The Balance within - The Science Connecting Health and Emotions (Paperback, New edition)

In the late 1960s psychiatrist Bob Rose began to study one of the most stressful occupations of all - air traffic controllers. He travelled the length of the USA to gather data on over 400 controllers and discovered that it was psychological variables like feeling alienated at work or abandoned by their employers that predicted most accurately who suffered from problems like high blood pressure. He followed up his sample again in 1993, and found that more than any other physical variable measured in their blood, blood pressure or urine, it was psychological factors measured decades earlier that best predicted the later development of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, alcoholism and depression. It is research like this which establishes vital links between body and mind which, unfortunately, modern Western medicine and practice still glosses over. This is a weakness that perhaps alternative and complementary therapies do not suffer from, and could partly explain why they are so preferred. Sternberg is a senior medical figure in the science of neurimmunology, the interaction between the nervous system and immune systems, and seeks to remedy the lack of medical interest in how the mind can make you ill or well with this straightforward, readable account of the interface between medicine and psychology. Review by DR RAJ PERSAUD Editor's note: Raj Persaud is a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London. (Kirkus UK)

This text explores the mind-body connection and what it means for health. Esther Sternberg provides accounts of the experiments that reveal the physical mechanisms - the nerves, cells and hormones - used by the brain and immune system to communicate with each other. She describes just how stress can make us more susceptible to all types of illness, and how the immune system can alter moods.

General

Imprint:	W. H. Freeman
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	June 2001
First published:	May 2001
Authors:	Esther M. Sternberg
Dimensions:	234 x 157 x 17mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	250
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-7167-4445-0
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Physiological & neuro-psychology Books > Medicine > General issues > Public health & preventive medicine > Personal & public health > Health psychology Promotions
LSN:	0-7167-4445-7
Barcode:	9780716744450

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