product of the mind-body connection working against us.
One of the most important systems we have to fight disease is really three systems in one. The nervous system, controlled by the brain, regulates the other two: the endocrine and the immune systems. Together, these systems are a veritable army against toxins, pathogens, tissue trauma, and psychological stress, which by itself can cause more disease than the first three factors combined. See Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: The Neuro-Endocrine-Immune System
Many diseases besides genetic disorders originate with the nervous system because the brain controls the way all our other organs respond. As discussed earlier, the hypothalamus sends chemical and nerve signals to the pituitary, which in turn releases hormones that trigger chemical reactions and stimulate or inhibit the immune system. In concert, this threesome of organ systems determines how healthy we are and how quickly and effectively we respond to illness when it strikes.
All three of these systems directly affect one another, particularly during embryonic growth and development. And in adulthood the interactions that occur among them depend extensively on a network of chemicals and hormones that travel from one body part to another, sometimes for great distances.
Because the neuro-endocrine-immune system is so interrelated, disruption to one of the organ systems due to a physical challenge like tissue trauma or infection, or a mental challenge that creates stress, typically causes damage to the others. And because this damage usually begins with the brain, our goal should be to ensure that the “neuro” part of the neuro-endocrine-immune system is functioning well. If it isn’t, it’s that much harder for the body to overcome disease mechanisms.
What Are the Effects of Stress on Health?
If you are not able to change your response to the stressors that are so much a part of modern life, you may find yourself in a continual fight-or-flight reaction. Over time, being effectively stuck in fight-or-flight mode can lead to serious health consequences, including high blood pressure, digestive disorders, or diabetes.
Mind-body therapies and practices can help prevent this. But note that the relationship between stress and illness is not a simple one. There is no simple, direct connection between the number and kinds of stressors you experience, the way you react to those stressors, and how your physical health is affected. But there is a connection.
Some people misinterpret the idea of the mind-body connection and end up blaming themselves for being stressed and sick. This assumes a level of control over their health that isn’t realistic. Instead of worrying or self-blaming, do what you can to take care of yourself, including practicing stress management, but it’s important to recognize that you don’t have complete control.
How Do Mind-Body Therapies Help Reduce Stress?
Mind-body therapies help you change your response to stressors. Some of the ways they can do this include:
• Relaxation response. Many of these therapies invoke the relaxation response. As you may have experienced, the relaxation response reverses the physical effects of stress.
• Positive thinking. Mind-body therapies can also contribute to (or deliberately create) more positive thinking. Evidence shows that people who believe they are doing better actually do better than those who have the same physical condition but aren’t as positive. (Research also suggests that anxiety, hostility, depression, and other negative states affect the immune system.)
• Placebo effect. When people believe that a therapy is working, it often does have a positive effect. The placebo effect is often deliberately invoked by mind-body therapies. For example, guided imagery and clinical hypnosis can use suggestions that the patient is getting better.
• Social support is a mind-body therapy in and of itself and is also part of many other mind-body therapies. It has been shown beneficial to health in many studies. “People with supportive social networks have been shown to have better overall health . . . shorter hospital stays when they do get sick, and better resistance to infection than those whose social bonds are not strong.”3
The principles that make mind-body therapies and practices effective in improving physical health also apply to other aspects of our daily life. These therapies can improve your mental and emotional health and your overall well-being.
According to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, there is a direct link between stress and aging. This study compared the chromosomes of thirty-nine women, ages twenty to fifty, who had been caring for children with serious chronic illnesses (and who thus had high levels of stress) with woman caring for healthy children (lower stress).4
Women with the highest levels of stress had changes in their chromosomes equivalent to at least one decade of additional aging compared with women with lower stress. But it wasn’t only the years of caregiving that related to the change, it was the perception of high stress. Women who had the perception of higher stress levels such as the inability to manage time or feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work, fared the worst. To paraphrase Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist and researcher on the responses of organisms to stressors, every stressful experience leaves an indelible scar and exacts a cost—after a stressful situation the organism pays for it by becoming a little older. Given this, could mind-body practices that reduce stress also reduce aging? I’ll examine this in a later chapter.
I’ve included chapters on spirituality, prayer, meditation, and imaging because all of these can have a significant effect on our state of mind and the way we feel and think, which, in turn, can have a profound effect on how our immune system responds to illness and disease.
Typically, the main ingredients needed to trigger a disease are an invading foreign substance and a lowered resistance. The invader can be anything from a virus, fungus, parasite, or bacteria to abnormal tissue growth, resulting in a tumor or cancer. The lower the resistance, or the slower the response to the invader is, the more likely the disease will establish itself and overwhelm homeostatic mechanisms. Stress is your body’s physiological response to anything you perceive as overwhelming, unpleasant, dangerous, or threatening. In the case of the fight-or-flight response, stress contributes to our survival, enabling us to quickly escape or fight our way out of a threatening situation.
Stress can also be caused by changes we normally think of as positive, such as a job promotion, a new relationship, or the birth of a child. It is excess or ongoing stress that interferes with relationships, work, and social life. Ongoing stress saps your energy resources, causes feelings of negativity and, according to medical research, is responsible for as much as 90 percent of all illnesses and diseases—most notably hypertension, heart disease, and cancer. In addition, stress can be a contributing factor in making existing medical problems worse.
Because
