“Make love, not war.” Remember that one? I was around when it was a popular saying. Do these sound familiar: Fighting the flu Battling cancer Struggling with pain? “Moving away from images of war or seeing our bodies as a battlefield can open up a new narrative for health.” This from Health Writer Anna Bowness-Park
Americans constitute only 4.6% of the world’s population, yet consume 80% of all opioids (painkillers).¹ This statistic, which appeared in the media again this week, again caught my attention. It brought to mind this observation from Escape Fire (which aired on CNN): “… the answers are not in a sack of pills.” Bill Scott in Washington State,
Consider this: “If scientists suddenly discovered a drug that was as powerful as love in creating health, it would be heralded as a medical breakthrough and marketed overnight – especially if it had as few side effects and was as inexpensive as love.” This insight is from Dr. Larry Dossey, M.D. in his book, Healing Words. We
Have you ever been in pain and wanted to escape the discomfort? CNN aired the documentary movie Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare Sunday night (and they will rebroadcast it Saturday, March 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET and again at 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.) The inspiration for the title of the movie comes
Two recent articles in the news tell touching stories that highlight the curative nature of love. (1) Mum’s love and faith heals Liam Knight February 17, The Sunday Telegraph in Sydney, Austrailia by Clementine Cuneo Excerpts: Liam’s remarkable recovery is testament to a mother’s love and determination to get her child better – and nothing
He shared a video of one of his house calls to a poor woman in another country who was very ill and in much pain. Using his humor, despite a language barrier, he had her sitting up, smiling, laughing, and singing. It was apparent that she experienced some relief from her suffering. This was part
“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in” — Mitch Albom, novelist and newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, in Tuesdays with Morrie.
One reason love is important is that it may help alleviate pain. According to a study at the Stanford University School of Medicine published online in 2010 at PLoS ONE, love may alleviate pain in the same way narcotic painkillers do.
Pictures of participants’ own romantic partners were displayed to them to reliably evoke self-reported feelings of love. Several earlier animal studies have shown reward-processing regions of the brain to be involved in pain relief. In this study, viewing pictures of a romantic partner activated reward regions of the brain during periods of pain. Activity decreases were observed in pain-processing regions of the brain.
