{"id":1573,"date":"2017-02-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2017-02-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T00:00:00","slug":"how-your-mind-affects-your-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/23\/how-your-mind-affects-your-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Thinking Yourself Sick? | Natural Holistic Health Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n A hostile attitude raises heart attack risk, while dummy drugs \u2018cure\u2019 30 percent of people. What\u2019s going on?\n <\/p>\n

\n Mind and body were once thought to operate completely separately, but increasingly science is showing this isn\u2019t the case. There\u2019s now biological evidence that
\n
\n what we think, feel and believe can have a direct effect on the way in which our bodies function
\n <\/strong>
\n \u2013 and, consequently, on our well-being.\n <\/p>\n

\n Although the holistic nature of many complementary medicines means they are largely centered around a mind\/body link, orthodox medicine has only just started to catch up and acknowledge the role that attitude, thought and emotion play in health, particularly in people\u2019s ability to combat illness.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Research into the Mind\/Body Connection
\n <\/h3>\n

\n This connection between the brain and the immune system is being explored by the relatively new science of psychoneuroimmunology. It began in earnest in the 1970s when in the course of an experiment, scientists gave rats a saccharin-flavored solution along with a drug that causes stomach upset and suppresses the immune system.\n <\/p>\n

\n When they were given the saccharin on its own without the drug,\u00a0 the rats began to die; it seemed that their immune systems had learned to shut down in response to it, even in the absence of the drug, suggesting there is a link between the brain and the mechanisms that fight disease.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since then, research has increasingly discovered ways in which the brain connects and communicates with the immune system and other systems in the body. The processes at work in the mind\/body link are highly complex. Neurotransmitters in the brain can be affected by emotions and, in turn, trigger physical reactions in other parts of the body, including the systems that combat illness. And illness, of course, affects emotions and behavior.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere is a clear, established
\n
\n link between how we are in ourselves and the health of our bodies
\n <\/strong>
\n ,\u201d says Dr David Reilly, Consultant Physician at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital. \u201cThink of how just a moment\u2019s embarrassment can make you blush. Now imagine what long-standing and burning inner feelings might do.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBeing hostile predicts future heart disease better than high cholesterol, smoking or body-mass index. Hopelessness likewise. Optimists on average live nine years longer than pessimists. Every thought and feeling has to be reflected and expressed through the body.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n We All Know About Stress, Right?
\n <\/h3>\n

\n Stress, for example, is one area in which body and mind are strongly linked. Stress and anxiety raise levels of cortisol and adrenaline in the body, which affect the immune system. Stress has also been shown to trigger other chemicals, which are linked with \u2018illness type\u2019 behavior including changes in mood and eating and sleeping patterns.\n <\/p>\n

\n Many conditions appear to be exacerbated by stress. Studies have shown, for example, that relapses in people with multiple sclerosis can be associated with stressful events.\n <\/p>\n

\n But
\n
\n feeling good can affect the immune system
\n <\/strong>
\n too. A Californian study proved that laughter is good for you by showing that medical students who had just watched a comedy video had an increased number of virus-fighting T-cells and more vigorous immune-boosting natural killer cells in their systems.\n <\/p>\n

\n Placebos Please
\n <\/h3>\n

\n Nowhere is the effect of mind over matter more evident than in the case of placebos. It\u2019s estimated that dummy treatments given in the course of research can effect a cure for 30 percent of patients, or even more in some cases. Sometimes a patient\u2019s faith in a cure can be the best medicine of all. In one study for example, a placebo emerged as a more effective treatment for depression than either St John\u2019s Wort or a prescription antidepressant.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s not just drugs either \u2013
\n
\n placebo surgery has been shown to work too
\n <\/strong>
\n . In one American study, patients with arthritis of the knee were treated just as successfully with a small incision and no further action as those who had a proper operation.\n <\/p>\n

\n Although the jury is still out on whether placebos actually produce physical changes in the body, their effectiveness undoubtedly helps to strengthen evidence for the mind\/body link.\n <\/p>\n

\n Good Thinking
\n <\/h3>\n

\n The increasing credibility of this link is evident in the way in which it\u2019s become accepted that
\n
\n attitudes to illnesses affect outcomes
\n <\/a>
\n . A study by Dr Stephen Greer carried out at King\u2019s College in London, for example, suggested that women with breast cancer who have a \u2018fighting spirit\u2019
\n
\n live longer than those who react fatalistically
\n <\/strong>
\n . Another study has shown that heart disease progressed more rapidly in men who felt helpless than those who did not.\n <\/p>\n

\n However, the association between attitude and prognosis is by no means clear cut. A review of 26 studies investigating psychological coping styles and survival from cancer concluded there is little consistent evidence that attitudes such as fighting spirit or denial affect the progress of the illness. \u201c
\n
\n People with cancer should not feel pressured into adopting particular coping styles
\n <\/strong>
\n to improve survival or reduce the risk of recurrence,\u201d say the review\u2019s authors.\n <\/p>\n

\n Furthermore, findings that suggest that a person\u2019s mental attitude is crucial can engender guilt in people suffering from illnesses if they feel they are not reacting in the \u2018right\u2019 way. This can make people feel as if they are to blame when they get sick, or when their attitude to their illness is not \u2018up to snuff\u2019.\n <\/p>\n

\n In her book, The Human Side of Cancer, US doctor Jimmie C Holland talks about what she calls \u201cthe tyranny of positive thinking\u2019 \u2013 the way in which people who are ill are made to think that they are to blame for not getting better if they fail to approach their condition with an optimistic \u2018fighting\u2019 stance.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMany people with cancer come to see me or other therapists for help with depressed feelings precisely because they don\u2019t fit today\u2019s popular model for coping with cancer,\u201d she says. \u201cThey assume it must be their fault, that they\u2019re out of step, that there must be something wrong with them.\u201d Obviously, this is not very helpful.\n <\/p>\n

\n Health in Mind
\n <\/h3>\n

\n While it\u2019s far from established that people can actually think themselves into a cure for a particular illness, it\u2019s possible that a
\n
\n generally sociable and involved lifestyle can keep us healthier for longer
\n <\/strong>
\n . \u201cOf course, nothing in the end stops us aging, getting sick and dying \u2013 that is natural and inevitable \u2013 but we can influence this to a degree,\u201d says Dr Reilly.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cElderly people who help with housework, childcare and other tasks reduce the risk of dying by almost 60 percent compared with those who don\u2019t help. It seems isolated social states and emotional states do not help life or happiness thrive. We need to
\n
\n help ourselves adopt as much inner peace as we can
\n <\/strong>
\n .\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n Strengthen Your Immune System Naturally
\n <\/h3>\n

\n
\n Beta-1, 3D Glucan
\n <\/a>
\n boosts the immune system to provide support and balance. It is unlike other immune supplements that simply stimulate or alter the immune response in unnatural ways. Over 50 years of research from prestigious universities around the world document the benefits of
\n
\n Beta-1, 3D Glucan
\n <\/a>
\n .\n <\/p>\n

\n Transfer Point is the only company that offers a Beta glucan with a minimum of 83% Beta-1,3D Glucan content, with no harmful contaminants. Every batch is independently tested and a Certificate of Analysis is provided and available upon request.\n <\/p>\n

\n Research proves that purity matters when it comes to biological activity. No other Beta glucan can match the effectiveness that has made
\n
\n Transfer Point\u2019s Beta Glucan
\n <\/a>
\n the respected name in immune support.\n <\/p>\n

\n Learn more about
\n
\n Transfer Point Beta Glucan
\n <\/a>
\n now.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A hostile attitude raises heart attack risk, while dummy drugs \u2018cure\u2019 30 percent of people. What\u2019s going on? Mind and body were once thought to operate completely separately, but increasingly science is showing this isn\u2019t the case. There\u2019s now biological evidence that what we think, feel and believe can have a direct effect on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-detox-immunity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}