He understood that the physical well-being of a person is dependent on mental well-being, and reciprocally, that mental well-being is dependent on physical well-being.
Furthermore, in the Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Deot Maimonides states that health is necessary in order to know G-d, which is the highest purpose in life.
Throughout the generations, similar concepts have been expressed by numerous Torah commentators. In the past century, the Baal Shem Tov and his hasidic followers emphasized and revitalized this approach. Science and medicine are beginning to awaken from a long unawareness concerning the interplay between bodily factors and the mind and soul. In this sense, we are lucky to be living in an exciting era, when the discipline of psycho-neuro-immunology PNI is pioneering a revolution in elevating medicine from a mechanistic, dualistic Descartian perception of the human condition to a new paradigm embracing the complexity and beauty of human existence.
The old reductionistic perception of the human being as the sum of many separate biological systems is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy. The difficulty of Western medicine in effectively treating many disease states, especially chronic diseases, may be related to this narrow, non-integrative concept. This attitude also incurs dissatisfaction from health service clients. Patients feel they are looked upon by ultra-specialists as a compilation of systems and not as an integrated human being.
In contrast to the view that body systems function separately, technological development in neuroimaging and molecular biology show that systems continuously interact among themselves. Understanding these complex interactions is essential for gaining a better perception on how to maintain health and prevent and treat disease. Technological breakthroughs in neuroimaging, such as positron emission tomography PET , functional magnetic resonance FMRI , and single photon emission computerized tomography SPECT , give us a first-time opportunity to pinpoint areas of the brain that are responsible for the generation of emotions, thoughts, and even higher abilities of the mind, such as meditation and prayer.
Another area of technological advancement that has boosted the understanding of the connection between body and mind is molecular biology. Molecular biology has given us the opportunity to track down minute quantities of substances traveling through the human body and interacting with different systems of the body.
Of great significance are the molecules found interacting in the brain, especially the limbic system responsible for our emotions, with other bodily systems. The increasing ability to track the pathways of minute amounts of molecules and monitor their effect on different systems has enhanced our knowledge of how mental, emotional, or spiritual changes can alter the molecular profile of the immune or hormonal system and thus affect the body.
Thus, science today is approaching the Torah understanding that state of mind affects physical health and disease. You will then serve G-d your L-rd, and he will bless your bread and your water.
I will remove sickness from among you…. I will make you live out full lives. Exodus According to the modern definition of health, as defined by the World Health Organization:.
Health is a complete state of physical, social, and mental well-being and the mere absence of disease or infirmity. Spiritual well-being is an important component of general well-being. Thus, the concept of the mind-body relationship as defined in the Torah and rediscovered by PNI is embedded in the current definition of health. Psychoneuroimmunology deals with the interactions among the mind, behavior, the nervous system, the immune system, and the endocrine system.
One of the foci of PNI is the study of the stress phenomenon and its harmful influence on the body, resulting in disease. Chronic stress, and its ill effects is an example of the connection between body and mind. The cause of disease is multi-factorial. It has been established that chronic stress is a risk factor in the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Chronic stress has been shown to be a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, cancer, 21 , 22 , 23 infection, 24 , 25 , 26 wound healing, 27 autoimmune disease, 28 , 29 depression, 30 , 31 , 32 infertility, 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 pain, and many other disease states.
Stress has many definitions. A relevant one for our discussion is that stress is an extraordinary demand on physiological and psychological defenses and adaptation mechanisms with concomitant neuro-immuno-endocrine responses.
This reaction is essential in animals and humans for survival, particularly when encountered by danger. The confronted organism can quickly recruit tremendous energy to overcome danger either by fighting or fleeing the source of danger. The stress response mechanism is manifested in two major pathways see Figure 2. Cortisol has a potent, wide range effect on many organs. After being secreted, it is distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream.
It enters the cells and affects the DNA within the cellular nucleus, thus changing the functioning of the cells, organs, and bodily systems. The second pathway is the autonomic pathway, involving activation of the sympathetic nervous system that stimulates the adrenal gland to secrete adrenaline. Adrenaline, like cortisol, has a large array of effects on several systems. The significant changes following stress, although favorable on the short term, have a high cost when repeatedly activated on the long run i.
Thus, stress exposes us to reduced resistance. An ever-increasing scientific database reveals that chronic stress is a risk factor for many disease processes. Various studies indicate that stress events or breakdown of psychological defenses are related to the onset of allergic, autoimmune, infectious, neoplastic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and other illnesses. Other studies tie stress with myocardial infarctions heart attacks , stroke, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, depression, obesity, and many more problems.
The first three illnesses listed above are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Western societies today. Why is it that while individuals within a group of people e. And why is it that virulent bacteria can be found in certain people, of whom only a few will actually become infected and sick? These two examples show us that diseases are caused by factors other than just a certain genetic background or the mere presence of an infective agent e.
The decline of immune function through stress may be responsible for the ability of the bacteria to cause infection or of a genetic trait to become expressed as an actual disease. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that stress reduction can boost the immune system, enhance well-being, and reduce morbidity and mortality risk. Amazingly, the same mind-body mechanism that causes disease can work in the reverse direction and enhance health.
Numerous studies have shown that stress reduction and the enhancement of well-being can boost the immune system and prevent disease. This means that the same physiological mechanism connecting body and mind can work both ways. The same mechanism can either cause disease through chronic stress or reverse its harmful effects through reducing stress and augmenting well-being.
We can better appreciate this two-way process by acknowledging the placebo phenomenon. Some scientists argue that certain medications e. What underlies the placebo phenomenon?
The placebo phenomenon seems to reveal the power of suggestion. Is it a trigger for the mind to actualize an internal potential mechanism to cure the body? Does it show an intrinsic ability of the mind to heal the body? The placebo is an example of how it is possible for the mind to initiate a curing process from within. The placebo phenomenon is an extraordinary illustration of the therapeutic potential of the mind-body relationship when directed in a constructive direction.
With the right set of mind a person can improve his or her physical condition. Numerous studies have shown this. Reduction of stress through a wide range of strategies and techniques can reduce morbidity and enhance the immune function to provide protection from disease. Is modern medicine inducing well-being? And if not, why not? Many modern medicine patients feel that their well-being decreases after an encounter with medical services.
There seems to be an unwritten, silent agreement between patients and physicians saying: When the patient comes to the physician with a complaint of a symptom, the physician gives the patient a drug or surgery to relieve the symptom. Although this relative relief of the symptom has its benefit, it does not address the true underlying process that caused the disease to surface. Studies have shown that certain medications that improved laboratory test results in certain patients are liable to reduce well-being and on the whole diminish health outcomes.
Modern medical research has a tremendous mass of data on how to prevent disease and to enhance health. Much more could be done to enhance well-being and prevent disease primary and secondary prevention. We lag behind in educating the public about risk factors such as stress and its adverse effects. The public should know that stressful lifestyles may be risk factors for disease.
Contemporary medicine is not primarily focused on preventing disease but on treating disease after it has appeared. This focus makes the treatment more costly and incomplete. In the s, psychologist Robert Ader led an experiment which fed rats a saccharin-laced solution containing a drug which both caused gut distress and also suppressed the immune system. This implied a connection heretofore unknown: a link between psychology and immunity.
Thus, the field of PNI was born. The HPA axis the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands together with our sympathetic nervous system mediate our stress responses as humans. Some of this happens in a normal day—but in an acute stress response, release of adrenaline or epinephrine from the sympathetic nervous system will trigger additional release of these steroid hormones.
Steroids, of course, are anti-inflammatory—that is, they suppress immune function , or at least the innate immune responses.
This makes sense: in an acutely stressful situation, you want to marshal all your resources for fighting or fleeing. At the same time, being sick is a stressor. When presented with a potential foreign invader, specialized immune cells called macrophages gobble it up and present the fragments to T-cells, so that the T-cells can decide whether or not the invader is a threat. Dr Stephen Maier demonstrated that in the process, macrophages also release a cytokine , or an immune signaling molecule, called interleukin When the cytokine binds its receptor, the vagus nerve then sends the signal of possible invasion upstairs.
The brain gets the message and produces its own cytokine signaling molecules, telling the rest of the immune system to gear up for battle. In a feedback loop, inflammatory cytokines will in turn stimulate the release of ACTH and cortisol: the stress hormones. Emotional stress, it turns out, follows this same procedure, except it bypasses the macrophage step. Listed in category:. Email to friends Share on Facebook - opens in a new window or tab Share on Twitter - opens in a new window or tab Share on Pinterest - opens in a new window or tab.
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