Psychoneuroimmunology and Natural Healing by the Brain
After having studied the placebo effect for our last paper, I was greatly intrigued by its' importance in understanding health and implications for the connection of mind and body. As I acknowledged in my previous paper, the placebo effect is often documented in a scientific study, yet is considered to be something not completely understood and therefore deemed unreliable by the medical community. However, what I found from my research was that there does seem to be an inherent reliability and could thus be a cornerstone for the concept for mind-body healing.
As most of us have experienced in our lives, especially in college, when we are most stressed out we all of a sudden seem to get sick easier and react to pain in more extreme ways. In this case, our psychological state seems to have much control over the functioning of our bodies (and immune system). For another example, consider the case of Mr. Wright as reported by Dr. Bruno Klopfer:
Mr. Wright had a generalized far advanced malignancy involving the lymph nodes, lymphosarcoma. The patient had tried every available form of medicine and his condition had hopelessly deteriorated to the point where he was bedridden and gasping for air. [The doctors] agreed that he had only a few days to live. Then the man heard about an experimental drug called Krebiozen, which was in the process of being tested. He insisted on being included in the experimental trials. His doctors, feeling he had nothing to lose and would soon be dead anyway, out of compassion greed to give him the experimental drug. To their amazement, the man's tumors soon began to shrink dramatically and he was discharged from the hospital. Two months later, the man read news accounts of the research on Krebiozen that reported serious doubts with the drug. Within a matter of days, the man's tumors had returned and were again threatening his life. His doctor cleverly convinced him that a new and more potent shipment had been received and proceeded to give him injections of plain water. His tumors once again began to shrink dramatically. He remained healthy for seven more months until another news report declared 'Nationwide AMA Tests Show Krebiozen to Be Worthless as a Cancer Treatment.' The man died within two days (4).
One can see that the connection between the nervous system and the immune system is quite important, especially in the way that attitudes and emotions are processed by and can at the same time affect physiological or biochemical change.
Ernst, E., & Resch, K. L. (1995). Concept of true and perceived placebo effects. British Medical
Al Capone (Alfonso or Alphonse Capone) was born in 1899 and passed away in the year of 1947. Once he had been brought up in New York City, Capone became connected with crimes and was the subject of murder investigations. In 1920 he moved to Chicago and became a lieutenant to John Torrio, a notorious gang leader. They established numerous speakeasies in Chicago in the Prohibition era. After eliminating his opponents, "Scarface" Capone took over control from Torrio. He was implicated in brutal murders and received tribute from businessmen and politicians. Al Capone was a well known powerful, murderous gangster in America in the 1920’s. (MasterFile EbscoHost)
Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York to Gabriele and Teresina Capone. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two gangs; the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Alphonse did well at school until the 6th grade when he was expelled for retaliating against a teacher who hit him. He was fourteen at the time. He became part of the Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's bar, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn one night, local gangster Frank Gallucio was drinking with his sister at the Harvard Inn. Capone approached the girl to compliment her, and Gallucio took offense to him started a fight. Gallucio pulled a knife and cut Capone's face three times. That is how "Scarface" came to be.
Alphonse Capone, spent the entirety of his life working to improve his life from immigration status. He started working odd, low profile, legal jobs before steadily climbing his way up the gangster food chain. Capone used force, bribery, and any other ways possible to achieve the means to any end that he so desired. Until his arrest, Capone laid claim to the title Public Enemy No. 1, and continued to work his dark magic throughout the country and in prison until he was incarcerated in the most notorious federal prison to date. Capone, albeit slightly evil and conniving, decidedly took his own fate into his hands as a young boy to earn the title of America’s most notorious gangster.
His name is Frank Gulouchyo. Frank Gulouchyo scarred Capone for life. Capone got up, walked over to the young lady’s table, and told her that she had a nice butt. Then Gulouchyo got up and pulled a knife out of his pocket and sliced the left side of his face. That is how Al Capone acquired the nickname of Scarface.
Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 17,1899. He was the fourth of seven sons and two daughters. His parents, Gabriel and Theresa, were one of thousands of Italians who arrived in New York in 1894 for a better living. The early Capone was slashed with a knife across his left cheek by a young hoodlum in a restaurant , For harassing a woman, prompting the later nickname ‘’Scarface.’’Then Capone met a gangster named Johnny Torrio, who taught Capone how to build a corporate empire. Torrio moved from New York to Chicago in 1909 to help run a giant brothel business. In 1919 Capone joined Torrio’s James Street Boys gang in Chicago, Where he had become an Influential Lieutenant in the Colosimo mob. In 1925, Al Capone became boss when Torrio was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, surrendered control and retired to Brooklyn. As Prohibition began, New bootlegging operations opened up and drew in immense wealth. Capone started running gambling, prostitution, and gunning down rival gangs. Capone kidnapped opponents, election workers and threatened voters with violence. Later he eventually won office in Cairo but then his brother frank had been killed in a shootout with the Police of Chicago. Capone left for Miami with his wife and children and bought Palm Island estate,...
At the time, Johnny Torrio was a major mob boss and his uncle, Jim Colosimo (AKA "Big Jim"), hired Capone as a bouncer. Al Capone was a large man, did his job well, and soon he came to recognition in Torrio’s gang. During his stint as a bouncer, Capone one time made a disrespectful comment to Frank Galluccio’s (a member of the Brooklynite gang) sister. Galluccio pulled out his pocket knife and went for Al’s face. When it was over, Capone had 3 big scars on his face. This earned him the nick name Scar Face. He hated the name, and whoever said it to his face would not live to regret it. After his recovery, he forgave Galluccio and because of this gesture he was hired as a body guard for Torrio at $100 a week. Capone eventually told the public that his scars were old war wounds received in France.
Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the fourth born of nine children, not all born yet. He was raised in the rough part of Brooklyn, “Williamsburg”. In sixth grade Capone got into a fight with his teacher, it was at that time that he dropped out of school and never came back. At this young age, Capone started getting involved with small criminals (MacNee 13). On December 30, of 1918, when Capone was just 19 years old, he got married to Mary “Mae” Coughlin. Not too long after, Capone had a son (King 7) His family
Capone started his life of crime at a young age. Rumored to have started pimping prostitutes before reaching puberty, he was raised on the tough streets of Brooklyn and earned extra money as a bouncer in various brothels. By the age of twenty, Capone had moved to Chicago and was managing a popular nightclub named The Four Deuces. By 1924, Capone had his hand in various rackets, including prostitution rings, bootlegging, and gambling houses and was believed to be earning over $100,000 per week.
Getting sick is another negative factor of being overly stressed. Chronic stress compromises your immune system and stress hormones affect the body’s ability to fight off illness due to the fact that thymus’s ability to stimulate and coordinate the white blood cell activity.
Although gross medical advancements have allowed the human population to live longer and fuller lives without the threat of death from infectious diseases, it is apparent that we are now dealing with a different phenomenon that may be just as harmful to our health. The impact of psychological, social and environmental factors from our daily lives is having a drastic impression on the mental and physical wellbeing of our society. It has been shown in various studies that psychological and neurological factors influence the immune system and can have an effect on our health (Breedlove, Rosenzweig & Watson, 2010). As we allow various stressors, poisonous substances, unhealthy diets and lack of rest to overwhelm our existence, we are inevitably shortening our life span and killing our bodies.
Suppression of the Immunity System: stress causes the immune system of the body to be weakened because it fights of the stress from the stressor. This makes the body even more vulnerable to certain infections, like multiple sclerosis and arthritis. It has been discovered that stress slows the body’s rate of recovery from infections.
The Nervous System is one of the most important and complex system in the human body, because it works as the main control center. It regulates the sensory, integrative and motor function of the body. Everything we do, feel or think is directly linked to the Nervous System. An error in any of these functions could bring negatives consequences such as degenerative diseases later in life.
In 1964, George Solomon, a psychiatrist, noticed that rheumatoid arthritis worsened when people were depressed. He was fascinated by this connection, and began to investigate the impact of emotions on inflammation and immune function in general. His studies were the beginning of the new field of psychoneuroimmunology, which examines the relationships between the mind (psyche), bra...
Children And Watching TV. (2011, December 1). Facts for Families . Retrieved December 3, 2013, from http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/ Facts_for_Families_Pages/Children_And_Wat_54.aspx