This books will try to avoid taking sides. It will look critically at the achievements and the deficiencies of both conventional medicine and alternative medicine and, in analysing the strengths of both, will draw important conclusions about the relationship between someone who is ill and the person to whom he or she goes to feel better. That relationship is at the heart of all medicine, whether it is conventional or complementary, and for that reason it is the central theme of this book.
The healer-patient relationship is a complex one and comprises many different ingredients. Truth is important, but alone is not enough; doctors cannot be cold, heartless, uninvolved scientists (unless perhaps their cure rate is 100 percent, in which case their patients may not mind their doctor's attitude). Equally, compassion alone is not enough (patients need effective medicines if they can help - otherwise we are no further that the public at mediaevel fairs watching the medicine men sell coloured water).
Magic or medicine is a false dilemma; in fact, it is not a dilemma at all. There is no necessity - nor any realistic possibility - of choosing between them. When human beings are ill, they require magic and medicine; both are essential components of almost every healer-patient contact.
Modern medicine is one of the most successful branches of science, with a distinguished history of conquering many of the twentieth century's deadliest diseases. Yet today people are turning in record numbers to alternative therapies that have little or no scientific basis. Herbalists, homeopaths, crystal therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists and countless other unconventional practitioners are enjoying thriving businesses. What accounts for this flight from reason in the face of hard evidence that medical doctors do a better job of treating disease abnd alleviating suffering than their alternative counterparts?
In Magic or Medicine? Dr. Robert Buckman and Karl Sabbagh offer a response to this question by critically evaluating both alternative and conventional medical approaches to patient care. Drawing on some of the earliest written medical sources as well as their own investigations into current alternative therapies, the authors argue that healing has always been partly the science of clinical treatment (medicine) and partly an art (magic). Medicine may make the patient get well, but often it is magic that makes the patient feel well.
With all the pressures under which they work, modern medical doctors often neglect the magic in their dealings with patients. Alternative therapists, however, frequently offer nothing but magic. Buckman and Sabbagh look closely at the claims for both medical science and alternative treatments and discover a gap between the promises and the reality of each approach. Magic or Medicine? is a fascinating exploration of healing in the late twentieth century and vital reading for anyone concerned about the effective delivery of health care.
Robert Buckman, Ph.D., FRCP, is a cancer specialist and associate professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Among his previous books are How to Break Bad News and I Don't Know What to Say: How to Help and Support Someone Who Is Dying
Karl Sabbagh, M.A., is a television producer whose credits include "The Body in Question" with Dr. Jonathan Miller. He is also the author of numerous books on scientific and medical topics, including The Living Body: A Guide to How the Body Works.