Drawing on cutting-edge science, ancient healing arts and the power of intuition, a board-certified physician in internal medicine details the physical and existential crisis that forced her to question her own medical training after developing a disabling autoimmune illness. Original.
In this revelatory memoir, doctor Cynthia Li shares the truth other doctors don’t always understand and often won’t share if they do—that chronic illness is complicated, and that treatment is not just a matter of test results and prescriptions but requires a more comprehensive approach. By sharing her own struggle with a disabling autoimmune crisis, which forced her to question her own conventional medical training and embrace the integrative principles of functional medicine, Li reveals the insider knowledge sufferers need to truly begin healing—mind, body, and spirit.
In this revelatory memoir, Doctor Cynthia Li shares the truth about her disabling autoimmune illness, the limitations of Western medicine, and her hard-won lessons on healing—mind, body, and spirit.
Li had it all: a successful career in medicine, a loving marriage, children on the horizon. But it all came crashing down when, after developing an autoimmune thyroid condition, mysterious symptoms began consuming her body. Test after test came back "within normal limits," baffling her doctors—and baffling herself. Housebound with two young children, Li began a solo odyssey from her living room couch to find a way to heal.
Brave New Medicine details the physical and existential crisis that forces a young doctor to question her own medical training. She dives into the root causes of her illness, learning to unlock her body's innate intelligence and wholeness. Li relates her story with the insight of a scientist, and the humility and candor of a patient, exploring the emotional and spiritual shifts beyond the physical body.
Millions of people worldwide are affected by autoimmune disease. While complex conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) are gaining attention, patients struggling with these mysterious ailments remain largely dismissed by their doctors, families, and friends. This is the harsh reality that doctor-turned-"difficult patient" Li faced firsthand.
Drawing on cutting-edge science, ancient healing arts, and the power of intuition, this memoir offers support, validation, and a new perspective for doctors and patients alike. Through her story, you can find the wisdom and heart to start your own healing journey, too.
Cynthia Li, MD, is a board-certified physician in internal medicine, having completed her medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Her practice has centered on public health in underserved communities (HIV/AIDS in San Francisco, Doctors Without Borders in rural China), environmental health, and evolutionary health. She is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine. In 2017, she joined the faculty of the Joint Medical Program between the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, in co-teaching the Healer's Art program, which trains medical students to develop the art of healing. Her family, friends, and community circles are wide-reaching and transect academia, public policy, public health, environmental health, integrative health, and complementary medicine.
