In 1993, the Institute of Noetic Sciences published Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography. In this work, the authors, Caryle Hirshberg and the late Brendan O’Regan, defined spontaneous remission as “the disappearance, complete or incomplete, of a disease or cancer without medical treatment or treatment that is considered inadequate to produce the resulting disappearance of disease symptoms or tumor.”
Because there was no standard reference for the field of spontaneous remission before that time, the first task of the Remission Project at IONS was to catalogue the world’s medical literature on the subject. As a result, it assembled the largest database of medically reported cases of spontaneous remission in the world, with more than 3,500 references from more than 800 journals in 20 different languages.
While the authors believe that the phenomenon of remission is relatively rare, the data from their research suggest that it may not be as rare as previously believed. It appears that the impression of rarity is at least partly an artifact of underreporting, but research shows there has been an increase in the number of cases reported in the last few decades.
Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography was compiled by Caryle Hirshberg and Brendan O’Reagan. It is organized according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM 9) system.
It is divided into three sections: “Part One: Remission of Cancer” (chapters 1-10), “Part Two: Remission of Diseases Other Than Cancer” (chapters 11-19), and “Part Three,” which contains four appendices and an addendum. Each section contains annotated bibliographic citations—including summaries and in some cases complete text of case reports—and supplemental references.
The book itself is no longer available for sale from IONS, but all the documents in the bibliography are downloadable in PDF format.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Pages 1-52
Chapter 1: Pages 53-58, Remission of Neoplasms of Lip, Oral Cavity, and Pharynx
Chapter 2: Pages 59-92, Remission of Neoplasms of Digestive Organs and Peritoneum
Chapter 3: Pages 93-111, Remission of Neoplasms of Respiratory and Intrathoracic Organs
Chapter 4: Pages 112-142, Remission of Neoplasms of Bone, Connective Tissue, and Soft Tissue
Chapter 5: Pages 143-166, Remission of Neoplasms of the Female Breast
Chapter 6: Pages 167-197, Remission of Neoplasms of the Skin
Chapter 7: Pages 198-219, Remission of Neuroblastoma
Chapter 8: Pages 220-288, Remission of Neoplasms of Genitourinary Organs
Chapter 9: Pages 289-309, Remission of Neoplasms of the Eye, Brain, Nervous System, and Endocrine Glands
Chapter 10: Pages 310-348, Remission of Neoplasms of Lymphatic and Hematopoietic Tissue
Chapter 11: Pages 349-379, Remission of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
Chapter 12: Pages 380-408, Remission of Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases, and Immunity Disorders
Chapter 13: Pages 409-440, Remission of Diseases of the Circulatory System, Blood, and Blood Forming Organs
Chapter 14: Pages 441-454, Remission of Nervous System, Sense Organs, and Mental Disorders
Chapter 15: Pages 455-460, Remission of Respiratory System Diseases
Chapter 16: Pages 461-475, Remission of Digestive System Diseases
Chapter 17: Pages 476-487, Remission of Genitourinary System, and Pregnancy and Childbirth Related Disorders
Chapter 18: Pages 488-495, Remission of Diseases of the Skin, Subcutaneous Tissue, Musculoskeletal System, and Connective Tissue
Chapter 19: Pages 496-502, Remission of Injury Related Disorders
Appendix One: Pages 503-530, Review Articles
Appendix Two: Pages 531-558, Behavioral Aspects of Remission
Appendix Three: Pages 559-576, Clinical and Experimental Studies
Appendix Four: Pages 577-646, Infection Related Remission
Addendum: Pages 647-674
Index: Pages 675-694
Author Index: Pages 695-703
Journal Index: Pages 704-713
To see related books, websites, and frequently asked questions, go to our Spontaneous Remission Bibliography Resources page.
