Show ment in human health” says Dr Ralph S Paffenbarger Jr professor of epidemiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine Safety Accidents are the main cause of death for people under 40 According to the Surgeon General if young people used seat belts and kept within designated speed limits nearly half of all deaths for those under 30 could be eliminated Improved safety conditions at work could also save many lives Nearly one out of five cases of cancer may be linked to exposure to chemicals and other hazardous substances on the job claims Dr Richmond More and more people are learning how to cure disease themselves One proven remedy is laughter And that’s no joke By Laurence Cherry John G a middle-age- d worker visited his last year for a checkup he was cheerfully confident about the diagnosis to come But he soon learned that his health was far from excellent According to the doctor a combination of excess weight markedly high blood pressure and a sedentary stressful way of life had made John an excellent candidate for a dozen different diseases — including heart attack and stroke A few years ago someone like John G would probably have been mildly scolded by his doctor and told to try to “get in shape” Instead John was bluntly informed that if he hoped to escape the ailments that seemed to await him he would have to change some of his most ingrained habits As many patients are discovering health care in the United States is in the middle of a transformation not as noticeable perhaps but hardly less important than the one at the beginning of the century that marked the successful conquest of such major infectious diseases as diphtheria scarlet fever and smallpox Increasingly doctors are placing emphasis not only on curing disease but also on deterring it “It is clear that improvement in the health status of our citizens will not be made predominantly through the treatment of disease but rather through prevention” declared Dr Julius Richmond Surgeon General of the US in 1979 Only the year before several doctors and health professionals had established the American Holistic Medical Association “Traditional medicine has only paid attention to most people when they were already sick” says Dr Elmer Cranton its current president Holistic medicine concentrates on helping people stay well When g obviously inPhysical volves many different factors including disposition and general life style Holistic medicine attempts to examine us as a whole organism body and mind which is exactly where the word “holism” (or wholism) is derived from Of course not every illness can be prevented: Some viral ailments strike well-bein- Laurence Cherry is a member of the National Association of Science Wnters Stress and personality “There’s been a huge change in the way we view the relationship between our mind and good health our mind and disease” says Dr Robert Ader Tuned in: Biofeedback (pictured above and on cover) helps patients by enabling them to listen to their bodies without warning as grim invaders that give our bodies small chance to defend themselves But the major killers of our time — such as cancer and heart disease — are not infectious diseases and much of the responsibility for avoiding these diseases rests squarely with ourselves Hospitals and clinics that offer health enhancement education share an emphasis on total change including the following: life-sty- le Smoking cessation “Cigarette- smoking is the principal preventable cause of chronic disease in this coun- try” the Surgeon General flatly de- clared in his 1979 report Based on statistics from the US Public Health Service Dr Edward J Beattie chief g medical officer at Memorial Cancer Center in New York of Toward the and City Conquest of Cancer (Crown 1980) estimates that cigarette smoking is re Sloan-Ketterin- co-auth- or -- Exerdse is lated to 80 percent of all cases of lung of emphysema cancer four-fifth- s s of all cases of cases and a third of rechronic bronchitis ported cases of coronary heart disthree-quarter- ease Nutrition In February 1980 the Departments of Agriculture and Health Education and Welfare jointly issued dietary guidelines for Americans These included the following suggestions: that you eat a variety of foods maintain an ideal weight avoid too much sugar salt fat and cholesterol eat foods with adequate fiber and drink only moderate amounts of alcohol Exercise Last year Duke University researchers reported that regular vigorous exercise improves a person’s ability to dissolve blood clots and thus can reduce the risk of developing heart and blood-vess- el problems “Exercise is an essential protective one holistic approach to exorcising ills ele- - pro- fessor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Rochester Medical School and past president of the American Psychosomatics Society New discoveries have shown that our minds along with exposing us to greater risk of illness also have the and power to enhance our of illness prevent many kinds Two psychiatrists at the University of Washington Medical School Dr Thomas Holmes and Dr Richard Rahe have discovered that the likelihood of becoming ill rises sharply after a major life change — such as divorce or being fired from a job Several years ago two California cardiologists Dr Ray Rosenman and Dr Meyer Friedman also suggested that a high stress behavior pattern they called Type A helps lead to heart disease The typical Type A person they found is extremely competitive and constantly anxiously aware of the passage of time According to Dr George Vaillant a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University who studied over 100 Harvard students from the sophomore class of 1942 as they graduated married and began to age “Stress does not kill so muchas ingenious adaptation to stress — call it good mental health or mature coping mechanisms — facilitates our survival” well-bein- g -- But although the new holistic medicine stresses the importance of precure venting illness it also attempts to to abilities — by tapping patients’ own heal their bodies Norman Cousins author of the g Anatomy of an Illness believes that a patients attitude can make a crucial difference “If you re pessimistic about your illness your body is going to move in that direction” says Cousins “If you’re confident and are certain that you’re going to lick it your body will move in a Ive positive direction This is why always stressed the will to live laugh ter hope faith love” best-sellin- (continued) 6 FAMILY WEEKLY July 12 1981 |