The Magic Feather Effect by Melanie Warner

The Magic Feather Effect by Melanie Warner

The acclaimed author of Pandora's Lunchbox and former New York Times reporter takes an enlightening, engaging deep dive into the world of alternative medicine and the surprising science that explains why it may work.

We all know someone who has had a seemingly miraculous cure from an alternative form of medicine: a friend whose chronic back pain vanished after sessions with an acupuncturist or chiropractor; a relative with digestive issues who recovered with herbal remedies; a colleague whose autoimmune disorder went into sudden inexplicable remission thanks to an energy healer or healing retreat.

The tales are far too common to be complete fabrications, yet too anecdotal and outside the medical mainstream to be taken seriously scientifically. How do we explain them and the growing popularity of alternative medicine more generally? Is there a biological basis for practices like acupuncture, tai chi, chiropractic, and energy healing? Who are the faithful patients and practitioners who tell these stories and speak of such mystical-seeming concepts as qi, chakras, and meridians in the first place?

In The Magic Feather Effect, author and journalist Melanie Warner attempts to answer these questions, taking us on a vivid, fascinating journey through the world of alternative medicine. Crossing continents and sides of the debate, visiting prestigious research clinics and ordinary people's homes, she investigates the scientific underpinning for the purportedly magical results of these practices and reveals not only the medical power of beliefs and placebo effects, but also the range, limits, and uses of the surprising system of self-healing that resides inside us.

Equal parts helpful, illuminating, and compelling, The Magic Feather Effect is a brilliant exploration of some of the world's most popular health treatments, the people who seek them, the scientists who study them, and the reasons they may work.

Melanie Warner is an author, speaker, writer, and a publisher of magazines and newspapers for over 25 years. She is the founder of the new Defining Moments book series that offer positive stories of hope and inspiration from people who have overcome extreme challenges in life. As a writer, Warner has a collective readership of over 3 million readers a month. Warner lost her own son, which inspired her to write this book as a resource for hospitals, doctors, non-profits, hospices, family therapists, grief experts, and other organizations that are the first responders to parents who have experienced the loss of a child.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781501121494
ISBN 10	1501121499
Title	The Magic Feather Effect
Author	Melanie Warner
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Year published	2019-01-22
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.