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Body Medicine
Body Medicine :
Body medicine, which is also called body mind medicine or mind body medicine, uses the power of emotions and focused thinking to improve physical health.
Mind body medicine in history
Hippocrates described the essence of mind body medicine when he wrote: "The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well."
Many ancient healing practices, including Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, have as their foundation the connection between the body and the mind. But Western medicine is based on treating the mind and body as separate entities. Conventional Western medicine has fields of knowledge for physical disease and for mental illness, but ignores the mind body connection.
One of the first mind body medicine practices was psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), the study of how thoughts affected the nervous system and the immune system. In 1964, psychiatrist George Solomon investigated the mind body medicine connection between rheumatoid arthritis and depression. By the 1970s, doctors were investigating the “relaxation response”, a mind body medicine connection that allowed people to lower their blood pressure just by meditating on it, and the mind body connection between the immune system and the emotions.
Mind body medicine techniques
Most mind body medicine techniques used today are based on Eastern practices such as yoga, but mind body medicine is sometimes also incorporated into traditional American medical schooling. For example, some schools of nursing teach “healing touch” classes which emphasize how patients can be calmed through touch, activating their mind body medicine powers. Mind body medicine techniques teach patients focused concentration on their body’s actions and reactions. Some methods include:
Biofeedback, which trains patients to control bodily functions that are usually involuntary, such as heart rate and blood pressure. This mind body medicine method has been successful in treating headaches and pain.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches people to recognize and stop potentially harmful thoughts, sometimes through exposing themselves to their fear triggers so they can gain control of the mind body medicine response.
Relaxation techniques, in which patients are trained to achieve a calm and focused state in which the mind body connection is most beneficial and healing. Meditation, visualization, and progressive muscle relaxation are mind body medicine relaxation techniques.
Hypnosis is a classic exploration of the mind body connection and can be useful in healing, especially of mental disorders such as addictions and phobias. When in a hypnotic state, patients are able to respond to deeply implanted, helpful suggestions.
Some would classify spiritual beliefs as a form of mind body medicine because spiritual beliefs can influence health. Recent research has shown that people with cancer, AIDS, and other fatal diseases who have a spiritual orientation have a longer survival rate. In this case, their mind body connection is seen by the patient as a link between a higher being and themselves.
Support groups also are linked to mind body medicine. Many studies have shown that the psychological benefit of talking with patients with similar ailments leads to improved survival rates in breast cancer patients. Mind body medicine is also at work when people in hospices are taught to relax and accept their approaching death. In such cases, mind body connections are able to override the patients’ physical sense of desolation and fear.
Other mind body medicine techniques include:
Individual, couple and family counseling
Psychoeducational groups
Educational resources
Humor therapy
A negative example of mind body medicine is the harmful effect of Stress, a purely mental condition that leads to immediate physical symptoms. Stress related to anger has been shown to disrupt normal heart rates. The mind body connection lets the mind signal the adrenal glands to release cortisol, the “fight or flight” hormone that allows us to escape emergency situations, but also has negative long-term effects on all organ systems. Depression also has been shown to affect the body through the mind.
Researchers have not discovered the exact mind body link through which emotions such as hostility increase insulin resistance, but evidence shows that a link exists. A patient’s ability to deal with his or her emotions has a demonstrable effect on survival rates for many chronic illnesses.
Mind body medicine has been most successful at treating:
High blood pressure
Asthma
Coronary heart disease
Obesity
Side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea
Insomnia
Anxiety
Diabetes
Gastro-intestinal problems (including irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease)
Fibromyalgia
Menopausal symptoms
Tinnitus
Cautions and warnings about mind body medicine
Mind body medicine is generally considered safe for patients of all ages, although specific techniques may carry risks for some patients. Your health care practitioner will be able to inform you about mind body medicine or steer you to someone who understands mind body medicine techniques. Mind body medicine practitioners should never leave you feeling you are “to blame” for a medical condition, but should focus on helpful ways you can attempt to influence your own health and wellbeing.
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