By now it is old news: what we think, feel and experience influences our biological functioning, and our biological functioning affects what we think, feel and experience.

Obvious? In some ways! Everyone knows that chemicals we ingest (such as alcohol) can have a profound effect on behavior. And most people know that nutritional deficiencies can make us feel "run down" or "depressed," or that for some people, certain foods (e.g., refined sugar) will cause a "high."

And of course we have all experienced the most basic mind/body connections, such as worrying about an exam causing the heart to beat faster, anxiety causing gastrointestinal upset, or sadness making robbing us of energy.

But are you aware that unresolved abuse can kill you? The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported that women with histories of physical and/or sexual abuse who have not engaged in psychotherapy have a significantly greater chance of developing a myriad of debilitating and even deadly illnesses, including a 400% greater chance of developing cervical, ovarian or uterine cancer.

The last 10 years have seen a virtual explosion in research that documents how the mind and body are intricately connected. David Spiegel, M.D., has demonstrated that psychotherapeutic support groups for people with terminal cancer can double life-expectancy. Stress reduction and meditation techniques are now fully accepted components of the overall treatment program for those with HIV; high degrees of stress and anxiety have been proven to impair the immune system.

Pain is yet another example. When Steve first learned hypnosis, he talked for an hour with a woman who, because she was allergic to all known chemical anasthesias, had three hours of abdominal surgery done with hypnosis as the only anasthetic! Actually, hypnoanasthesia was not so unusual in the "old days." In 1842 a Scottish physician named James Esdaile reported on his experience conducting more than 300 surgeries using hypnosis as the only anasthetic.

As incredible as Dr. Esdaile's "hypnosurgical" experiences may sound, what is even more amazing was that in an era marked by a 50% mortality rate during surgery for tumor removal (remember, antiseptic medical practices and antibiotic medicines did not exist in the 19th century), Dr. Esdaile reported an astounding mortality rate of only 5% among his hypnotized patients who underwent surgery to remove tumors. Modern physicians partially ascribe this low mortality rate to the well-known fact that patients bleed less under hypnosis. And Dr. Esdaile did not know about the "immune system," yet clearly his use of hypnosis during surgery seemed to stimulate his patients' natural defenses against infection.

More recently, the National Institute of Health published a report on psychological treatments for migraine headaches and sleep disturbances, and found hypnosis to be the single best technique for relieving these problems. Hypnosis, biofeedback, and guided imagery are consistently utilized to help people cope with chronic pain syndromes.

A number of researchers have demonstrated that psychotherapy, guided imagery and hypnosis can boost the body's immune response, and many cancer and HIV treatment programs now routinely recommend these complementary treatment modalities.

Psychotherapy in general has been demonstrated to have a general and broad-based positive effect on physical health. For many people, this improvement in health is due to decreased stress, less depression and anxiety, and increased ability to successfully cope with emotional problems that would otherwise weaken the body's natural defenses or cause stress-related physical disorders. We have also worked with a significant number of clients who, following a successful course of psychotherapy, have reported dramatically improved health over the long-term (e.g., fewer sick days from work, fewer gastrointestinal problems and headaches, increased commitment to healthy lifestyles and practices, fewer colds and flues, etc.). Keep in mind that these clients were not working directly on their health problems; they were dealing with relationship, family, work or prior abuse issues. Improved physical health was (for them) an unexpected "bonus"--a sort of "icing on the cake."

For other people, improved health is directly related to decisions made during psychotherapy to engage in a more healthy lifestyle. For example, nobody doubts the immediate health benefits that result from changes in behavior patterns and unhealthy habits like smoking, compulsive overeating, anorexia/bulimia and substance abuse.

[For articles and more information about the mind/body connection, scroll down.]

 

 

from THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/7/98, p. A9

Study finds stress after surgery may worsen breast cancer

Researchers found those with the most anxiety

had lower levels of helpful white blood cells

By Paul Recer

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The stress that women endure after breast cancer surgery may make their condition worse, according to researchers who found that anxiety can decrease the body's natural defenses against disease.

Researchers at Ohio State University said they found that breast cancer patients with the most anxiety about their medical condition had the lowest levels of white blood cells that normally attack cancer and combat infection.

"Whether or not that will affect crease the body's natural defenses cancer outcome is something we are still studying," said Barbara L. Andersen, an OSU psychology professor. But it is clear, she said, that stress is lowering immunity in these patients.

The next step is to find out whether psychological counseling to lower stress can improve the medical outcome in cancer patients, she said.

Although elevated stress is almost certainly present in all cancer patients, Andersen said the OSU study dealt only with breast-cancer patients.

Andersen, lead author of the study published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, said her group interviewed 116 women ages 31 to 84 who had undergone surgery for invasive breast cancer, but had not yet started chemotherapy or radiation.

The interviews included psychological tests that determined each woman's level of stress in response to her disease by assessing the number and frequency of such matters as "intrusive thoughts" about their cancer.

Some women reacted to their medical situation with a high degree of stress, while others experienced only modest levels. On a stress scale of 0 to 75 the median score was 25.

The researchers then tested the women's blood for the levels of immune cells that play key roles in the body's defenses.

In the blood of women with high degrees of stress, said Anderson, there were 20 percent to 30 percent fewer natural killer cells. These are immune-system cells whose job is to seek out and kill cancer cells.

Anderson said the scientists also tested the samples for the response to gamma interferon a natural protein that enhances immunity. "Gamma interferon worked less effectively where the stress levels were high" she said.

Still another test showed that T4 cells, a key lymphocyte in the body's defense against infection, worked less powerfully in women with high stress levels.

Andersen said the study was only the first part of a long-term project designed to test whether controlling stress can play a role in fighting cancer.

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