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MENDIP TIMES
Mind and body
CAN your mental state affect your susceptibility to disease? Anyone who’s reddened through embarrassment or lust knows that the mind and body are inextricably linked but in these days of high tech, dehumanised, hide in a spacesuit medicine, we seem to be forgetting By Dr PHIL how to think ourselves better. The HAMMOND specialty of psychoneuroimmunology is gathering evidence of the importance the mind can play in manipulating the body’s immune response, but this was common knowledge in the days when doctors observed and listened to patients (rather than stuck them through a body scanner). As early as 1500 BC, Hindus observed that a main cause of tuberculosis was sadness and in the 17th century TB was said to be triggered by “a long and grievous passion of the mind”. The concept of the tuberculosis-prone personality, spes phthisica, was proposed to explain why it seemed particularly prevalent amongst artists. In 1882, Robert Koch discovered the real cause of TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but this failed to explain why some personality types seemed more prone to infection than others. There is evidence too of a "coronary prone personality". For centuries, doctors proposed that hostility, impatience and naked ambition can take their toll on the heart. In 1910, the physician Sir William Osler wrote: "It is not the delicate neurotic person who is prone to angina, but the robust, the vigorous of mind and body, the keen and ambitious man, the indicator of whose engine is always at full speed ahead." In 1930, high blood pressure was put down to "repressed hostility and anger" and in the 1950s, two American cardiologists called Friedman and Rosenman set about proving their observation that ambitious, competitive, impatient men were most at risk. Their research found that 28% of these "Type A" men had heart disease compared to 4% of relaxed "Type Bs". Another study of Type A men took a random selection and gave them counselling aimed at reducing their hostility and sense of urgency. It halved their risk of a heart attack. And a study by the British Heart Foundation found that meek, gentle women who prefer to give in to others are less likely to have a heart attack than assertive women. Even Germaine Greer has returned to nature. The evidence is clear. Neurosis, ambition, aggression and hostility are bad for both mind and body. So step back, chill and remember. No-one ever said on their deathbed, they wished they’d spent more time being angry or comparing themselves miserably to others on social media. Recent research has found 25% of people scroll further on their screens than they walk. Thumbing through fake lives or bad news rarely improves your mood. No drug can beat the benefits to mind and body of whole food, clean water, curiosity, walking outdoors, safe shelter, regular sleep, kindness, laughter and learning to pleasure yourself and others in a safe and sustainable way. Now wash your hands… Dr Phil is author of Staying Alive, Medicine Balls and Sex, Sleep or Scrabble?
PAGE 64 • MENDIP TIMES • JULY 2021
Plop the Raindrop
IT’S quite a paradox how differently my friends and I are greeted, depending on the circumstances. If we rain down on a cricket match, for example, we are usually cursed. Though the way England sometimes play, a break for rain can be seen as a welcome blessing, since they might get a draw rather than losing. I’ve spent interminable hours watching cricket from the roof of pavilions and still don’t have a clue about what’s going on. How can a game that lasts five days end in a draw? And how can anyone be in then out without turning inside out? Of course we water droplets can manage that with ease when bubbles burst. Just watch the next time you have a fizzy drink or mum has a gin and tonic. It’s a different story in places where there has been a drought, when human beans welcome us with open arms, standing mouths and eyes open with rain pouring down on them. They see us as a blessing, saving their crops and livestock in the nick of time, unless of course we land in their mouth and give them a comforting drink. Either way, it’s nice to feel appreciated and wanted. I’m sure you feel exactly the same, glowing a bit with pride when someone says “well done”. And feeling pretty miserable when you are told off for not doing your homework. We all have to live with the ups and downs of life. I should know, I’ve been hanging around for millions of years. So when was the last time you said “well done” to anyone? You would be surprised how much a simple “thank you” can mean. And when was the last time you said “sorry” for doing something wrong? I was there at some of the great events of history when simple disagreements could have been settled with a handshake or a glass of beer rather than a war. But then I’ve never understood why human beans like fighting so much. It’s much harsher in the natural world. I’ve spent a bit of time during the spring on a cabbage leaf in a vegetable garden, observing how creatures have to fight for their survival. At one stage, the leaf was invaded by whitefly, who were then attacked by ants, who were themselves gobbled up by various other creatures. I’m not sure how I survived. Down below, slugs and snails were on the move, kept at bay by hedgehogs, birds and the gardener, though he wasn’t very successful. Various bugs were also busy at work on the fruit trees. Have you ever bit into an apple and found a maggot inside? Finding half a maggot is worse. My biggest concern was for a pair of blackbirds, raising chicks for the first time, who were constantly sounding noisy alarm calls, which must have alerted predators from miles around. The gardener was on constant patrol, chasing off neighbours’ cats and clapping away magpies and sparrowhawks. The chicks survived. We can all do a good turn if we want to. MENDIP GRANDAD
