridge, Author of The Thread of Life and Seeing Red & Feeling Blue

'Complementary and alternative medicine is more popular than ever before, and there is no shortage of publications on the subject. This book clearly stands out from the rest. It is a well-researched attempt at cutting through the thick layers of make-believe and revealing the truth. Like no other lay book, it promotes analytical thinking, a commodity rarer than gold dust in this area.' - Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, UK

'Calling on doctors, patients, therapists and researchers as witnesses, Dr. Murcott puts complementary medicine on trial. By examining the evidence at hand he highlights the complexities in making healthcare decisions and draws conclusions that have important implications for all forms of medicine.' - Professor Marc Cohen, President of the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association

'A bird's eye view of both the orthodox and complementary medicine worlds. Excellent and thought-provoking.' - Institute for Complementary Medicine Journal

'Murcott reveals how much of what we take as scientific fact is imbued with subjectivity, bias, misinterpretation or simply asking the wrong questions.' - The Lancet

'Brilliantly researched and bravely written.' - Science and Public Affairs

About the Author

TOBY MURCOTT is a leading science writer, journalist and broadcaster. He was for many years the science editor of BBC World Service Radio before becoming the director of Einstein TV, a digital science channel. He currently has a column in The Times newspaper. He did his PhD and postdoctoral research in Biochemistry at Bristol University, UK.