Mind-body connection

I m not trying to scare you. That s not my style. Rather, I m trying to impress upon you just how important a role your emotional health plays on your cardiovascular health. If anything I ve said thus far has made an impression, has reminded you of yourself, then you re now ready to learn just how the mind/body connection can lead to hypertension and what you can do to stop or at least slow down the insidious process. 

Among the most important neurotransmitters are acetylcholine (ACh), amino acids and their derivatives, and certain polypeptides known as neuropeptides. In fact, the mammalian nervous system is said to employ over 30 different substances as neurotransmitters. For the record, among the amino acids and their derivatives (called biogenic amines) are many that are also hormonally active in the bloodstream, and include the catecholamines dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, as derived sequentially from tyrosine, whereas y-aminobutyric acid (GABA), histamine, and serotonin are derived from glutamate, histidine, and tryptophan, respectively. The subject interfaces with the biochemical aspects of psychology, which may also be referred to as the mind-body connection, or psychosomatics. 

Walters (1993) divides cancer therapies into biologic and pharmacologic therapies, immime thaapies, herbal therapies, nutritional therapies, metabolic therapies, adjunctive treatments, raiergy medicine, and the mind-body connection. 

Michael Lemer is keen on vations Chinese therapies, herbal and otherwise, and in particular on what is called qi gong (Lemer, 1994, pp 387-393). Qi gong is a psychophysiological therapy, akin to yoga, which is easier described than explained. The explanation involves the mind-body connection. 

Western brain chemistry connection When depressed, likely to be diagnosed with anxious depression or serotonin depletion may be helped by dietary and exercise recommendations for serotonin deficiency. Ayurvedic connection Corresponds in many ways to Air type, or vata may be helped by Ayurvedic Mind-Body medicine recommendations for Air types. 

Ayurvedic connection Corresponds in many ways to Fire type, or pitta may be helped by Ayurvedic Mind-Body medicine recommendations for Fire types ... 

Wager s interest in the connection between mind and body stemmed from childhood. He had developed a severe skin rash, and his mother - who was a Christian Scientist who believed that illnesses were products of the mind - prayed and prayed for its cure, but to no avail. Finally a friend said to her, Enough praying take the kid to a doctor. The doctor applied an oint-... 

Figure 7.2 The young woman in this picture is anorexic, and has become so malnourished that she must be connected to a heart monitor and receive nutrition through an intravenous line into her body. With medical treatment, her body will likely recover more important, though, her mind needs to recover so she can see what she is doing to herself and understand what will happen if she continues to starve herself.

Again, keep in mind that the control attributed to each lobe mentioned above is not exclusive of the other lobes because of the integrated network of neurons connecting various portions of the brain. In addition there are other distinct bodies or diffuse neuronal systems which lie within the lobes just described. 

Selye s basic assertion was that inappropriate negative emotions can be physically destructive. If that is so, then what can positive emotions do In 1964 that very question popped into the mind of Norman Cousins. The well-known writer and editor had developed a form of arthritis that attacks the body s connective tissue. Ankylosing spondylitis is a terrible disease... 

Now that we understand how priming of the brain-mind can occur via exposure to words or visual images and how it can create an unconscious propensity to think and/or act according to the prescriptions of suggestion, we are in a stronger position to begin to answer some of the questions that have long baffled theorists and healthcare professionals. An important dimension of the processes that we will now consider is the connection of the brain-mind to and from the body. Because our model specifies participation of the brain even in transactions like hypnosis and... 

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