Plato said “the greatest mistake physicians make is that they attempt to cure the body without attempting to cure the mind, yet the mind and body are one and should not be treated separately.”
My colleagues and I have seen, more than once, how patients who have suffered with “chronic illness” for years despite seeing countless health practitioners have healed. And we’ve seen people diagnosed with terminal illness defy the odds and survive. Some people call it a miracle; others consider it to be the power of the mind and spirit.
No system in the human body is exempt from the effects of the mind. Feelings, emotions, thoughts and attitudes literally affect our heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, respiratory rate, gastrointestinal function, hormonal balance, immune system and more. Even the amount of pain you experience can be affected by the power of the mind.
For example, a new study by researchers from Wake Forest University revealed that the brains of people who underwent meditation training and were then subjected to five minutes of pain showed a decrease in activation in regions associated with pain. In addition, the participants experienced lower levels of pain than they did before they learned how to meditate. (April 2011, Journal of Neuroscience)
So why has the connection between mind, body and illness/wellness been so often ignored in the last 200 or so years? Whatever the reason, the pendulum is swinging back, and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) --- also known as Integrative Medicine) addresses this vital link. Evidence is growing to support the use of CAM in clinical settings, and the federal government has allocated research dollars to continue the research.
According to Aditi Nerurkar, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School, doctors are referring patients more often for accepted CAM therapies. “What we learned suggests that providers are referring their patients for mind-body therapies as a last resort once conventional therapeutic options have failed,” Nerurkar said. “It makes us wonder whether referring patients for these therapies earlier in the treatment process could lead to less use of the health care system and possibly better outcomes for these patients,” she added. (May 2011, Archives of Internal Medicine)
