 air, goes on just the
same as when you are awake. Your subconscious controls your
digestive processes and glandular secretions, as well as a ll the other
mysterious operations of your body. The hair on your face continues
to grow whether you are asleep or awake. Scientists tell us that the
 45  skin secretes much more perspiration during sleep than during t he
waking hours. Your eyes, ears, and other senses are active during sleep. Fo r
instance,   many of our great scientists have received answe rs to
perplexing problems while they were asleep. They saw the an-sw ers in
a dream. Oftentimes your conscious mind interferes with the normal rhythm
of the heart, lungs, and functioning of the stomach and intestines b y
worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. These pat-terns of thought
interfere with the harmonious functioning of your subconscious mind. When mentally disturbed, the best procedure is to let go, rela x, and
still the wheels of your thought processes. Speak to your subconscious mind, telling it to take over in pea ce,
harmony, and divine order. You will find that all the functions of your
body will become normal again. Be sure to speak to your
subconscious mind with authority and convic-tion, and it will confor m
to your command. Your subconscious seeks to preserve your life and restore you t o
health at all costs. It causes you to love your children, which a lso
illustrates an instinctive desire to preserve all life. Let us suppose you
accidentally ate some bad food. Your sub-conscious mind would
cause you to regurgitate it. If you in-advertently took some poison, your subconscious powers
would proceed to neutralize it. If you completely entrusted your self to
its wonderworking  power, you would be entirely restored to health. • How to get the subconscious to work for you
The first thing to realize is that your subconscious mind is al ways
working. It is active night and day, whether you act upon it or not. Your subconscious is the builder of your body, but you cannot
consciously perceive or hear that inner silent process. Your busi ness is
with your conscious mind and not your subconscious mind. Just keep
your conscious mind busy with the expectation of the best, and make
 46  sure the thoughts you habitually think are based on whatsoever thi ngs
are lovely, true, just, and of good report. Begin now to take c are of
your con-scious mind, knowing in your heart and soul that your
subcon-scious mind is always expressing, reproducing, and
manifesting according to your habitual thinking. Remember, just as water takes the shape of the pipe it f lows
through, the life principle in you flows through you according to the
nature of your thoughts. Claim that the healing presence in your
subconscious is flowing through you as harmony, health, peace, joy,
and abundance. Think of it as a living intelligence, a lovely
companion on the way. Firmly believe it is continually flowing
through you vivifying, inspiring, and prospering you. It will respond
exactly this way. It is done unto you as you believe. • Healing principle of the subconscious restores atrophied  optic
nerves
There is the well-known, duly authenticated case of Madame Bire of
France, recorded in the archives of the medical department of
Lourdes, France. She was blind; the optic nerves were atrophi ed and
useless. She visited Lourdes and had what she termed a mira culous
healing. Ruth Cranston, a Protestant young lady who investigated and
wrote about healings at Lourdes in McCalls magazine, November,
1955, writes about Madame Bire as follows: “At Lourdes she rega ined
her sight incredibly, with the optic nerves still lifeless  and useless, as
several doctors could testify after repeated examinations. A month
later, upon re-examination, it was found that the seeing mechanism
had been restored to normal. But at first, so far as medical
examination could tell, she was seeing with ‘dead eyes.’”
I have visited Lourdes several times where I, too, wit-nessed some
healings, and of course, as we shall explain in the next c hapter, there
is no doubt that healings take place at many shrines throughout the
world, Christian and non-Christian. 47  The waters of the shrine did not heal Madame Bire, to whom we
just referred, but by her own subconscious mind, which responded to
her belief. The healing principle within her subconscious mind responded to
the nature of her thought. Be-lief is a thought in the subconscious
mind. It means to accept something as true. The thought accepted
executes itself automatically. Undoubtedly, Madame Bire went to the shrine with expectancy and
great faith, knowing in her heart she would re-ceive a heali ng. Her
subconscious mind responded accordingly, releasing the ever-pres ent
healing forces. The subconscious mind, which created the eye, can
certainly bring a dead nerve back to life. What the creativ e principle
created, it can recreate. Accord-ing to your belief is it done unto you. • How to convey the idea of perfect health to your subconscious
mind
A Protestant minister I knew in Johannesburg, South Africa, told me
the method he used to convey the idea of perfect health to his
subconscious mind. He had cancer of the lung. His technique, as give n
to me in his own handwriting, is ex-actly as follows: “Severa l times a
day I would make certain that I was completely relaxed menta lly and
physically. I relaxed my body by speaking to it as follows, ‘My  feet
are relaxed, my ankles are relaxed, my legs are relaxed, my a bdominal
muscles are relaxed, my heart and lungs are relaxed, my head is
relaxed, my whole being is completely relaxed.’ After about f ive
minutes I would be in a sleepy drowsy state, and then I affirme d the
fol-lowing truth, ‘the perfection of God is now being expressed
through me. The idea of perfect health is now filling my sub-
conscious mind. The image God has of me is a perfect image, and  my
subconscious mind recreates my body in perfect accord-ance wi th the
perfect image held in the mind of God.’” This minister had a
remarkable healing. This is a simple easy way of conveying  the idea
of perfect health to your subconscious mind. 48  Another wonderful way to convey the idea of health to your
subconscious is through disciplined or scientific imagina-tion. I told a
man who was suffering from functional paralysis to make a v ivid
picture of himself walking around in his office, touching the des k,
answering the telephone, and doing all the things he ordinarily woul d
do if he were healed. I explained to him that this idea and mental picture of perfe ct health
would be accepted by his subconscious mind. He lived the role and actually felt himself back in the off ice. He
knew that he was giving his subconscious mind some-thing definite  to
work upon. His subconscious mind was the film upon which the picture was
impressed. One day, after several weeks of frequent conditioning of the m ind
with this mental pic-ture, the telephone rang by prearrangement  and
kept ringing while his wife and nurse were out. The telephone wa s
about twelve feet away, but nevertheless he managed to answer  it. He
was healed at that hour. The healing power of his subconscious mind responded to his
mental imagery, and a healing followed. This man had a mental block, which prevented impulses from the
brain reaching his legs; therefore, he said he could not wal k. When he
shifted his attention to the healing power within him, the powe r
flowed through, his focused attention, enabling him to walk. Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall recei ve. MATT. 21:22. • Ideas worth remembering
1. Your subconscious mind controls all the vital processes of  your
body and knows the answer to all problems. 2. Prior to sleep, turn over a specific request to your subc on-scious
mind and prove its miracle-working power to yourself. 49  3. Whatever you impress on your subconscious mind is ex-pressed
on the screen of space as conditions, experiences, and events. Therefore, you should carefully watch all ideas and thoughts
entertained in your
conscious mind. 4. The law of action and reaction is universal. Your thought is
action, and the reaction is the automatic response of your
subconscious mind to your thought. Watch your thoughts! 5. All frustration is due to unfulfilled desires. If you dwell on
obstacles, delays, and difficulties, your subconscious mind res ponds
accordingly, and you are blocking your own good. 6. The Life Principle will flow through you rhythmically and
harmoniously if you consciously affirm: “I believe that the
subconscious power which gave me this desire is now fulfill- ing it
through me.” This dissolves all conflicts. 7. You can interfere with the normal rhythm of your heart, lungs,
and other organs by worry, anxiety, and fear. Feed your subconscious
with thoughts of harmony, health, and peace, and all the functions of


 a n  e n t e r. N o mi racle is too big or too com plicated for God. It isn’ t limits to His
power b ut only limits to my lov e that keep miracles from heali ng every
problem in my life. A loving  thought opens a door, thus attracting a miracle. An unlo ving
thought closes a door, thus deflecting one. May my mind be an open
door through which miracles can flow freely into my life. Life is simpler than I make it, for all things fall into only tw o
categories: love  or fear. Wher e I love, may I choose to love even
mor e. W her e I fear, may I choose the love and for giveness tha t
cast it out. I will thus experience my power to work miracle s,
thr ough God’ s love that is in my mind.DA Y 344
I  w i l l  n o t  j u d g e  w h o m  a n d  w h a t  I  c a n n o t
u n d e r s t a n d. O ften we have but a piece of information, a glimpse of someone’ s true
being, and then still rush to judgment. Such temptation of the ego merely
blinds us to trut h and casts us into darkness. Only through the  eyes of
love can  we truly see anything, and only through the Mind of Love can
we truly understand. I w ish only to see what God wou ld have me see. For there is lov e and
yearning in everyone. May God give me new eyes that I might see and a
new mind that I might understand. Dear God,
May I not be tempted to think I know
What in fact I cannot know. May I not be tempted to judge Y our childr en
When Y ou Y ourself do not. May my mind be fr ee of the ego thoughts
That hide the light
In everyone. Amen.DA Y 345
FOR REFLECTION
O n  t h e  S o n g  o f  t h e  U n i v e r s e
T he true you, your holy self, is b eyond any limits of the mortal world. So are the talents and brilliance within you. When you dwell in that
knowledge, simply recognizing and appreciating the divi ne spirit
residing in all of us, you receive the charisma of a self-confident person. Someone who has confidence in God comes across as confident to
the worl d; some one who thinks of himself or herself as a fol lower of
God comes across as a leader to the world. Y ou’ll develop a kind of
invisible light, a sense of humble certitude, a greatness that comes from
beyond yourself. Y our abilities, your intelligence, your talents, your personality, your
circumstances, y our dreams will all come together in a beautifu l pattern. And you will see all this as yo ur calling—a calling back and forth, in
continuous song, from your hea rt to the universe and from the universe
back to you.DA Y 346
M a y  I  l e a r n  t o  l o v e  a s  G o d  l o v e s. W hom I do not like, God still l oves. For God loves everyone. By
turning away from love for anyone, I turn away from God. T oday I
choose not to counter His will, but to be His instrument. I am an idea in the Mind of God. The Mind of God is the Mind of
Love, for everyone and everything. T oday may I learn to love as God
loves, that I might learn who I really am. Dear God,
Please lift my thoughts to love
For everyone and everything. For then I will know what it means to love
And I will know who I r eally am. Amen.DA Y 347
T o d a y  I  s e e k  t o  l o v e  m y  e n e m y,  t h a t  h e  m i g h t
b e c o m e  m y  f r i e n d. T he only sure way to rid myself of an enemy is to choose to be his
friend. My withholding love fro m anyone is not what God would have
me do. Thus ev en someone who has been my enemy can miracul ously
become my friend. T oday I allo w the power of for giveness to do for me
what I cannot do. I pray for my enemy, despite my resistance, that he or
she might become my friend. Cr eating walls of separation between others and myself will
never cr eate a miracle. Love is the power that will defeat m y
enemy, b y defeat ing within me a ny idea of having one. I choose t o
be rid of my enemies by choosing to love them instead.DA Y 348
M a y  m y  m i n d  n e v e r  b e  a n  i n s t r u m e n t  o f  a t t a c k. W hile love  would  not always hav e me agree with a brother, it w ould
always have me love him. May  my mind be an arbiter of fairn ess, and
never an instrument of attack. In d isagreeing with someone, may I do so with respect. In holding
someone accountable, may I do so with honor. In setting a boundary,
may I do so with love. Dear God,
May my mind be a conduit of love
And not fear,
That I might somehow help
T o heal this hurting world. May my mind be clear
But my heart be always open,
Accor ding to Y our will. Amen.DA Y 349
I  c l e a v e  t o  G o d,  a n d  t o  G o d  o n l y. H ow often I cling to people or things, hoping that I can keep them
close. In doing so, I repel the very people and things I love. T oday, may I cling only to God. As we depend on God within us, we
become more independent people. Through the independence of my
spirit, I attract everyone and everything that contributes to my good. Released from my ego, I free others to more easily love me. Dear God,
Please r emove
My attachment
T o things that ar e not mine. Remove my ego’ s grip
Fr om the flow of all things good,
That all things good might flow thr ough me. Amen.DA Y 350
FOR REFLECTION
O n  I n t e r n a l  R e g r e e n i n g
S ome people wonder why the ener gy in their life seems not to be
moving forward —when in fact the only thing holding them back is their
own unwillingn ess to face the  issues that still need to be fa ced, the
shadows that still need to be ow ned, and the amends that still need to be
made in order t o free their ener gy and restart their engines. As long as
we’re st uck inte rnally, our lives will be stuck externally; the only way to
go wide in life is if we are willing to go deep. It doesn’ t matter if the
problem happen ed decades ago; the challenge is to face it and deal with
it no w, s o in the decades ahead y ou’ll be released from the karm ic trap of
having always to reenact past disasters. What sometimes seems as a slowing down of our jets is often
anything but. Internal work is s ometimes done more easily while sitting
there thinking than while busily running around. A frantic schedule helps
us to avoid taking a deeper look  at ourselves, but at a certain p oint such
avoidance simpl y does not and cannot work anymore. Slower l ifestyles,
candles and soft music in the house, yoga, meditation, and the like are
often sig ns of an internal regre ening. W e are focusing on changes that
support our deepening. And that deepening is the purpose of our lives.DA Y 351
L o s t  o p p o r t u n i t i e s  a r e  n e v e r  t r u l y  l o s t. I  have not always behaved in ways that have maximized my
opportunities. But the fact that I attracted them means that they were
mine. Every lesson will come a round again, and I will have a chance to
learn it. Through my atonement, humili ty, and sincere desire to get it right
where I have gotten it wrong be fore, I will attract the same opportunities
again in another form. God hold s His miracles in trust for me u ntil I am
ready to  receive them. He will  send opportunities around again, with
even bigger plans for how they can bless me and others now. Dear God,
I am r eady to learn what I did not learn befor e.
I am r eady to gr ow and to be a b etter person because of what I know
now. I atone for the mistakes of my past
And pray that they be used miraculously
T o cr eate an even gr eater good. Amen.DA


 salts operate to supply a deficiency as it is toknow for what a particular symptom calls. Elastic fiber, the chief organic substance in rubber, is formed by a chem-
ical union of Calc Fluor, also known as calcium fluoride, with protein, oil,etc. Therefore we find this salt dominant in the elastic fiber of the body, inthe enamel of teeth and connective tissue. A lack of this salt in properamount causes a relaxed condition of muscular tissue, falling of the womb,and varicose veins. Sometimes there is a nonfunctional combination of thissalt with oil and protein, which forms a solid deposit, causing swelling ofstony hardness. A combination of impure substances corrupts the chemistryof calcium fluoride to create a hardening of the tissues. There is one particular symptom that is worthy of note in connection
with the pathology of this salt. When a deficiency exists in these makers ofelastic fiber in the connective tissue between the cerebellum and cerebrum,the lower and upper brain, it causes groundless fears of financial ruin. Itseems that the relaxed condition of connective tissue, causing a sagging ofthe structure of cerebellum, thereby breaks the flow of the electrical or mag-netic currents from the cerebrum. The student will now see that it is exceedingly easy to diagnose disease
from the viewpoint of biochemic pathology. No guesswork here. Go totwenty or one hundred biochemic physicians and give the same symptomsto each, and you will get the same prescriptions in every case. It does not matter under what name a disease a disturbance in elastic
fiber appears, a study of the chemistry of life has made clear the fact that a
CHAPTER 1: U SINGCELLSALTS 17Calc FluorCHAPTER 3
*This complete introductory section is adapted from:
The Chemistry and Wonders of the Human Body by Dr. George Carey.break in the molecular chain of Calc Fluor salt is
always the cau se of the phenomenon. The proportion of fluorine in the human
organism is less than that of iron. From analyticalfacts is found that fluorine in milk is only presentin micrograms, and yet we are confronted by thefact that this infinitesimal amount is sufficient tosustain all the elastic fiber of muscular tissue,enamel of teeth, and connective tissue. Why should we search Latin and Greek lexi-
cons to find a name for the result of a deficiencyin some of the mineral constituents of blood?When we know that deficiency in the cell salts ofthe blood causes the symptoms which medicalignorance dignified and personified with namesof which nobody knows the meaning, we willknow how to scientifically heal by the unalter-able law of the chemistry of life. When we learnthe cause of disease, then and not before, will weprevent disease. MATERIA MEDICA FOR CALCFLUOR
Adapted from: The Biochemic System of Medicine,
Materia Medica, by Dr. George Carey
This salt occurs in nature as the mineral
fluorspar, beautifully crystallized, of various col-ors, in lead veins, the crystals having commonlythe cubic but sometimes the octahedral form, par-allel to the faces of which latter figure they alwayscleave. Some varieties, when heated, emit a green-ish and some a purple phosphorescent light. Thefluoride is quite insoluble in water but is decom-posed by sulphuric acid, generating hydrofluoricacid. Calc Fluor (calcium fluoride) is found in the
surface of the bones, the enamel of the teeth, theelastic fibers, and the cells of the skin. Whereverelastic fiber is found, be it in the epidermis, theconnective tissue, or the walls of the blood ves-sels, there calcium fluoride may always be found.Loss of its ability to unite with organic mattercauses a continued dilation or relaxed conditionof the fibers. This is seen in such conditions as
varicose veins, hemorrhoidal tumors, and relax-ation of the abdominal walls, with consequentsagging of the abdominal viscera, uterine hemor-rhages, after-pains, etc. This state of relaxation, occurring in the elas-
tic fibers of the blood vessels, connective tissue, orlymphatic system causes an inability to absorbdischarges. This results in hardened glands,lumpy discharges on the surface of bone, encyst-ed tumors, hard swellings, etc. By supplying thelacking Calc Fluor, the elastic fibers are againrestored to their integrity, resuming their power ofcontractility and functioning properly. Dischargesare thrown off and absorbed by the lymphatics. In general, then, the administration of Calc
Fluor is indicated in all diseases which can betraced, directly or indirectly, to relaxed conditionsof the elastic fibers or those ailments having theirseat in either the substance forming the surface ofbone, enamel of the teeth, and walls of the bloodvessels or the cells of the epidermis. Characteristic Indications
(Note: Remedies in parentheses provide
therapeutic support to Calc Fluor.) Head – Troubles with head when traced to a
relaxed condition of the elastic fibers. T umors onthe heads of newborn infants, blood tumors.Bruises on the bones of the head, when they havehard, rough, uneven lumps. Ulcerations of thebone surface. Eyes – Cataracts. Blurred vision after strain-
ing the eyes, with pain in the eyeball; better whenresting the eyes, as relaxation of the walls of theblood vessels allows for an engorgement of blood. Ears – Diseases of the ear, when the bone or
periosteum (bone covering) is affected, or withgeneral symptoms characteristic of this salt. Nose – Stuffy cold in the head, with thick,
yellow, lumpy, greenish, foul-smelling nasal dis-charge, also known as ozena (Kali Phos, Silicea). 18 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIESDiseases of the nose, when affecting the bones
(Calc Phos). Face – Hard swelling on the cheek, with pain
or toothache. Bony lumps or growths on the jawor cheekbones. Mouth – Cracked lips (Nat Mur); very hard
swellings on the jawbones, traceable to therelaxed condition of the muscular fibers. Teeth – Teeth become loose in their sockets,
not during dentition, with or without pain. Theenamel of the teeth is largely composed of thissalt. Enamel rough and thin or very brittle. Rapidtooth decay when the enamel is deficient (CalcPhos). Teeth tender due to looseness. Tongue – Cracked appearance, becomes hard
after inflammation (Silicea). Chronic swelling ofthe tongue. Throat – Relaxed condition of the throat. Elongation of the uvula (fleshy mass of tissuesuspended from the center of the soft palate),causing tickling cough as it drops into the throat(Nat Phos). Diphtheria, when the disease hasentered the windpipe (Calc Phos). Enlargementof the throat (Nat Mur). Relaxation of the bloodvessels of the throat. Gastric symptoms – Vomiting of undigested
food. Ferrum Phos is the principle remedy forthis condition, but when this fails, use Calc Fluor. Abdomen and stool – Hemorrhoids, when
bleeding. Protruding and itching hemorrhoids,blind hemorrhoids, accompanied with pain inback and constipation. Alternate with remediesindicated by color of stools or blood (see page 2,for topical applications). Also apply remedy local-ly. Hemorrhoids with rush of blood to the head(also requires Ferrum Phos); confined bowels;inability to expel the feces due to a relaxed con-dition of the rectum, allowing too much fecalmatter to accumulate. This condition occurs fre-quently in the 4–6 weeks after childbirth, whenall the pelvic muscles are relaxed. Anal fissure,sore crack near end of bowel; should also applyremedy locally in this case.Urinary organs – Increased quantity of urine,
when traced to a relaxed condition of the muscu-lar fibers in the urinary organs. Male sexual organs – Swelling or hardening
of the testicles. In cases of syphilis, when othersymptoms indicate this remedy. Female sexual organs – All displacements of
the uterus (uterine prolapse) require this remedy(Calc Phos, Kali Phos). Falling of the womb.Anteversion (tipped uterus), retroversion (bend-ing backwards of the uterus), and flexions of theuterus require this salt to tone up the contractilemuscles. Dragging pains in the groin and in thelower part of the back; pains extend to the thighs.Menses excessive, hemorrhaging, with bearing-down pains. Uterus very relaxed and flabby, orvery hard like stone, due to the disorganization ofthe fluoride of lime molecules. Pregnancy – After-pains, when too weak. Hemorrhage, if the uterus does not contract. Hardknots and lumps in the breast (Kali Mur). Respiratory organs – Uvula (fleshy mass of
tissue suspended from the center of the softpalate) elongated, causing tickling in larynx, withcough. Cough, when tiny lumps of tough, yellowmucus are expectorated (Silicea). In asthma,when the expectoration is difficult and consists ofsmall, yellow lumps (Kali Phos). Improvementwhen patient is relaxed and lying down. Circulatory organs – Varicose veins, with a
tendency for this condition. Ve


 disease. A disease
is not the molecular contact of some outside organism with
the molecules of your body. (As we saw, even if you put a
drop of concentrated cold virus into a person’s nose, his
chances of getting a cold are no more than one in eight.) It
is not even the ﬂow of toxins in your blood or the action ofrunaway cells. In the rishis’ view, a disease is a sequence of
moments that you live through, during which you appraise
every iota of the vast input that comes pouring in from all
quarters of your world, including your body. Your body is a world, too. When I ﬁrst came to Ayurveda,
I was deeply impressed  by the following verse in the
ancient texts:
As is the human body, so is the cosmic body. As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind. As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm. —
These words are subject to many interpretations. What
they signify to me is that when I go about my everyday
existence, I am in charge of two worlds, the little one in me
and the big one around me. My appraisal of every minute
detail “out there”—the sun, the sky, the chances of rain, the
words other people say, the shadows cast by oﬀice
buildings—is matched by an event “in here.” Inﬁnite choice
is open at every second for me to alter the shape of the
world, for it has no shape other than what I give it. The
eminent neurologist Sir John Eccles stated this quite
clearly when he wrote, “I want you to realize that there is
no color in the natural world and no sounds—nothing of
this kind; no textures, no patterns, no beauty, no scent…”
In short, nothing is so important about the univers e as your
participation in it. The rishis’ subjective approach found an enormously
useful outlet in Ayurveda. Ayurveda is commonly classiﬁed
as a system of medicine,  but with equal justice you could
call it a syste m for curing delusions, for stripping away the
convincing quality of disease and letting a healthier reality
take its place. (The name itself suggest s that Ayurveda ismeant to be medicine in the broadest sense. It comes from
two Sanskrit roots, Ayus, or “life,” and Veda, which means
either “knowledge” or “science.” The literal meaning, then,
is “science of life.”)
Patients are curious to know what kinds of treatments are
speciﬁcally Ayurvedic—are there new pills to try, exercises,
diets, or more arcane Eastern therapies? I say yes to all of
these, but then with some embarrassment I have to add
that I spend much of my time just talking, trying to get
people not to be so convinced by their disease. In Ayurveda,
this is the ﬁrst and most important step in healing. As long
as the patien t is convinced by his symptoms, he is caught
up in a reality where “being sick” is the dominant input. The reason why meditati on is so important in Ayurveda is
that it leads the mind to a “free zone” that is not touched
by disease. Until you know that such a place exists, your
disease will seem to be taking over completely. This is the
principal delusion that needs to be shattered. It is undeniable that we all create scenarios and then
become convinced by them, down to our very cells. A young
girl from Boston who went to college in Vermont was
brought in to see me recently by her parents. They had
become quite  distraught when she showed up in the middle
of spring term with sharp chest pains. These had set in
while she was recovering  from a cold and over a period of a
week became alarmingly severe. One night the girl had a
bad attack—she began to experience shortness of breath,
palpitations, and dizziness, eventually grow ing so
frightened that her parents rushed her to the nearest
emergency room. By the time they got there, the whole family was in a
state of near panic. The ER doctor listened to the girl’s
heart, detect ed that she had a slight heart murmur, and
decided to run an EKG, or electrocardiogram. The EKG
read-out showed occasio nal ectopic beats, mean ing extrabeats that were outside the heart rhythm. He then used
ultrasound to perform a more sophisticated test, called an
echo-cardiogram, from which he discerned an actual heart
defect. “She has mitral valve prolapse,” he informed the family. This meant that when one of her heart valves closed, it
ballooned inward, toward the chamber of the heart. “I want
her to spend the night here in the intensive care unit,” he
continued, and within an hour the girl was taken upstairs,
hooked to an intravenous drip of morphine for her pain,
and supplied with extra oxygen through small tubes taped
to her nose. Around her were heart -attack and stroke
victims, some  of them obviously dying. She found the whole
experience highly distressing and began to hallucinate
from the morphine as she drifted oﬀ to sleep. The next morning, a careful examination of her tests led
the doctors to diagnose that her pain was probably due not
only to the mitral valve prolapse but to pericarditis, an
inﬂammation of the peric ardium, the covering around the
heart. She was released on strong anti-inﬂammatory agents
for this, as well as beta blockers to slow her heart rate. The
pain in her chest subsided; however, she found it
impossible to tolerate the beta blockers—besides aﬀecting
the heart, these drugs attach to receptors in the brain,
causing drowsiness and mental disorientation. Her medications were changed, only to bring on new side
eﬀects and expand her constellation of symptoms. The new
prescriptions were meant to dilate her blood vessels, but
this lowered her blood pressure too much, causing her to
feel dizzy and nauseated; at times she would faint without
warning. She managed to tolera te these side eﬀects,
largely becau se she wanted to stay in school at any cost. Every time she tried to cut back on her medication, even
slightly, the original chest pain returned in full force,
accompanied by her other symptoms. She came home forsummer vacation and horriﬁed her parents by clutching her
chest one evening at dinner. She started to hypervent ilate
so severely that her mother went scurrying to ﬁnd a paper
bag for her to breathe into. Within a few minutes, she felt
violent heart palpitations, began to vomit, and eventually
passed out. Her parents sat up with her all that night and
many nights to come. Since there was nothing more that her doctors could do,
the family cast about for other approaches. They hit upon a
news story about Ayurveda, and one July day all three,
mother, father, and daughter, came to the Lancaster clinic. I took a very detailed medical history from the girl, looked
at her EKGs, and found myself quite surprised. “Your pain isn’t from your heart,” I told her, and to prove
it I pressed ﬁrmly on her sternum, the bone in the middle of
the chest that covers the heart. She ﬂinched. “You’re still
tender because what you originally had was an
inﬂammation there, where the rib cartilage and the
sternum meet. It is a condition called costo-chondritis,
which can sometimes set in after a cold or other viral
infection.”
She and her parents looked startled, but I went on, taking
apart the puzzle piece by piece. On the night they had
rushed her to the ER, her high anxiety caused her to
exhibit the occasional ectopic, or extra, heartbeats. Her
main diagnosis, mitral valve prolapse, may occur in as
many as 10 percent of young women with slender builds
like hers. The reason for this is not known, nor is there
conclusive evidence for why it should cause any pain,
although in some patients it does. Similarly, the heart
murmur that comes with it does not seem to be dangerous. Her pericarditis was a misreading of her EKG—the violence
of her attack had probabl y made the ER doctor overanxious
to ﬁnd something wrong. The remaining symptoms—
nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations, dizziness, fainting,shortness of breath, and hyperventilation—were brought on
either by the medications or directly by her. “I have tried to go back to the moment when your
condition was born,” I said, “to show you how it built itself
up, step by step. In its present form, your disease is a
reﬂex. It is being kept alive by your own expectations.”
At this point the girl’s parents looked quite oﬀended. I
knew the anxiety they felt sitting up all night, worr ying that
she might be in real dang er. To make the parents see that I
wasn’t


 body’ s rejuvenating chemicals to work in
partnership with them.Each morning when you take your nutrients, spend a few moments
acknowledging the rejuvenating, strengthening, and life-enhancing
influence they are having on you. Envision the subtle yet potent
nourishment the se vital nutrients are providing every cell, tissue, and or gan
in y our body. Make the process  of taking your nutritional com plements adaily health-promoting ritual. Repeat the af firmations that reinforce your
Biostat while taking your nutr ients. Use your attention and intention to
augment their age-reversing p ower. As you are taking your nutritional
complements, repeat:
Every day in every way, I am incr easing my mental and physical capacity. My Biostat is set at a healthy ____ years of age. I look and feel a healthy ____ years old. I am r eversing my biological age:
By changing my per ception of my body, its aging and time;
Thr ough two kinds of deep r est—r estful awar eness and  r estful sleep;
By nurturing my body thr ough healthy foods; and
By using nutritional complements wisely. 6
Y ou Can Reverse Y our
Biological Age by Enhancing
Mind/Body Integration

ACTION STEP # 5
I am r eversing my biological age by enhancing mind/body integration. I put this into practice by:
Performing br eathing techniques (Pranayama) five to ten  minutes daily. Performing ten to fifteen minutes of yoga, tai chi, or qigong each day. Practicing body awar eness and learning to follow the  healthy signals
fr om my body when ther e ar e conflicting  messages fr om my mind. The body and mind ar e one. When the intimate r elationship
between mind and body is disrupted,
aging and entr opy accelerate. Restoring mind/body integration
brings about r enewal.Thr ough conscious br eathing
and movement techniques,
you can r enew the body/mind
and r everse the aging pr ocess. Y ou can reverse your biological age by enhancing the integration between
your mi nd and body. Mind an d body are intimately interconnected. Y our
body is composed of physiolog ical systems, or gans, and tissues, but at its
basis is a colle ction of molecules. Y our mind is composed of ideas and
beliefs, memori es and desires, but is essentially a collection of thoughts. Y our body is a molecular field; your mind is a thought field. Giving rise to
both your field o f molecules and your field of thoughts is an und erlying field
of consciousness, which is the source of both your mind and body. Every
time you  have a thought you pr ecipitate a molecule in your ner vous system
that influences the other molecules throughout your body. Stagnation in the
mind/body conn ection results in aging and illness. Enlivening the mind/body
connection leads to healing and the reversal of aging. Enhancing the integration betwe en mind and body requires listen ing to the
signals from inside as attentively as you listen to informati on from the
outside. Mind/b ody integration  means establishing a healthy dialogue
between your thoughts and molecules. It means listening to your body andresponding with love and reverence. A body listened to answers back with
ener gy, strength, and flexibility— the qualities of a body growing younger. There are many established practices devoted to enhancing mind/body
integration. Y oga, tai chi, qigong, akaido, and other disciplines use conscious
breathing and physical movements to bring your attention into t he body and
into the present moment. These approaches enable you to listen to the
signals y our body is sending and to enliven ener gy in the body through your
attention and intention. There is  an expression in the B hagavad Gita, the ancient V edic epic, that
in S anskrit goes “Y ogastah kuru  karmani.” This can be translated into
English as “Established in yoga, perform action.” Y oga here m eans union. The Eng lish wo rd yoke, as in  “uniting two oxen,” is related to this Sanskrit
root. Est ablished in yoga, then, m eans established in a state of unity in which
body, mind, and spirit are ex perienced as one continuum. Once your
consciousness is on this level, y ou perform your daily actions w ithout losing
your connection to wholeness. This is the goal of all mind/body integration
techniques. Br eathing Integration
Conscious breath work is at the center of mind/body integration. The breath
integrates mind and body. Thou ght is the movement of breath. Breath is the
movement of thought. When your mind is agitated, your breathing is
disturbed. When your mind is serene, your breathing is calm. Y ou can use
mental techniques to calm your breath, as in meditation. Likew ise, you can
use breathing techniques to cal m your mind. In yoga and A yurveda, these
breathing techniques are called Pranayama. The word means “expanding
Prana,” or “expansion of the life force.”
There a re Pranayama practices  to ener gize you, soothe your body, and
quiet your mind. Depending on  the technique and your intent ion, you can
use Pranayama to enliven you in the morning, calm you when you are upset,or settle  your mind when you a re trying to go to sleep. Let’ s review three
basic conscious breathing exercises to enhance your mind/body integration
and reverse aging. ENERGIZING BREA TH
Y ou can  invigor ate your body an d mind with the breathing technique known
as bhastrika or “bellows breath.” This exercise cleanses your lungs while
increasing the oxygen flow to your cells and tissues. Sit c omfortably with your spine upright and close your eyes. Exhale all
the air from you r lungs. Then begin deep in-and-out breathing through your
nose silently using the mantra s “So” on the inflow and “Hum” on the
outflow. For the first twenty  breaths take two-second slow forceful
inhalations and two-second slow  forceful exhalations. It is ea siest to keep
track of the number of breaths by counting on your fingers. The next twenty breaths are performed faster with approximately one-
second inhalations and one-second exhalations. These are also performed
through the nose while thinking “So” on the in-breath and “Hum” on the
out-breath. Finally, perform twenty rapid bhastrika breaths, with approximately half-
second inhalations and half-second exhalations. After the twenty rapid
breaths, perform one more slow deep breath and then sim ply feel the
sensations in your body. Y ou will notice that your mind is clear and quiet
while your body is ener gized. Do not hyperve ntilate to the point where you are feeling light-headed or
dizzy. The breath movement is almost entirely abdominal, using your
diaphragm to move air. Y our head and shoulders should be relaxed and
mostly still. Use bhastrika when you are feeling a little sluggish and need a
quick re plenishment of ener gy. It is also beneficial prior to your afternoon
meditation to clear away drowsiness before you start your practice.SOOTHING BREA TH
The soothing breath technique known as Ujayi can be used to settle your
mind and body when you are feeling frustrated or irritated. Whe n performed
correctly it creates a cooling ef fect at the back of the throat and has a
stabilizing influence on the cardiorespiratory system. T o p erform Ujayi breath, take a slightly deeper than normal inha lation. On
the exha lation, s lightly constric t your throat muscles so it sounds as if you
are snor ing. Y our out-breath is through your nose with your mouth closed. Another way to get the hang of this practice is to first exhale, “Haaah,” with
your mo uth open. Now make a similar motion with your mouth  closed. This
will resu lt in the desired breathy, snoring sound. Once you have mastered it
on th e outflow, p erform the same procedure on inflow. The result is that you
sound a little like Darth V ader from Star W ars. When you find yourself becoming aggravated or upset, shift into Ujayi
breath and you will notice a prompt soothing influence. Y ou can also use this
when performin g yoga postures and while exercising at a mo derate level. Practicing this soothing breath technique will reduce wear and tear on your
physiology and slow aging. RELAXING BREA TH
Y ou can  calm your mind with  the breathing technique known as Nadi
Shodhana. In English this m eans, “clearing the channels.” Nadi Shodhana is
very ben eficial when you are ha ving a lot of anxious thoughts, and when you
are trying to quiet your mind. It requires the use of your right hand to
alternately close your right, then left nostril. Hold your hand so your thumb,
index finger, and remaining fingers are separated. Y ou use your thumb to
close your right nostril and your third and fourth


 Yet, both his practice and
his reputation were damaged. It took years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in
legal fees to have his patient records returned and his practice restored. Events like
this are not supposed to happen in America, but they do happen to doctors who step
out of line. As a result, we are denied the right to choose certain treatments because
our doctors cannot offer them. Most people are unaware that a physician can lose his or her license to practice by
failing to adhere to “prevailing standards of practice in their community.” A loss of
license can occur even if no patient is harmed, no patient has complained and the
condition of the patients involved actually improved. Physicians can learn
something new at a medical conference or from a medical journal, but they cannot
use it in their practice. The only treatments allowed are the ones already in use,
which makes innovation and progress slow to almost impossible. Physicians must be
very courageous to depart from traditional practices, even if they believe doing so
can be helpful. Money is at stake, and competition from less expensive, natural treatments is
discouraged. The FDA is supposed to regulate drugs to assure that they are safe and
effective. In practice, FDA-approved, properly prescribed drugs kill about four
hundred people every day. Why? Because the FDA has become an instrument of the
pharmaceutical companies. The drug industry is among the most profitable in the
world, and Americans pay more for the same drugs than people in other countries. To help protect these economic interests, about one-half of the senior officials at the
FDA formerly were employed as key executives in the drug industry. After leaving
the FDA, about half eventually return to executive positions in drug companies. This
practice is termed “the revolving door.” The FDA is very biased in favor of drugs,
and people are denied free access to the documented health benefits of nutritionalsupplements. Needless to say, these people are not in favor of treating diseases with
vitamins. Both manufacturers and retailers of supplements have been subjected to
FDA seizures and harassment. One of the supposed justifications for modern medicine’s suppression of
alternative approaches is that they have not been properly tested for safety and
effectiveness. In truth, many alternative approaches (such as the use of vitamin
supplements) are supported by thousands of sound studies, while, ironically, up to 90
percent of the techniques and procedures used by modern medicine have never been
proven to be safe or effective. Medical Malpractice
According to a 1995 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association,
more than 1 million people per year are injured in hospitals, and 180,000 die from
those injuries. Illnesses caused by prescription drugs are estimated to cost more than
$136 billion a year. A 1981 study published in the
New England Journal of Medicine
concluded that at least one-third of hospital patients suffered some ill effect during
their stay, and that 9 percent suffered major injury. Consider what the late Robert
Mendelsohn, M.D., author of the 1979 book
Confessions of a Medical Heretic,
wrote: “I believe that more than ninety percent of Modern Medicine could disappear
from the face of the earth—doctors, hospital, drugs, and equipment—and the effect
on our health would be immediate and beneficial.”
Normally, one might think that if doctors went on strike the public would suffer
serious health problems. Yet, Mendelsohn noted cases when doctors went on strike
and the death rate declined. In 1973, doctors were on strike in Israel for a month, and
this coincided with a decline of 55 percent in the death rate. In 1976, a fifty-two-day
doctor strike in Bógota, Colombia, coincided with a decline in mortality of 35
percent. The same year, in Los Angeles, doctors staged a slowdown, and the death
rate dropped by 18 percent. In each case, when the doctors’ labor actions ended,
mortality rates shot back up to prior levels. In recent years, a number of medical journals, such as
Pediatrics, Lancet, Annual
Review of Public Health,
and particularly the July 26, 2000,
Journal of the American
Medical Association,
have been filled with statistics on injuries and deaths caused
by modern medical practice. The most recent annual estimate of hospital-caused
deaths is:
• 106,000 deaths from “properly” prescribed drugs. • 80,000 deaths from hospital-caused infections. • 12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgery. • 7,000 deaths from medication errors.• 20,000 deaths from other errors. These numbers total 225,000 deaths per year, but the real total is far greater. These numbers do not include unreported medically caused deaths. Why take
responsibility for a death if another plausible explanation can be given? Even in
good hospitals, only one “adverse event” out of four is reported; some studies have
placed the reporting as low as one out of twenty. Medicine-caused deaths in
outpatient settings have been estimated as an additional 200,000 per year. Again,
this figure is conservative. Perhaps one of the biggest problems, though, is X rays. The Threat of X Rays
One of the most serious threats to our health may be caused by one type of
medical testing: medical and dental X rays. There is no safe radiation level; any
amount of radiation can cause our cells to malfunction. The radiation levels from
medical and dental X rays (though supposedly within “safe limits”) contribute to
both cancer and coronary heart disease. Evidence was published in 1999 by John
Gofman, a medical doctor and a Ph.D. nuclear physicist, who is one of the world’s
leading authorities on radiation damage. Dr. Gofman’s book,
Radiation from
Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease,
presents a compelling argument for reconsidering how we understand disease and
death rates in our society and modern medicine’s responsibility for them. Gofman’s
research caused him to conclude that medical radiation was probably the single
largest cause of cancer mortality in the twentieth century. Gofman’s evidence suggests that medical X rays are a necessary cofactor,
meaning that while other factors are involved, the X ray is necessary for both cancer
and heart disease to develop. Dr. Gofman found that more than 60 percent of deaths
from cancer and more than 70 percent of deaths from coronary heart disease
involved X rays. To cite just one example, Gofman found that in 1990, medical X
rays were a necessary causal factor in 83 percent of all breast cancer. In other words,
chest X rays and mammograms are the leading cause of breast cancer. Fortunately, thermography is a safe and effective alternative to mammograms. Thermography measures temperature and appears to be a far more accurate way of
detecting tumors at a much earlier stage. A cancerous tumor, as it begins to receive
its own blood supply, is warmer than the surrounding tissue and can be discerned
when the temperature of the breast is measured. Modern medicine is responsible for about 90 percent of our exposure to man-
made radiation, and about 90 percent of that exposure is the result of diagnostic X
rays. A level of radiation less than that produced by ten bitewing dental X rays can
produce thyroid cancer, and not surprisingly, an epidemic of thyroid cancer is now
being found in people who had upper chest, neck and head X rays decades ago. Nevertheless, X rays are performed with alarming frequency. Gofman estimatesthat more than half are not necessary. Other researchers have placed the percentage
of X rays of “little to no medical value” as high as 90 percent. Even low-level X rays
are capable of inflicting genetic damage, presenting a hazard to both existing and
future generations. For example, correlations have been found between the number
of abdominal X rays a mother had received in her lifetime and the birth of a baby
with Down’s syndrome. The public worries about radiation from nuclear power plants, yet a more common
hazard is radiation from medical X rays. Decline X rays unless they are absolutely
necessary, which is not often. Children are especially vulnerable to radiation and
need to be protected by their parents. Applying Dr. Gofman’s data on medical X rays to 60 percent of the deaths from
cancer and 70 percent of the deaths from ischemic heart disease in this country, I
calculated that X rays cause about 650,000 deaths every year. Combining these
deaths with the acknowledged number of medicine-caused deaths (250,000 inpatient
and 200,000 outpatient per year) reveals an estimated total of more than 1 million
deaths per year caused by modern medical practice. This figure amounts to about
half of all deaths in America, making modern medicine our leading cause of death. Should You Have Medical Testing? Among the treatments that cause patients harm are diagnostic tests, everything
from ultrasound to X rays, from blood tests to barium enemas. Many of these tests
are inaccurate, present more risk than benefit and alternatives often are safer and
more effective. The only time these tests are justified are when safety is clearly in
question and only when the results of the test would require action. Avoid tests that
simply provide information. For example, avoid ultrasounds during pregnancy,
which do little more than inform parents about their child’s development and rarely
lead to any meaningful action. Always question your doctor carefully about whether
a particular medical test is necessary, especially if the test is invasive. All tests need
not be avoided, but ask about potential risks as well as benefits


 combed or pulled. The therapist locates the  marma
points a long the head and spends time tugging and pres sing
earlobes, before  moving on to the face. Facial massage is usually a
mixture of acupressure and gentle manipulation, ending with soft
stroking. People who suf fer from vertigo, headaches, migraines,
insomnia, tinnitus and depression are all reported to find  champi
helpful. As the therapist works on the three higher  chakras, the
vissuddha  (the base of the throat),  ajna  (the forehead) and
sahasrara  (the crown), mental and emotion al stress is immediately
released. In addition, the localiz ed massage improves the supply of
glucose and blood to the brain, improves the circulation of
cerebrospinal flu id, dissipates accumulated toxins and opens pr anic
channels. Results include improved memory, clarity of mind, better
eyesight and concentration, and clearing of the sinuses. The thera pist at the Ayurvedic Penthouse at Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, first
prepares for a 60-minute Indian head massage session by creating an
atmosphere of calm with candlelight and aromatic oil burners. Then, she starts the
therapy with pressure point massage to stimulate the vital energy points in the
skull, thereby increasing the flow of subtle energies in the body. The result  is a
client comforted, nurtured and relaxed.udwarthanam  Dry Massage with
Herbal Powder
A stimulating massage that uses dry powders not oil,
udwarthanam  is vigorous, ener gizing and not for the faint
hearted. Dry herbal powders, chosen according to on e’ s
dosha, are rubbed into the skin in the opposite direction to
hair growth with strong repeated movements. The friction of
the powder during the massage creates body heat that
increases circu lation, breaks  down cellulite, firms muscle
tone and reduces fat by im proving the metabolism of the
muscles. It is recommende d for those who want to lose
weight, as it reduces cholesterol levels and adipose tissue
and promotes better digestion and. It also removes toxins
and exfoliates the skin, leaving skin tingling, soothed and
soft. Most A y urvedic massages tend to use long, flowing strokes that go
away from the heart and from bottom to top, but  udwarthanam
employs short, sharp superfic ial rubs that go in the opposite
direction, away from the heart to wards the extremities and from the
top of the body downwards. This is the opposite of the  dosha  flow. According to A yurvedic physician, Dr Ajitha of Soukya, the pow der
helps to open up the micro-channels in the body, so reduces fat
accumulation, tautens up muscles, reduces bad body odor and
exfoliates dead surface skin cells. In a clinical setting,
udwarthanam  is usually prescribed for 10 to 14 days for those withama twan  or sl owness of f low in the channels, and as a means to
reduce fat. However, the massage type is increasingly finding its
way into spas a nd retreats, where its invigorating style is gain ing
popularity. At t he s pa at Udaivilas, a beautiful resort on the shore of Lake
Pichola in Udaipur, one of three A yurvedic powders or  choornam
are used : the popular  triphala choornam  or three fruit powder, a
powder composed from  Terminalia chebula  or  Terminalia
bellaruca, or  kola kula thadhi choornam, made from a variety of
pulses and herbs. The massage i s quite rough and the powder enters
the s uperficial bloodstream, but  also enters nasally as it flies ab out
in th e air. This cleanses the internal system too. Afterwards, the
client is encouraged to spend 1 0 minutes in the steam room and
further massage any residual powder into the skin. As sweating
occurs, t oxins ar e released through the skin’ s pores, and the skin is
left feeling soft, extremely smooth and rejuvenated. Another place that of fers  udwarthanam  is Soukya International
Holistic Health Center. Here it is prescribed for guests who are
obese and the powders are prepared on site. They dif fer from patient
to patient, but may contain  vacha  (Acorus calamus ) to alleviate
swelling, the A yurvedic all-rou nd wonder fruit  amalaki  or Indian
Gooseberry (Emblica officinalis ), green gram powder and/or basil. All the herbs are  washed, cut into small pieces, dried and pulver ized
on s ite t o make either a fine or coarse powder, which is then str ewn
on to the body and massaged in by two therapists simultaneously. Some of the powde rs used at Udaivilas; they contain what doctors call  madagna
properties that reduce fat and help clear blockages.Two therapists at Soukya massage a client with powder made on site. Udwarthanam  is also useful as a depilatory because the short, sharp rubs tend to
pluck hairs from the roots.sirodhara  Oiling the Third Eye
Surprisingly,  sirodhara  is the most widespread A yurvedic
therapy of fered  at spas outside India. Why this is the case is
unclear, as it is not prescribed for many ailments in a clinical
environment. It invariably comes top of the A yurve dic
menu, and even spas without an A yurvedic department of fer
bastardized ve rsions. Many people have tried it, and even if
they haven’ t, they will almost certainly have heard of it. Coming from  siro  (“head”) and  dhara  (“pouring of herbal liquids
on s pecific body parts”),  sirodhara  denotes the continuous pouring
of herbal oils, milk, buttermilk or ghee over the head and scalp. The
patient lies on his or her ba ck on a wooden treatment table,
cocooned in warm towels, while a therapist trains a steady rhythmic
stream o f warm liquid from a perforated vessel made of clay, w ood
or metal on to the forehead. The table is made from one of seven
therapeutic woods and is designed to catch the oil for recycling on
the same client. Oil strok ing the “third eye” has a balancing ef fect on the deepes t
recesses of the b rain and is profoundly relaxing. In A yurveda, it is
seen as a stimu lating procedu re for the nervous system and is
prescribed for bringing down aggravated  vata  conditions such as
insomnia, headache, insecurity, fear and nervous strain. Irritable
pitta  predominant people with overactive minds can experience a
cooling, calming benefit from a session or two and  kaphas  often
fall aslee p. Used in conjunction with other therapies,  sirodhara  has
been practiced for thousands of years to treat many and variedconditions such as ear, nose and throat disturbances, glandular
problems, psychiatric disorders, hypertension, skin diseases, facial
paralysis and more. During a session, the nervous system unwi nds,
busy brains become clear, and tired bodies are refreshed. In a clinical environment, the choice of liquid and duration of
treatment varies  according to the individual. Vata  patients are
generally prescribed medicated herbal oil,  pitta  types receive herbal
milk, gh ee or coconut oil, and buttermilk is often recommended  for
kapha  patients. Ancien t texts denote 53 minutes for  vatas, 43
minutes for  pitas  and 31 minutes for  kaphas! It is suggested the
best tim e to receive  sirodhara  is early in the morning for a pe riod
of 21 consecutive days, depending on the client. A variation of
sirodhara  is  deha-dhara, wh ere two to four therapists  pour a
continuous flow of oil over the entire body. Beautifully carved beds are usually made from one piece of wood, often neem,
and are designed so that oil flows through a drainage channel and is captured  in a
wooden bowl for re-use.The  Charaka Samhita  specifies seven types of wood for an Ayurvedic bed or  patti
with the emphasis being on the wood  having no joins. Because of the quality ofthe wood, beds are often works of art in themselves; often inlaid with copper or tin
inserts, the more elaborate ones have evocative carvings as well. At Quan spa in the JW Marriott Mumbai, oil at a  sirodhara  session is forced to flow
back over the forehead down to the bed with the fastening of a piece of cloth just
below the “third eye”.The palatial surrounds of Neemrana Fort Palace’ s courts and halls are highly
conducive to healing. Here, a therapist trains the flow of oil on to the forehead of a
client.vasthi  The Medicated Enema
T o most W esterners the su bject of enemas is one to  be
avoided,


  with the other  disci-
plines,  Maste r Chia  began  teaching  the Universal  Tao S ystem. He
eventuall y traine d other  Instructors  to com municate  this kno wledge
and he established  the Natural  Healing  Center  in Thailand. Five
years later,  he decided  to move to  New  York, where in 1979,  he
opened  the Universal  Tao Center. During  his y ears in America,
Maste r Chia  continued  his studies  in the W u system of Tai Chi w ith
Edward Yee in New  York. Since then,  Maste r Chia  has taught  tens  of thousa nds of stu-
dents  throug hout the world. He has  trained  and certified  over  1,200
instructors  and practitione rs from  all over  the world. Universal  Tao
Centers  and Chi Nei T sang  Institutes  have  opened  in ma ny loca-
tions in North  America, Europe,  Asia, and Australia. In 1994,  Mast er Chia mo ved back to  Thailand,  where he had
begun  construction  of Tao Garde n, the Universal  Tao Training  Cen-
ter in Chiang  Mai. Mast er Chia is a warm, friendly  and helpful  man who views him-
self primarily  as a  teacher. He presents  the Universal  Tao Syst em
in a straightfor ward and practical  manner,  while always expandin g
his kno wledge and appro ach to teaching. He uses  a laptop  com-
puter  for writing and is totall y at ease  with the latest  com puter  tech-
nology. Mast er Chia estim ates that it will take  thirty five books  to conve y
the full Universal  Tao S ystem. In June  1990,  at a dinner  in San
Francisco,  Master  Chia  was honore d by the Internatio nal Congress
of Chinese  Medicine  and Qi Gong  (Chi  Kung),  who named him the
Qi gong  Mast er of the  Year. He is the  first recipient  of this annual
award. In Dece mber  2000,  the Tao Garden  Health  Resort  and Universal
Tao Training  Center  was completed  with two Meditatio n Halls,  two
open  air Simple Chi Kung  Pavilions, indoor  Tai Chi, Tao Tao Y in and
Chi Nei Tsang  Hall, Tai Chi Natural  Swimm ing Pool,  Pakua  Com-
munications  Center  with a complete  Taoist Librar y, Internal  World
Class W eight Lifting  Hall and  com plete  8 Court  Recreational  Fa-
cilities. In Februar y 2002,  the Im mortal Tao practices  will be held  at Tao
Garden  for the  first time using  the Dark  Room  technolo gy creating
a com plete  environment  for the higher  level  Taoist practices. - 21 -Acknowledgements
Acknow ledge ments
I thank  foremost those  Taoist M asters  who were kind  enoug h to
share  their  knowledge with me, never  imagining  it wo uld eventually
be taught  to Westerners. I ackno wledge special  thanks  to Marcia
Kerw it for her written contributi ons, sharing  her experie nces  and
candid  opinions  concerning  the practice  of Healing  Love. I thank  the artist,  Juan  Li, for his illustrations  throu ghout the book. I also  thank  Suzanne  Gage,  illustrator  of the  book  A New  View of
a Woman's Bod y, for her groun d breakin g work in illustrating
wome n's anatomy  which provide d inspiratio n for som e of the
drawings in this book. I thank  the many contrib utors  essential  to the book's final form ;
Gunther  Weil, Ph.D., R ylin Malone, and many of my students  for
their feedback,  particularl y Michael  Winn and Juan  Li for their
recommendations;  Valeric M eszar os for editing  the book,  copy
editing,  and proof reading;  Helen  Stites for proofre ading, and editing
and copy  editing  assistance;  and John- Robert  Zielinski  and Adam
Sacks, our  com puter  consulta nts. Special  thanks  are extende d to
David Mille r for overseein g design  and productio n and to Felix
Morrow for his valuable  advice  and help  in editing  and producin g
this book,  and for his work as publisher  of Universal  Tao Books. Without my mother and  my son,  Max,  the book  would have  been
academ ic—for  their  gifts,  my gratitu de and love. - 22 -Words of  Caution
Words of Caution
The practices  describe d in this book  have  been  used  successfully
for thousands  of years by Taoists trained  by person al instruction. Readers  should  not undertak e the practice  without receiving  per-
sonal  trans mission  and training  from a certified  instructor  of the
Universal  Tao, since  certain  of these  practices,  if done  improperly,
may cause  injury or result  in health  problems. This book  is intende d
to supplement  individual  training  by the Universal  Tao and  to serve
as a referenc e guide  for these  practices. Anyone who undertak es
these  practices  on the basis  of this book  alone,  does  so entirely  at
his or  her own risk. The me ditations,  practices  and techniqu es describe d herein  are
not intende d to be used  as an  alternative  or substitute  for profes-
sional  medical treatment and  care. If any  readers  are suffering  from
illnesses  based  on mental or  emotional  disorde rs, an approp riate
profession al health  care practitioner  or therapist  should  be con-
sulted. Such probl ems should  be corrected  before  you start  train-
ing. Neither  the Universal  Tao nor its staff and  instructors  can be
responsible  for the conseque nces  of any practice  or misuse of the
information  containe d in this book. If the read er unde rtakes  any
exercise  without strictly  follo wing the instructions, notes  and warn-
ings, the respo nsibility  must lie solel y with the reade r.
     This book  does  not attempt to give  any medical diagnosis,
treatment,  prescripti on, or remedial recom mendation  in relation  to
any human disease,  ailment, sufferin g or physical condition
whatsoever. The Universal  Tao is not and  cannot  be responsible  for the
conseque nces  of an y practice  or misuse of the information  in this
book. If the  reade r undert akes  any exercise  without strictly  follow ing
the instructions,  notes,  and warnings, the responsi bility must lie
solely  with the read er. The book  does  not give  any diagnoses  or suggesti ons for
medication. It does  provide  a me ans to im prove  your health  in order
to overcome im balances  in your system and  to provide  a richl y
rewarding sexual  experience. People  who have  high  blood  pressur e,
heart  disease,  or a generall y weak condition, should  proce ed slowly
in the  practice,  particul arly Ovarian  Breathing. If there  is a medical
condition,  a medical doctor  should  be consulted. - 23 -Author’s  Note
Author's  Note
In the  last pages  of this  book,  the reader  will find descriptio ns of the
courses  and workshops  offered  by our Universal  Tao Centers. This
material is also in effect a comprehensive  description  of the w hole
Taoist Syst em. A ll of my books  togeth er will be a composite of  this
"Taoist  world view. Each  of my  books  is thus  an exposition  of one
important  part of this s ystem. Each  sets forth  a method  of healing
and life-enha ncement  which can be studied  and practiced  by itself,
if the  reader  so chooses. How ever, each  of these  methods  implies
the others  and is best  practiced  in com bination  with the others. The found ation  of all  practices  in the  Taoist S ystem, the
Microcosmic Orbit  Meditatio n, is the  way to circulate  Chi ener gy
through out the body  and is described  in my book  Awaken Healing
Energy through the Tao. This practice  is follow ed by the me ditations


 pushed it away in his
mind. He suppre ssed it. When he went to sleep and was not controlling his
thoughts as much, the mind was free to release what it had not been free to
express while the boy was awake. We all experience this type of dream
fairly regularly. A charged event from the waking world finds its way into
our dream world. You are not willfully doing this. It is the mind trying to
release built-up ener gy patterns. There are all kinds of dreams. Freud called the dream we’v e been
discussing basic wish fulfillment. It is a samskara formed in the waking
mind releasing energy by creating the thoughts you watch while you’re
asleep. These thoughts that make up your dreams are not that different from
the automatic thoughts going on in your waking mind. They are certainly
much more vivid, especially in their imagery. This is because when you’re
sleeping, the mind can focus completely on creating the thoug hts. It is not
busy being distracted by the senses or the many other layers of thoughts and
emotions going on. In addition, you’re not willfully pushing the thoughts
away. This is why the mind is much more creative when you fall asleep. It
can create an entire, complex world in full 3D and Technicolor. Most people
can’t do that when they’re awake, though obviously, their minds are
perfectly capable of doing so. Once you stop suppressing uncomfortable experiences, one thing
you’re going to realize is that there really is no subconscious mind, per se. The conscious mind and the subconscious mind are actually the same one
mind, and the only reason we see a difference is because we artificially
created a division. To understan d this, imagine looking around a room of
people and saying, “The people on the right side of the room I like; I’m
comfortable with those people. The people on the left side of the room,
however, I’m very uncomfortable with them. ” Having stated this, imagine
you never again look at the left side of the room because it makes you
uncomfortable. What you’ve just done is separated the room into the part
you’re comfortable with and the part you don’t want anything  to do with. The latter part exists, but no longer exists for you. That is exactly what
you’ve done to create the subconscious mind. The part of your mind you’re
not willing to look at is what we call the subconscious. Fortunately, these artificially divided parts of your mind will merge
once you stop suppressing. You will get the rest of your mind back, and you
will be able to use its full power. Imagine how much mental power you
waste by pushing all that mess into the subconscious. Then you have to keep
it down there for the rest of your life. It’s really amazing what a mess we
make because we can’ t handle the moments passing in front of us. The thoughts we push down into the subconscious play a role in both
our waking and dreaming states. The reason your mind is creating your
automatically generated dream thoughts is the same reason your mind
creates your automatically generated waking thoughts. In both cases, you
are not willfully creating this mental activity. It is happening on its own as
part of the mind’ s attempt to release blocked ener gies. The common thread between your waking and dreaming states is that
it’s the same consciousness that is aware of both. You who is watching the
dream is the same you who watches your waking thoughts and experiences
the outside world. This is why when you wake up, you can say, “What a
dream I had. ” How do you know. You know because you were there—the
same you who is aware while you’re awake. Interestingly, because it is the
same you, there can be a lot of spiritual growth in dreams. Meher Baba,
another great yoga master, said that you can work off karma in your dreams. He said that by going through an experience in your dreams, it is actually
beneficial to your spiritual evolution. You’re at least allowing some blocked
energy to release that you didn’t allow while you were awake, and that is
healthy. There is a great deal we can learn about ourselves from the dream state. If what you stored in the subcon scious was more traumatic than simply not
liking what happened or not getting what you wanted, what happens. Some
things are much harder to deal with than just preferences. There are
samskaras that are so deep they can’t even come up in a dream. If they tried
to release, you would wake from a nightmare in a very disturbed state. In
other words, your consciousne ss isn’t able to experience the event even
when it manife sts in a dream. You resist and become so uncomfortable
about it that you wake up. So how does this ener gy release. Unfinished energy stored in your mind is always trying to release at
one level or another. If the release would wake you from a dream, your
mind, all by itself, symbolizes what it’s trying to express. Instead of
dreaming about the car accident  that killed your younger brother, you dream
that there are birds flying high overhead and an eagle swoops down and
takes one of the small birds away. You’re willing to watch that, but you’re
not willing to watch a car accident with someone you love dying. This is all
very real. Your mind is doing you a favor. Your brilliant mind did that in an
attempt to stay healthy and release at least some of the pent-up energy. That’ s what the symbology of dreams is about. It’s truly amazing how
brilliant your mind is when left to its own resourcefulness. Just as your body
is always trying to heal itself, so your mind is always trying to release these
impurities that are stuck in there. Chapter 20. Waking Dreams
At this point  you can certainly appreciate the tremendous power of your
mind, especially in regard to creating dreams on its own. Creatin g dreams is
not a willful act; your mind has the power to do it by itself. But as you’ve
seen, your dream s are not the only mental objects that your mind creates
automatically. The voice inside your head that talks all day is the exact same
expressive power of mind that creates your dreams. It would not be
incorrect to call that dialog in your head your waking dreams. Every
personal thing that voice says is because of the samskaras you have stored
inside. Your mind is trying to release those blockages during the day while
you’re still awake. For example, you see somebody running and that voice
says inside, “I wonder what he did wrong. It’s like my brother when he ran
away. What is this guy running away from. ” The problem is that this
current situation has nothing to do with your brother, and this person could
be running for exercise. Your mind is using this opportunit y to release
energies that are pent up inside. That’ s why so much of the mind’ s dialog is
negative. The vast majority of energy you have stored inside is because of
things you didn’ t like. When subsequent events happen that stimulate these
negative samskaras, the new events are automatically experienced as
negative. In essence, the negativity keeps compounding. If you really want to see how your preferences manage to make life a
negative experience, go build a house and decide to paint the kitchen walls
white. Do you know there are more than fifty shades of white. Just wait
until you try to pick which white you want. In other words, there  is only one
tiny window of color choice that will align with your preferences and make
you happy. All the rest will get you upset. Just look at the odds you’re up
against. There are billions of things that can happen in life that don’t match
your preferences, and there are only a few that do. Under these  conditions,the probability that life is going to be a negative experience is extremely
high. This is not because life is negative. It is because the only thing that
isn’t negative to you is that which exactly matches your preferences. It is so importan t to understand this. You have set up a system in which
you can’t win. You have expanded what can bother you to include all
experiences that remind you of what bothered you before. What is more, life
almost never totally satisfies you because everything has to be exactly what
you want—to a T. This shows you the power of past and present preferences
—the more preferences you have, the less you will be okay. So far, we’ve learned a lot about mind. We began with an
understanding of empty mind. Then we discussed the here-and-now layer of
mind, which internally renders the images being received by the senses. On
top of that layer  of mind, the real trouble begins. You in there, the conscious
entity that knows you’re there, used the power of will to keep certain images
from passing right through. This resulted in the layer of mind called the
samskara layer. It holds the impressions you stored from your past that are
the basis for your personal preferences. As if it’s not enough that you built
this entire structure in your mind, you then committed your life to thinking
about how to serve it. Your consciousness is pretty lost, constantly focusing
on this false mental concept of self. Fortunately, there is a way out—it’ s called witness consciousness. If
you can learn to sit back and simply watch that voice inside your head, you
can free


, people
with ADHD will have at least one parent with ADHD—possibly a workaholic mother or father, who may have had a138 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  tendency toward anger and perhaps drank too much. If they
have children, each child has a 50 percent chance of havingADHD. If their spouse also has ADHD (a fairly commonoccurrence, by the way) then their children are 100 percentlikely to have ADHD. And then there are the grandchildren.139 ADD AND ADH D—THE SILENT EPIDEMIC  HORMONAL IMBALANCES
IN CHILDREN
chapter SIXTEEN
I want to begin this chapter by noting that the relationship
between childhood illness and hormonal influence has to dateessentially been ignored. What I have to say here is based onlogic and my own clinical observations; there are no studies tofall back on. Before we start, I want to remind the reader of a few well-
established medical facts:
• Hormones control every system of the body. • Males and females have the same hormones but
their levels differ. • Hormones are inherited from either parent.• At different stages in life, hormone levels vary. It is also worth mentioning that, as in adults, an imbalance
of one hormone in children often leads to an imbalance ofother hormones as the body tries to adjust to the deficiency. Girls who have started their periods may experience irregular
menses, severe cramps, migraines, or other symptoms. Inaddition, most people are aware that we have a nationwideproblem with over-weight and obese children. We are also
141beginning to see a significant increase in attention deficit
disorder (ADD) among children. This chapter discusses allthree of these problems. I’ll begin with ADD. THE MISSING LINK
It is apparent to me that the over-production of a single
hormone, insulin, is associated with many metabolic problems.Insulin is the number one hormone that creates fat, especiallyaround the middle of the body. It is the number one hormonethat causes type II diabetes, and, in my opinion, it is thehormone that precipitates ADD and ADHD. (See chapter 15for the hormonal difference between the two.) If too much insulin is creating problems, then let’s go one
step further: Why is the body producing excess insulin?Although the over-production of insulin in children can bedue to many factors, its causes can probably be reduced to two:The first, and not necessarily the most important, is the typeof food children are exposed to. T oo many carbohydrates, inthe form of fruit juice, soda, cereal, chips, fries, candy, cookies,and similar foods, leads to high sugar levels and subsequentlyto over-production of insulin, which then puts the sugar intothe fat cells. The other factor, which may be the root cause for all the
problems discussed in this chapter, is a deficiency of proges-terone. I consider this the missing link. Low progesterone is almost always associated with the
over-production of insulin. If a parent is low in progesterone,they can pass this trait on to their child. A mother low inprogesterone will have a medical history that shows estrogendominance—with symptoms that include cramps, PMS,breast tenderness, nausea with pregnancy, fibroids, fibrocystic142 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  disease, and migraine headaches. The father may have a history
of hypoglycemia, increased fat around the middle, type IIdiabetes, or symptoms of ADHD. My own mother was estrogen dominant and wound up
dying of breast cancer because of it. She had thin arms and legsand a large abdomen—classic for hyperinsulinemia secondaryto low progesterone. I inherited a progesterone deficiency fromher. I had ADD as a child—I used to get up and walk out ofclass and could not focus. They didn’t diagnose ADD backthen; they thought I was bored. I wasn’t bored—I just couldn’tpay attention. I was continuously hypoglycemic—I cravedsweets. I rarely studied in high school or college, except thenight before exams. I could only focus on things that interestedme, like early rock and roll in high school, and bridge andpoker in college. (I studied 4 hours every night once I got tomedical school—but I was interested in medicine.) I have fought with my weight all my life because my body
over-produces insulin. When I first went into practice, I usedto nod off between 3 and 4
p.m.—sometimes while talking to
patients! Oftentimes when I was driving I had to slap my faceto keep my eyes open. All these symptoms disappeared after Istarted using natural progesterone. THE OVER-WEIGHT CHILD
When people are young, it is often possible to get fat to almost
melt off their bodies. They have not yet reached the stage wheretheir bodies become sophisticated, efficient machines forfat-production and maintenance of fat. Another chapter of this book (chapter 20) deals with
weight control; the approach for children is similar to thatfor adults, but it is easier. Very often just teaching the child143 HORMONAL IMBAL ANCES IN CHILDREN (and/or the parents) how to eat properly is all that’s required. Instructing them on the importance of exercise—primarily toburn sugar rather than fat—is mandatory. Adjusting hormonessuch as progesterone and thyroid may be necessary. Eliminatingunnecessary medications, when possible, is helpful. What would be of immeasurable benefit is if parents
would unite in a campaign to eliminate the candy-juice-sodamachines in the schools, and work with the school dietitiansand the fast-food purveyors outside the school to offer lower-carb choices for their children. PUTTING PERIODS IN PERSPECTIVE
When girls enter puberty, if the ovaries are not producing an
adequate amount of progesterone, the pituitary sends outhormones to step up the production. In many cases, theovaries, for genetic reasons, are not capable of increasingprogesterone, but the extra stimulation increases the amountof estrogen. This extra estrogen can lead to cysts on the ovaries.Ovarian cysts can produce an excess of testosterone, causingproblems with acne and excessive hair growth. This is knownas polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)—again, most likelycaused by a deficiency of progesterone. Keep in mind, the lowprogesterone associated with all of the above changes alsocauses the production of excess insulin, creating weight aroundthe middle. At the same time, the excess estrogen is putting onfat around the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Very often teenage girls with menstrual problems are put
on birth control pills to help with cramps or acne. However,this is treating the symptoms instead of dealing with thecause of the problem.144 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  The cause, in my opinion, is a reduced level of proges-
terone. The only time a female produces progesterone isduring ovulation. Birth control pills prevent the ovaries fromovulating—so these girls go from low levels of progesterone tonone. Keep in mind in this regard that progesterone is one ofthe most important hormones in the female body. Giving the patient a natural, bio-identical progesterone
cream obtainable from a compounding pharmacy (not anover-the-counter cream because it is too weak) will eliminatethe cramps; it will help clear up acne and improve PCOS. Itwill also help with other problems if they are present, such asPMS, migraine headaches, and asthma, as well as lowering ahigh insulin level and helping to eliminate fat, ADD, andADHD. The dosage I would probably recommend isprogesterone cream 100 mg/
¼tsp applied twice a day to the
forearm and wrist on days 7 thru 28 of the cycle. FINAL THOUGHTS
Again, I am very aware that I am touching on controversial
areas by making recommendations on treating conditions inchildren with natural hormones when there have been nodirect studies. The major funding for medical studies comesfrom drug companies, and since drug companies cannotpatent natural products, it is unlikely that we will see studiespertaining to natural hormones in children for a long time.Used correctly, however, natural progesterone is non-toxic. T o put the safety of natural, bio-identical progesterone
into perspective, consider this: During a woman’s monthlycycle, progesterone peaks at 28 ng/dl. When a woman ispregnant, this level goes up to 450 ng/dl—a significantly highlevel that the fetus is exposed to for about 5
½ months and145 HORMONAL IMBAL ANCES IN CHILDREN obviously has no trouble tolerating. In fact, the high levels of
progesterone aid in brain development, among other things.When progesterone is applied transdermally to an adult orchild, the blood level rises about 2 ng/dl—a mere fraction ofwhat the fetus is exposed to. I have recommended natural progesterone for a nine-year-
old girl who was having monthly migraine headaches. She hadalready started developing breasts and was evidently estrogendominant, like her mother. After she started taking proges-terone, her migraine headaches disappeared. /Iswashn my view, children with undiagnosed hormonal problems
are likely to face a multitude of lifelong difficulties. In my view, children with undiagnosed hormonal
problems are likely to face a multitude of lifelong difficulties.Children


 is easy to do, since
being 97 or 98 carries much less mystique than being 100. ) Even assuming that a certain number of respondents have inflated their
ages to cross the magical centur y mark, statisticians agree that at least 1 in
10,000 Americans is 100 or older. This is a historic number, and yet it is
only an average. Some regions of the country already boast incredibly high
ratios of longev ity. In Iowa, where life expectancy is the highest in the
nation, 1 person  out of 3,961 is over 100, followed by South Dakota, with 1
out of 4,168. By contrast, some  areas are far below the national average in
centenarians: The last two states  on the Census Bureau list are Utah, which
reports only 1 centenarian per 19,358 people, and Alaska, with 1 in 36,670. By historical standards, howev er, even these low figures are astonishing. What they imply is that we have won the struggle for longevi ty and now
face the challenge of becoming a land where the long-living are still young. Senility: The Darkest FearMost of us would find it easier  to bear the physical afflictions  of old age
than the mental  ones. In India, where I grew up, age is still equated with
wisdom. Rural villages are run by the panchayat,  a counc il of five elders
who have gained respect and authority because of their venerable age. In
the West, the longer one lives, the more one is suspected of mental
incompetence. Alzheimer ’s has probably surpassed cancer for the dubious
honor of being the most feared  disease in America. I know 60-year -olds
who obsessively pore over articles about Alzheimer ’s and panic whenever
they forget a friend’ s telephone number, so convinced are they that
contracting Alzheimer ’s is only a matter of time. “Put at its crudest,” Anthony Smith wrote in The Body, “the advances of
medicine are enabling more and more of us to achieve senility. ” That is too
dark a view. Only 10 percent of people over 65 exhibit any symptoms of
Alzheimer ’s, but there is no doubt that this figure escalates with increasing
age, and after 75, up to 50 percent of the elderly may show some evidence
of the disease. One dark legacy from the “old” old age was the belief that
senility is a normal, inevitable aspect of aging. Paradoxicall y, the most
important factor in bursting this myth was Alzheimer ’s itself. The disorder
was discovered  as early as 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a prominent
investigator and physician in Munich. He dissected the body of a 55-year -
old wom an who had been ment ally deteriorating for three years before her
death. In her brain Dr. Alzheimer found visible damage that could not be
explained as normal aging: twist ed, tangled nerves and hardened deposits of
chemical plaque. No one had ever before linked senility with a specific disease, and by
discovering the one named after him, Dr. Alzheimer struck a decisive blow
to the theory of “normal” senili ty. However, social attitudes often last long
beyond their time, and it took seventy years for the importance of
Alzheimer ’s discovery to be fully grasped. In recent decades, recognition of
Alzheimer ’s disease has increas ed dramatically, as it has been realized that
the illness afflicts over 1 million Americans, or around 50 to 60 percent of
all people who exhibit senile dementia. Dementia is the medica l term for a
host of symptoms associated with the general term senility: forgetfulness,
confusion, disorientation, short attention span, irritability, and decreased
intelligence. Lewis Thomas dubbed Alzheimer ’s “the disease of the century” and
spoke eloquently of it as “the worst of all diseases, not just for what it does
to the victim, but for its deva stating effects on families and friends. It
begins with the loss of learned skills, arithmetic and typing, for instance; it
progresses inexorably to a total shutting down of the mind. It is,
unmercifully, not lethal. Patients go on and on living, essential ly brainless
but otherwise healthy, into advanced age, unless lucky enough to be saved
by pneumonia. ”
Alzheimer ’s patients go in and out of lucidity in the early stage s of their
ordeal. In his book The Myth of Senility, Dr. Siegfried Kra of Yale quotes a
colleague’ s wife, herself a successful physician and children’ s writer, who
was forced to retire due to Alzh eimer ’s in her midfifties. At the outset she
still had lucid periods, particular ly in the early hours between three and five
in the morning ; during that time she gave utterance to the dark
transformation that was taking place inside her. All she could manage were
halting phrases that are all the more poignant given how much she had
loved words and how well she had used them:
I have a neurological problem. Who needs it. No one. Nobody likes me. I don’ t like myself either. I used to be a physician, I used to drive a car. What do I want. I don’t
want to be here. I am afraid of everything. All I am is garbage. I belong in the garbage can. You need a new wife. This one is no good anymore. No one knows my name anymore—because I am nothing. I’ve lost everything—the health service, typing, and writing. I don’t
have any skills. All I do is eat. I have to go away. I can’t read my
own writing. I’ve lost a kingdom. I don’ t sing anymore. I probably won’ t sing again. What is the source of this terrible disease. Much speculation has been
offered: a rare “slow virus” that takes decades to mature; a defect in the
immune system that causes the victim’ s own antibodies to attac k the brain;
increased accumulation of alum inum in the neurons. None of these causeshas been  proved. Although high levels of aluminum have been found in the
brains of Alzhei mer’s patients, elevated levels of the metal are not found in
the patients’ bloodstreams. Some popular books have sounded the alert against using aluminum foil,
aluminum cookw are, and deodorants based on aluminum salts, but millions
of people use these products without acquiring Alzheimer ’s. Some
physiological abnormality is more likely to be at fault; perhap s the blood-
brain barrier that normally excludes aluminum from entering the brain has
broken down, allowing these deposits to develop. Another reason to suspect
that the brain itself has gone awry is that at least one critical
neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, is deficient in Alzheimer ’s patients,
impairing the ability of brain cells to communicate with one another. Alzheimer ’s is presently incurable. There is no viable prevention,
although investigators believe they have found indications of genetic
markers for the disease in some families. After the onset of the disease,
medical care is limited to tranquilizing or sedating the patient. These efforts
do not affect the outcome but help reduce the psychological distress that
patients and family so acutely  feel. The real hope lies with cases of
dementia that are not the result of Alzheimer ’s, for once the myth of
“normal” senility was overcom e, it became apparent that more than one
hundred differen t treatable disorders could mimic the symptoms of senile
dementia, including thyroid deficiency, strokes, and syphilis. How the Brain Resists Aging
Aging of the brain is not enough to cause Alzheimer ’s or any of these other
disorders. Over time the structure of the brain is known to change. It grows
lighter, for example, and shrinks slightly. One of the clichés of neurology is
that the human brain loses roughly a million neurons per year as it ages; this
created a convenient rationale for seeing the onset of senility as the result of
a decaying brain. However, the flaw in this expla nation is that people who don’t become
senile presumably have lost the same number of neurons (this has to be leftto conjecture, since reliable neuron counts can’t be made in living people). At present it isn’t known why one old brain stays lively and creative—one
thinks of Miche langelo designin g St. Peter ’s when he was nearly 90 or of
Picasso painting  at the same age and Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano in
Carnegie Hall—while another starts to deteriorate. One theor y, based on
animal research, is that our brains grow new connections as we age. As
more neurons die, these new connections may compensate for the loss in
some individuals. No two brain cells ever actually touch physically. They reach toward
each other acros s a gap, or synapse, using hundreds or thousand s of hairlike
filaments called dendrites. The effect is like that of two twiggy trees almost
intertwining in the wind (the word dendrite  is deriv ed from  the Greek word
for “tree ”). Just at the point where two filaments almost meet, a chemical
signal can be sent from one neuron to another. The basic  chemicals
involved are well known. One of