The author is a qualified doctor, specializing in psychiatry, who became interesting in investigating instances of so-called spontaneous remissions from often potentially fatal illnesses. This book is an account of his investigation with a sprinkling of autobiographical material that details his own early years, which he credits with being responsible for some of his own health problems. He suggests that many of those who with ill-health trajectories throughout their lives are also those who have suffered from adverse childhood experiences.

The book is in two parts, in the first of which he introduces the reader to a variety of case studies of those who have had such seemingly ‘miraculous’ remissions and astounded their physicians. Part Two looks at their post-prognosis life-styles in some detail to discern whether there are any commonalities that might provisionally be evidence that suggests what might be the reason for such uncommon outcomes.

The book is interesting but, to this reader at least, structurally flawed: so many case studies are introduced and returned to at various points throughout its length that it is quite difficult to distinguish between them without looking back constantly to see ‘who is who’! Admittedly, I read it as an eBook and that may not be such a problem with a physical copy.

I found the writing style of this book to be difficult to swallow. Written like a fiction book but clearly non-fiction. Not for me I don’t think. Disappointing despite the description being very interesting.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin books UK for my copy. This was a fascinating, insightful and thought provoking book about spontaneous remission from terminal illness. Very well researched, clear and informative, this brilliant book deserves to be a huge success and should be read by everyone.

I loved the idea of this book and the amount of research and work that has gone into it. O also enjoyed reading the theories on what may have had an impact on the unexplained remissions.

However I felt the book said in 100 words what it could have said in 10. If the book was written more succinctly it would have probably got 5 stars. It took me so long to read as I kept losing interest in the repetitive nature of the book that unfortunately it's only 3 stars from me.

This book wasn't for me .I found it very repetitive and difficult to get into. There was lots of medical terminology It just felt like the same story but with a different patient. It might be more of an interesting read for others if this is something that appeals to you.

I was fascinated by this book and couldn't put it down. The author presents everything in a very readable and accessible way, which is no easy task given the amount of medical information in the book. This has certainly given me a lot to ponder, and I have recommended this book to a number of friends.

I found some very interesting information in this book but I also found the same information was repeated.

An interesting and informative read. A bit hard going at times but thought provoking. Further research is definitely needed. Thanks to Netgalley for the early e book.

I have already bought Cured for several family members and friends. It blew my mind. Everyone needs to step out of their 'busy' and 'stressful' lives and Read This Book. Without question it will feature in my top ten books of the year. It's an extraordinary examination of the reasons why certain individuals, following a terminal/stage 4 diagnosis spontaneously heal. How can that be? The answer is not simple. This isn't a woo-woo guide (not that there is anything wrong with self help and New Age literature) instead psychiatrist Dr Rediger, who comes across as a likeable and relatable individual, has spent decades researching, exploring, interviewing and looking into how individuals who had at times been given months to live and still alive decades later. This isn't a quick fix guide, the changes the individuals made were profound.

This really isn't my usual type of book but I have to say I really enjoyed this. It's quite a hard read, but the language is pretty accessible. I really enjoyed the science approach to things that are not usually science based, meditation etc. It's impossible to explain without doing the book an injustice, but it has changed my way of thinking in how I intend to look after my body and mind

An absolutely fascinating read for anyone who is interested in a truly scientifically, psychologically based book on spontaneous healing. It provided me with a lot of medical, psychologocial and nutritional knowledge that I am trying to incorporate into a healthy life... Highly recommend to anyone who is facing a seemingly hopeless medical crisis.

Originally I thought this would be a title examining the reasons and science behind cases of spontaneous healing, and to a certain extent it was. However it delved into so many stories, or cases, where terminal diagnoses were proved to have been given far too pessimistic. Rather than 'I am sorry but that is it and you just have to accept the inevitability of death', this book showed that in many cases the reality should have been 'I am sorry but there doesn't appear to be anything that accepted mainstream western medical practice can offer you'.
The book was extremely good and provides contextual evidence for many of the interventions that people have tried, diet, mental practices, alternative therapies. Many of these therapies are explored on the level 3 Nursing courses, and as such this book will have a place on the library shelves.

This is an interesting book investigating spontaneous remission in a variety of patients and diseases.

It does contain some helpful points to improve your immune function but it is a long book and quite repetitive.

This covers the absolutely fascinating topic of people recovering following a terminal diagnosis.

It provides an insight into some medical terminology/physiology, e.g. explanations of the immune system and its role in cancer, and I thought that this was explained clearly for those who may be new to the topic.
However, it was terribly repetitive. The first few cases were interesting, but then I slowly realised that the whole book was just repeating the same thing over and over but with different cases. It's also very long which, paired with the repetitive nature, made this an absolute chore to read which I wasn't expecting as I usually binge these sorts of books.
As there are no explanations behind the miraculous recoveries, it felt like a lot of emphasis was put on things that these patients did that could be a complete coincidence and not actually "the cure". A trip to Brazil, changing your diet, or even just having the mindset of 'wanting to get better' - we are told that the people who were miraculously cured did these things and somehow got better. I worry that it could make a reader who has a terminal diagnosis (or even loved ones who have passed from a terminal condition) have feelings of guilt/negativity because they aren't doing good enough or haven't changed their diet.

I was excited to read this, but it turned out to be quite disappointing. The topic is incredibly interesting, but I feel that the whole book could have been executed better.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book appeals to me on so many levels. I have a medical background myself and have lived with an incurable chronic autoimmune disorder for 30 years so I can understand both the scientific jargon and the great desire to have a miracle cure. Or to learn to live better in the here and now even if a cure doesn’t happen.

The author skilfully articulates the scientific evidence and medical jargon in such a way that it is clearly and beautifully written. He has a great ability to narrate the personal histories documented here, mostly letting people speak for themselves, only intercepting where necessary for the purpose of further clarification and follow up information.

Each topic area highlights an aspect of self care and treatment which has led to the individual concerned achieving a better state of healing and increased wellness. Taking a gentle, holistic approach, he examines what helps or hinders progress toward a healing goal. There is so much we can do to help ourselves.

On discovering that there are no set formulas to achieving full healing and sustained remission in the cases he profiles, he also indicates certain significant contributory factors which help make it possible for them and others. I was greatly encouraged to see how closely a person’s mindset and specific lifestyle choices influence and affect their health in general. This makes positive change available to us all.

I highlighted so many sections because I really benefited from the suggestions and wisdom being shared. While he acknowledges that there is no silver bullet to achieving a complete remission and full healing, there are several helpful pointers revealing how we can at least live with deeper peace, soul harmony and a renewed mindset toward illness and how it makes us feel. I loved this book and firmly believe it could be a lifesaver for many.

I read this hoping to read about some of the miraculous recoveries that people have made in the face of seeming death sentences and I have to say I was disappointed. I felt that this book gives the reader a false impression. It takes a small number of people who have recovered from various illnesses or conditions that are usually fatal and examines what they did that changed their outcome. For many of the people this seems to have been as a result of life style changes - diet, stress, outlook on life etc.

The message that I took from the book was that to survive a fatal diagnosis you should change your diet (what you change it to is not really explained as it seems that all the people did something different, however, the overriding message was to eat Vegan as that will save you), live as stress free as possible (one person took up daily yoga sessions and has completely and utterly built her entire life around this, while another cut off her family completely on the advice of spiritual guru at a retreat), do the things that make you happy, and for some individuals praying or visiting faith healers.

I think that this is where I have the problem with this book because it leaves you feeling like if you or someone you know gets given a terminal diagnosis then you should do all these things and if they don't work then you clearly didn't do them well enough or want to be better badly enough and I think that that is quite a dangerous message to give. This is a point I felt that was hammered home by the inclusion of a pair of twins with the same diagnosis - one wants to recover and live a normal life so, low and behold, they just get better, while the other feels that the condition is too bad and that there is nothing they can do and they continue being constrained by their illness. I understand that state of mind is important in medicine as some patients can just surrender to their conditions, however, I felt uncomfortable that this book might make people feel that they just didn't want to get better enough and that they had somehow failed.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably one of the most difficult reviews I've had to write!

'Cured' is Rediger's account of his experience investigating and researching spontaneous remissions; that is people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness but have unexpectedly recovered. This is rare but happens more than people think, and more than is reported on. When it does happen (and it definitely does) the medical industry sees it as an oddity and generally does not report or monitor the patient any further.

Rediger argues that we should be looking into these incidents more - just because they go against what we know of about disease and science, it doesn't mean they should be ignored or dismissed. They could provide insight into how our bodies work (particularly our immune system) and how we can beat these illnesses (think cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and so on).

I'm not a religious person AT ALL but this book looks like the affect of prayer, meditation and other more spiritual activities on the outcomes of patients given terminal prognoses.

Thankfully this is done with scientific rigour. Rediger is a qualified medical doctor but also has a theology degree which makes him well placed to investigate the relationship between mind and body. He doesn't dismiss or attempt to understand religion or God, but does look into more measurable concepts and theories such as the placebo effect and even quantum mechanics!

Overall Rediger's point is that there are still many things that the medical industry doesn't understand, and we're only just beginning to appreciate the impact the mind has on the body. Perhaps having a better understanding of yourself and the meaning of your life, along with taking actions such as having a more nutrition-rich diet, doing more exercise and creating/maintaining loving relationships can help people be more likely to recover from illnesses. Perhaps this is due to boosting the immune system or perhaps it goes even deeper than that (this is where we get into the discussions around quantum mechanics).

I think this is an amazing book and not something I would usually expect to pick up. But I'm a huge fan of science and medicine and I'm really glad that despite the topic, it still had real scientific rigour and kept a sceptic eye. I also appreciate how brave it is for the author to investigate this area in the face of a medical industry which finds the ideas within hard to swallow.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt it was just a bit too long. The last few chapters each felt like a conclusion and it could have been a lot shorter.

I find it hard to review this book because it hits very close to home but without the spontaneous or inexplicable healing bit. It's fascinating, quite detailed and is certainly worth reading. My only caveat it that it has the potential to give hope which will then be disappointed. I rejoice with those who are inexplicably healed and I certainly think more investigation is needed into this area.. My heart goes out to those who aren't. Worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for ARC.

The author goes into the how/why of these spontaneous remissions cases he presents and at least tries to find some cause and effect (though nothing can be proven 100%). That being said, on top of this topic, I read mainly for those things that 'seem' to have worked for these patients, and I did come away with some nuggets for improving health and immunity even if you can't really make it bulletproof. This was, however, a very long book that had a lot of studies data and such stuff which really went over my head, and it was a journey to extract these tips and tricks to help health and longevity throughout

Certainly a very interesting and insightful book.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review