Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Marie Arendt

ALL IN HER HEAD

Elizabeth Comen

The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today

In the spirit of Sid Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies, a groundbreaking medical history that is both a collective narrative of women's bodies and a call to action for a new conversation around personal health, self-improvement, and the future of healthcare for everyone.

Much of what we know about women's bodies and health has come from men. Their points of view have helped shaped the way we feel about our bodies - and the kind of medical attention we receive. Women's bodies have never been considered as powerful, capable, or of equal worth as men's. Our "normal" bodily functions - as well as our pain, pleasure, strength, and intellectual capacity - have been based on an overwhelmingly male narrative uninformed by women's own voices, and often used to shame and subjugate us. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape our health, despite recent advances that challenge it. Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen peels back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to (re)introduce us to our whole bodies - how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today's medical thought, and the many oversights which still remain unaddressed. With a physician's knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen uses the eleven systems of a woman's body as a way to tell these unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, as well as her own extensive experience treating thousands of women. Empowering women to advocate for better care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives - both for ourselves and generations to come - All In Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women's medical history is an essential contribution to women's understanding of ourselves and a much-needed reclaiming of history.

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Book Published 2024-02-13 by Harper Wave

Comments

Wow! This book will upend everything you thought you knew about your body while empowering you to make better decisions moving forward. Through storytelling, extensive research, and easy recommendations, Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given us all a priceless road map to reclaim our agency.

All in Her Head accomplishes a remarkable feat of storytelling. By combining essential medical histories about women's bodies with all of the narrative propulsion of a medical thriller, Comen has written a must-read, compelling and important book.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given a priceless gift to women and the medical world, sharing profound insights from her experiences as a physician with touching compassion, empathy, wit, and a fierce determination to improve women's health and health care. Brava for a book that really matters, that empowers patients to take charge of their health, that challenges healthcare systems to change, and will improve the lives of all who read it!

All in Her Head is "like reading a thriller where women's bodies are the victim," Rinaldi says, citing the story of 19th-century physician Horatio Robinson Storer, who was "seen as one of the fathers of OB-GYN science" and was one of the first surgeons to perform a Cesarean section. He was also a virulent anti-abortion activist, and he had his wife committed to an asylum for "menses-induced insanity." Read more...

This book exposes the shocking, infuriating, and heartbreaking medical myths and practices that have haunted the care and treatment of women for millennia - myths about the inherent inferiority and weakness of the female body that are still with us today. All in Her Head is not only personally empowering for women but it's also a call to reimagine what medicine would look like if we valued what has been left out of our medical system: the high art and skill of caretaking.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen has given a priceless gift to women and the medical world, sharing profound insights from her experiences as a physician with touching compassion, empathy, wit, and a fierce determination to improve women's health and healthcare. Brava for a book that really matters, empowers patients to take charge of their health, challenges healthcare systems to change, and will improve the lives of all who read it!

A recommended, accessible study of the historical shortcomings in female healthcare. It's also an effective catalyst to advocate for better treatment. Read more...