Brave New Medicine

"This is a memoir for our time. Cynthia Li is a superbly trained physician of internal medicine whose life comes to a halt by a life-threatening, complex illness the mainstream medical community doesn't know how to treat. Her struggle is replicated thousands of times over by others who face similar mystery diseases. While the path to recovery is rarely simple, Li's journey and scientific explanations offer hope to many who are suffering. She writes with insight, wisdom, and passion. Her honesty will touch you deeply. Don't miss this book." --Michael Lerner, author of Choices in Healing, and president and cofounder of Commonweal--Michael Lerner "It is a major concession to admit how much Li's book inspired me, given how deeply skeptical I am about alternative medicine. When Li, a physician herself, develops a terrifying syndrome that regular medicine can't even identify, she becomes her own doctor, charting her symptoms, doing experiments, and seeking help from whoever offers it. Emotionally, she rises from a crouch of defeat to the confident stride of an explorer--and you will find yourself rising with her." --Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Natural Causes, and founder of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project--Barbara Ehrenreich "In Cynthia Li's spellbinding book, we encounter the moving story of a physician struggling with her own autoimmune illness. Li's writing is so intimate--and so exacting--that it cuts like a knife. She raises fundamental questions about the future of medicine, her own future, and about being a doctor and a patient at the same time. The result is a beautiful book that will be read and remembered for years to come." --Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies--Siddhartha Mukherjee "I love this book--a harrowing and somehow also charming account by a brilliant doctor of how she healed her body, mind, spirit, and soul from a debilitating autoimmune disease. After her doctors had given up on her, with a husband and two little children at home, she broke out of the constraints of Western medicine and found her way home to health, renewal, and her own true self. This beautifully written, prescriptive book is going to change--and even save--people's lives." --Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author of Bird by Bird and Almost Everything--Anne Lamott "Each year brings a new stack of 'how-to' health manuals, but Cynthia Li's book is different. It's a moving, personal--and sometimes unsettling--investigation into the deepest questions surrounding chronic illness. What makes us sick? How do we live with the uncertainty of a mysterious condition? How do we define health in an age when conventional medicine focuses almost exclusively on disease management? The answers Li arrives at in her exploration changes her as a person, and the way she practices medicine. Her book is full of wisdom for both health care practitioners and those suffering from chronic illness." --Chris Kresser, MS, LAc, New York Times bestselling author of Unconventional Medicine--Chris Kresser, MS, LAc "Cynthia Li shares a deeply personal and inspiring journey, wherein she falls through the cracks of the conventional medical model but then discovers her own lifesaving path through functional and integrative medicine. Her book also includes an excellent resource, filled with practical tips for those who want to learn how to take natural steps to recover their own health and vitality." --Akil Palanisamy, MD, integrative medicine physician, and author of The Paleovedic Diet--Akil Palanisamy, MD "Cynthia Li is an extraordinary physician with a comprehensive understanding of autoimmune disease as a practitioner and a patient. The insights she provides in this new book are essential for any patient suffering from autoimmunity. Her book challenges the current health care system model that is in such serious need of revision. This i

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.