Everyone in life experiences the body's ability to heal itself naturally. Cuts and bruises are easily cured without us doing much in the process.
Is there scientific proof we can heal ourselves?
There are countless cases whereby things that we used to believe were impossible, have not only happened but now have become ordinary. Exercise physiologists once believed it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes and plus nobody has ever done it, then Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes and 59 seconds, and then all world-class athletes were able to repeat the feat.
The medical establishment has been proving for over 30 years that the mind can heal the body, it is called the “placebo effect”, and they have been trying to outsmart it for decades. The placebo effect is a thorn in the side of the medical establishment. it’s an inconvenient truth that gets in between trying to bring new treatments and new surgeries in this field. It’s a problem supposedly, but the placebo effect is excellent news because it is concrete evidence that the body holds within itself an innate self-repair mechanism that can do some unthinkable things. If you find this surprising or if you have a hard time believing that the body can heal itself, look no further than the “Spontaneous Remission Project” a database compiled by the “Institute of Noetic Sciences” with over 3500 case studies in the medical literature of patients who have gotten better from “seemingly” incurable illnesses, for exexample: stage 4 cancers that disappeared, HIV-positive patients that became HIV-negative, heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, and auto-immune diseases. Those spontaneous remissions without medical treatment are kind of medical mysteries.
A great example of this in the medical literature is a case study from 1957 of Mr. Wright who had advanced lymphosarcoma. So, things weren’t going well for him, time was really running out. He had tumors the size of oranges in his armpits, neck, chest, and abdomen. His liver and spleen were enlarged and his lungs were filling up with two quarts of milky fluid every day that had to be drained in order for him to breathe. Mr. Wright was not giving up hope, he had heard about this wonder drug called Krebiozen and he was begging his doctor to try it out “come on give me some of that Krebiozen, it’s all going to be good”. Unfortunately, the Krebiozen was only available in a research protocol and it required that the doctor be able to make an assessment that said his patient had at least three months to live, but Dr. West who was treating Mr. Wright could not do that. However, Mr. Wright insisted so much that his doctor accepted and gave him the Krebiozen. He injected him on a Friday not expecting that Mr. Wright would make it through the weekend, but to his utter shock, when Dr. West came into rounds on Monday, Mr. Wright was up walking around the wards and his tumors had shrunken to half their original size. Ten days later they had disappeared completely. For two months Mr. Wright was well and kicking. Then initial reports about Krebiozen suggested this medication was not working that well so Mr. Wright fell into a deep depression and his cancer came back. This time Dr, West decided to try another approach and told Mr. Wright that he had some new, ultrapure highly concentrated Krebiozen that is going to work. He then injected Mr. Wright with nothing but distilled water and once again the tumors disappeared, and the fluid in his lung went away. Mr. Wright was well again for another two months until a nationwide study, published by the American Medical Association, proved definitely that Krebiozen was worthless. Two days later, Mr. Wright after hearing this news, died.
Stamatis Moraitis, is a different case. This young Greek emigrated to America at the age of 22 in pursuit of the American dream. As a painter, he had some success, bought a house, got married, settled down, and had three kids; diagnosed at the age of sixty-six with terminal lung cancer, and the doctor told him that he got only nine months to live. He decided to skip the treatment and keep his meager savings for his wife. He then moved back to Ikaria, a small island in Greece, lived in his parents' house, and decided to die happy enjoying the nine months with friends and relatives. He planted a garden (kind of occupational therapy without designing it as such) not planning on ever getting to harvest the vegetables, and reconnected with his faith and people he grew up with (kind of support group again naturally, not by design). Thirty-seven years later he has a vineyard producing two hundred liters of wine a year. For the purpose of understanding what I am going to say later, let’s call the second story. “The Stamatis effect”
The scientific literature, and medical journals, like the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of American Medical Association are full of evidence that the placebo effect is incredibly powerful. We’ve seen countless case studies that show that up to 80% of people who receive a fake treatment, a sugar pill, a saline injection, or most effectively a fake surgery get better. It’s not just in their mind, it’s actually in their physiology and it is observable, measurable: ulcers that heal. a colon that became less inflamed, and bronchi that dilated. Those cases are living proof that something mind-boggling happened. They are not wishful thinking as one might wonder. From a scientific perspective, they are substantiated well enough to derive some theories worth researching. What science can prove: The conditions (diseases) have existed in these people; the conditions have disappeared without medication and these powerful responses only happen in a very few.
The thing is not to minimize the importance of the scientific medical and pharmacological breakthroughs which allowed the possibility to save countless lives and continue to be the backbone of Western medicine; it is not to go from one extreme to another and adopt an either-or attitude. The real approach here should be synergistically aiming at replicability and global use. It would be interesting to discover what in the mind triggers the physiological responses; and more interestingly how to create/recreate on purpose the conditions for this to happen in any individual, how to provoke, strengthen, and perpetuate the placebo and the Stamatis effect, how to program the mind to get the desired effect.
What science knows, is that the body is beautifully equipped with self-repair mechanisms which operate only when the body is in the relaxation response. Luckily enough, nowadays there exist some proven relaxation techniques.
Some studies have concluded that people who experiment with placebo effects have six behaviors in common. They:
Believe that it is possible
Look for the right support (medical practitioner, or support group)
Listen to their intuition (their doctor within)
Seek medical help to diagnose the underlying root causes of their illness
Write the prescription for themselves and find the courage to take action
Surrender
The above information covers the placebo effect, but the Stamatis effect can be associated with his change in lifestyle.
P.S. Ikaria, the birthplace of Stamatis Moraitis, is among the 5 places that scientists have discovered as the “Blue Zone” where people consistently live over 100 years old. People on this tiny Aegean Island live 8 years longer than Americans do. They experience 20% less cancer, half the rate of heart disease, and almost no dementia. Ikarians eat a variation of the Mediterranean diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, potatoes, and olive oil. Ikarians also downshift with a midafternoon break. People who nap regularly have up to 35% lower chances of dying from heart disease. It may be because napping lowers stress hormones or rest the heart
Dr. Lissa Ranking, author of the book “Mind over Medicine” believe that in order to be healthy, we need more than just a healthy diet, we also need an exercise regimen, get enough sleep, take vitamins, and get lab exam done. Furthermore, we need lively relationships, wholesome professional life, a spiritual life, a creative life, an active sex life, and a healthy relationship with money, and we need to have an unimpaired mind.”
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