As a fellow digestive disease specialist, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of Dr. Clarke's superb work. Patients with years of distress and negative tests with no answers, hunger for not only relief of their symptoms, but also for respect, understanding, and dignity. The answers to their problems are not easily found, and do not conveniently lie at the tip of yet another endoscope or costly imaging procedure. Instead, sensitive, caring, and sophisticated investigation is required, the kind rarely taught in formal teaching programs. This book is a key for that puzzle; a crucial addition to any physician's library and for anyone dealing with a chronic physical problem. After all, even those of us with identifiable diseases often have superimposed and complicating stress components.
The writing is compelling, touching, and replete with hope,inspiration, and healing via guided self-discovery. Dr. Clarke's book is required reading in understanding the complexities of the human physical condition - theoretically evolved to perfection after thousands of years, only to be brought to its knees by stress illnesses induced by the dysfunction of family systems, abuse, and personal tragedy.