If you’ve ever heard yourself referred to in your doctor’s office as "the chest pain in Room Three," you know that most doctors regard patients as the sum of their symptoms and treat them accordingly: identify the symptoms, name the disease, and try to cure it. Yet you know intuitively that no two people with the same diagnosis respond to treatment in the same way. So why focus on the disease instead of the person? Dr. Galland argues for a fundamental change in this one-size-fitsall philosophy of disease and proposes instead patient-cantered diagnosis, viewing each patient as a unique individual and equal participant in treatment.

Dr. Galland explains how to work closely with your doctor through patient-cantered diagnosis to identify the mediators, triggers, and antecedents of your illness. A mediator is anything that produces your symptoms, causes damage to your body, or changes your behavior. As Dr. Galland reveals, mediators need not be merely biochemical (e.g., stress hormones) - how we think and feel can mediate our illness. A trigger is anything that provokes a mediator. Triggers range from the physical (infections, drugs, toxins) to the cognitive (social distress, anxiety, even memories of previous sickness). An antecedent is a risk factor that predisposes you to illness, such as your genetics, age, and even learning and conditioning.

Drawing on fascinating case histories of medical detection to illustrate these principles, Dr. Galland guides you in identifying your own mediators, triggers, and antecedents, then teaches you how to implement the four pillars of healing to overcome illness and achieve optimum health. The pillars are:

• building healthy relationships (community is the most powerful healing force)
• creating a customized prescription for diet, rest, and exercise
• purifying your external environment detoxfying your internal environment to help your body protect and cleanse itself

Leo Galland, M.D., received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and his medical training at New York University and Bellevue Hospital. Dr. Galland served as director of medical research at the Gesell Institute for Human Development. His private practice in New York specializes in treating undiagnosed or difficult-to-treat illnesses. Dr. Galland is a pioneer of integrated medicine, combining the best of alternative and orthodox approaches.

"An excellent, well-written practical resource. if you care about your state of health, you will want to read it."
-BERNIE S. SIEGEL, M.D., author of "Love, Medicine & Miracles"

"Dr. Galland’s invaluable advice has been a great help to me. I’m delighted that others will at last have the benefit of his wisdom in their search for healing."
-CAROL BURNETT

"Leo Galland gives us a rare synthesis of careful biological analysis, social concern and eminently practical health information. He tells us how and why we become ill and shows us what we can do about it."
-JAMES S. GORDON, M.D., author of "Manifesto for a New Medicine;" director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine; and clinical professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine

"Dr. Galland is the most original thinker in medicine today when it comes to understanding the relationship between the molecular and the spiritual aspects of healing. It is no surprise that he has helped the many patients who have sought his help as a last resort. His imaginative approach to the role of our environment, both physical and emotional, in the cause of disease shows him to be a brilliant thinker as well as a caring physician. Well grounded in scientific medicine, Dr. Galland has expanded his and our view to the deeper spiritual basis of true healing.... This book should be read by every patient, doctor, and medical student to understand the many different levels on which sickness and healing can take place."
-JOHN E. POSTLEY, M.D., author of "Soul Medicine" and assistant clinical professor of medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

"Western medicine often fails patients with chronic, intractable disorders. Many have difficult-to-manage symptoms that don’t fall into recognized paradigms. Dr. Leo Galland’s The Four Pillars of Healing is, in many ways, an antithesis to the cookie-cutter, mass-produced fast pace of Western medicine. I see him as representative of the doctors of tomorrow: a true listener and observer who incorporates the science of medicine with scholarly observations. Thank you, Dr. Galland, for sharing these insights with all of us."
-LLOYD SABERSKI, M.D., clinical director, Center for Pain Management, Yale University School of Medicine