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DYING TO BE WELL:

Conversation and Cuisine Background Paper

Introduction

In one way or another we're all familiar with and have been affected in one way or another by some aspect of the current emphasis in our culture on good health. This emphasis has moved beyond physical fitness to include all aspects of life--emotional, mental, interpersonal, and even spiritual well-being.

In this discussion we hope to investigate the modern-day "wellness" movement--what it is, what it proposes, as well as some of the practical and philosophical questions it raises.

A variety of views and ideas will be injected into the discussion; many of which come from widely divergent world views. Along with some of the modern notions of wellness, a few thoughts from the biblical point of view will be introduced for consideration.

It is not our intent to cover all the bases or reach any definitive conclusions. Our goal is to stimulate some dialogue which should raise our awareness and perhaps challenge our preconceived notions about this issue.

Therefore, all views are welcome. We probably won't all agree about everything, but whatever you have to say is important and welcomed. Feel free to contribute or just take it all in and consider the issues on your own or in the context of future conversations.

How Would You Define Wellness?

Definitions

• "Wellness . . . is a way of living that stresses taking steps to prevent illness and prolong lives. In addition, wellness represents something to strive toward -- the optimum state of health and well-being that each individual is capable of achieving, given his or her own set of circumstances."1
• "In the 1970s, the World Health Organization formulated a definition of health that has had great influence on subsequent medical thought. It defined health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. This definition, which also enters the spiritual dimension, has been attacked as being too broad to be practical, because it includes experiences beyond the realm of medicine and beyond the control of the individual."2
• "Traditionally, good health has been thought of as simply the absence of illness, and preserving health has, for the most part, been entrusted to doctors and the medical establishment. Recently, however, a new concept of health care has been evolving -- one that involves taking a more active approach to improving and maintaining your overall condition. The concept is called wellness, and it refers to a way of living, not a specific mode of treatment or formula for good health.
• The central tenet of wellness is that advances in medicine, while certainly beneficial, are not sufficient to protect and enhance your health. Rather, good health depends upon a wide spectrum of lifestyle habits that range from diet and exercise to managing stress and safety precautions. Wellness, in effect, is about those choices that affect your health, some of them on a daily basis. This book is a guide to help you choose wisely. By using the information in it, you gain two incomparable benefits: you can live longer and also increase the quality of your life, achieving an optimal state of physical and mental well-being."3
• "The first and foremost goal of wellness is preventing illness, especially those health problems that can shorten your life."4

What's Behind All This? What Are We Really Searching For?

New Age/Postmodernism

• "A genuine social movement . . . a product of the occult-psychic-metaphysical movement which preceded it, New Age concepts have in turn permeated the metaphysical field and have moved beyond it to include the vast domain of alternative medical systems -- in particular the holistic health movement."5
• "The New Age movement can be defined by its primal experience of transformation. New Agers have either experienced or are diligently seeking a profound personal transformation from an old, unacceptable life to a new, exciting future. One prominent model for that transformation is healing, which has given rise to what is possibly the largest identifiable segment of the movement, the Holistic Health Movement."6
• "New Agers project the possibility of the transformation of the culture and of humanity itself . . . healing projected into the larger social context has become a movement to heal the earth."7
• "New Age and Holistic Health Movements, in theory, exist independently, but are united philosophically by one central theme: the individual person is responsible for his/her own life and for seeking out the means of transformation needed to achieve a better quality of life."8
• 'Holism' -- treating the patient instead of the symptom. "A biological concept which assumes that living systems, as systems, take on a new dynamic that is more than and different from its parts." 'Human Being' -- total system of body, mind and spirit; more than chemistry. And disease is more than the sum of its physical symptoms. 'Health' -- a positive state that every individual should strive to achieve. "Holistic medicine assumes that humans are part of nature and nature is constantly attempting to heal itself."9
• "Disease occurs when nature is out of balance or distorted by the introduction of artificial, unnatural products. Basic to nature is life and energy. Thus, if the flow of life is diverted, blocked, or poisoned, disease will arise. As a result, holistic health seeks the means to free nature, life, and universal energies to do their health-producing tasks."10
• It appears that much of the field of holistic health seeks a more "complete" healing than that of traditional medicine. It often taps into the universal energy that flows throughout the body and universe, thus affecting not only the physical, but the emotional and spiritual as well.
• Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. It could be defined as the "study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes, and other life."11 "The end of scientology studies and drills is a renewed awareness of self as a spiritual and immortal being."12
• In the book, Hubbard defines immortal as not liable or subject to death; undying.
• "The ten new assumptions are:

1. The physical world, including our bodies, is a response of the observer. We create our bodies as we create the experience of our world.
2. In their essential state, our bodies are composed of energy and information, not solid matter. This energy and information is an outcropping of infinite fields of energy and information spanning the universe.
3. The mind and body are inseparably one. The unity that is "me" separates into two streams of experience. I experience the subjective stream as thoughts, feelings, and desires. I experience the objective stream as my body. At a deeper level, however, the two streams meet at a single creative source. It is from this source that we are meant to live.
4. The biochemistry of the body is a product of awareness. Beliefs, thoughts, and emotions create the chemical reactions that uphold life in every cell. An aging cell is the end product of awareness that has forgotten how to remain new.
5. Perception appears to be automatic, but in fact it is a learned phenomenon. The world you live in, including the experience of your body, is completely dictated by how you learned to perceive it. If you change your perception, you change the experience of your body and your world.
6. Impulses of intelligence create your body in new forms every second. What you are is the sum total of these impulses, and by changing their patterns, you will change.
7. Although each person seems separate and independent, all of us are connected to patterns of intelligence that govern the whole cosmos. Our bodies are part of a universal body, our minds an aspect of a universal mind.
8. Time does not exist as an absolute, but only eternity. Time is quantified eternity, timelessness chopped up into bits and pieces (seconds, hours, days, years) by us. What we call linear time is a reflection of how we perceive change. If we could perceive the changeless, time would cease to exist as we know it. We can learn to start metabolizing non-change, eternity, the absolute. By doing that, we will be ready to create the physiology of immortality.
9. Each of us inhabits a reality lying beyond all change. Deep inside us, unknown to the five senses, is an innermost core of being, a field of non-change that creates personality, ego, and body. This being is our essential state--it is who we really are.
10. We are not victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are part of the scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being."13

• "Your body is something far more miraculous--a flowing organism empowered by millions of years of intelligence. This intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the constant change that takes place inside you. Every cell is a miniature terminal connected to the cosmic computer.
• From this perspective, it hardly seems possible that human beings could age at all.14
• "Aging is a mask for the loss of this intelligence."15
• ". . . we must find the control switch that manipulates the body's inner intelligence.
• The new reality ushered in by quantum physics made it possible for the first time to manipulate the invisible intelligence that underlies the visible world. Einstein taught us that the physical body, like all material objects, is an illusion, and trying to manipulate it can be like grasping the shadow and missing the substance. The unseen world is the real world, and when we are willing to explore the unseen levels of our bodies, we can tap in to the immense creative power that lies at our source. Let me expand on the ten principles of the new paradigm in light of this hidden potential waiting beneath the surface of life."16
• Since his debut with Creating Health, Chopra has had three other hits, though none as big as Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Within 24 hours of his appearance on Oprah in July of 1993, retailers across the country ran out of the book, which has sold 700,000 copies to date (Nov., 1993). Numbers like that have some wondering whether Chopra has found the fountain of youth or a road to riches. But Chopra says that what sets him apart from the rest of the new-age pack is that he can turn the abracadabra of healing into "a language that fascinates people."17

Longevity

• "In fact, until recently many scientists believed that humans--and most other animals--wear out at some predictable age. Even if heart disease and cancer were conquered, people would still not live much beyond 85.
• But the latest scientific research challenges this dogma. It reveals that there may be not built-in limit to life. And it opens up the possibility of tinkering with the body's hormonal systems, or even the genetic code, to stretch human lifespan significantly. . . . Instead of slowly declining, people would remain active for virtually their whole lives, then perish with their tennis shoes on. . . . So far, researchers have only been able to reverse some of the symptoms of aging, but their ultimate goal is to actually increase human lifespan. . . . Evolution . . . is primarily concerned with making sure an animal is around long enough to reproduce. Anything unfavorable--like death--that happens after an animal has raised its children is inconsequential. Put bluntly, animals die because there's no reason for them to stay around after they procreate.
• What's worse . . . genetic defects that harm the elderly tend to accumulate over generations, like garbage piling up in a dumpster. Why? Because there is no way to breed such "trash" genes out of the population.
• . . . Across the country, a large number of researchers and startup companies are taking on the problem of aging by betting . . . on biochemicals: hormones, enzymes, brain proteins, even aloe vera. The jackpot: finding a chemical that slows one or more aspects of aging.
• The odds on any one substance are long, but the stakes are huge. "If people will spend $100 billion a year just to make themselves look younger," says Rose, "Imagine how much they will pay for products that actually make them younger." This undeniable logic has lured drug companies and venture capital firms into spending millions each year on treating and preventing age-related diseases."18
• "Whereas few of us can expect to be longevity superstars, demographic trends show that more and more of us will at least make it into the big league. The 'oldest old'--those 85 and older--make up the fastest-growing segment of the population in the U.S.
• and other prosperous nations. Between 1960 and 1990, while the overall U.S. population grew 39%, the ranks of those 85 and older jumped 232%. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2040, there will be 1.3 million Americans 100 years or older; some demographers put the figure at 4 million.
• The oldest old are healthier than the merely old in several respects. Heart disease and stroke . . . have their greatest impact in the 50s through 80s for men and 10 years later for women. Those who make it past the danger zones are less apt to be stricken at all. Similarly, Alzheimer's disease usually picks off its victims by the mid-80s. Perls found that men in their 90s outperformed octogenarians in tests of mental function. . . . While the chance of dying increases exponentially with each year from 50 to 90, the odds rise less steeply after 90.
• . . . although men have a shorter average life-span than women, males who do survive into extreme old age tend to be in better shape than women. Men make up 20% of 100-year-olds and 40% of 105-year-olds.
• [genetics is a factor, as are diet, temperament, life-style and education] Studies suggest, on average, better-educated people suffer less mental deterioration in old age."19
• "A poll the authors cited from the Alliance of Aging Research identified most Americans as wanting to live to see their 100th birthday. But nearly 80 percent of those polled said they feared ending life in a nursing home more than they feared dying from a disease."
• [Steven] Blair's data showed that people in the low-fit group . . . were three times more likely to die from heart disease or cancer than those who were moderately fit . . . Looking at total death rates no matter what the cause, Blair saw that the death rate among sedentary men was three and a half times higher than that of men who exercised. Among women, it was four times higher.
• It is this search for eternal youth that keeps many of us running. And such yearnings motivate scientists to try to answer the question of whether or not staying active can help you stay fit and healthy for a longer period of time.
• Blair points to research that suggests that aerobic fitness gives people more energy in their daily lives. . . . The converse is also true. Blair hypothesizes that decades of sedentary living plus the effects of aging produce a cumulative decline in physical fitness in people age 75 and older." 20
• "For more than a decade, with increasing success, molecular biologists all over the world have been struggling to answer a question as old as death: Why do we age and what -- if anything -- can we do to slow the process down? . . . now envision that within a generation or two mankind's maximum life span of 120 years . . . could be extended by decades, possibly by centuries.
• . . . dietary restriction . . . [could] give us an extra 30 to 35 years.
• Possibly in 30 years we will have in hand the major genes that determine longevity, and will be in a position to double, triple, even quadruple our maximum life span of 120 years.
• If we're willing to spend enough money on research, and if we spend it intelligently, I believe that in 25 years we could see the creation of the first products that can postpone human aging significantly. . . . The only practical limit to human life span is the limit of human technology.
• With the knowledge that is accumulating now about the nutritional and neuroendocrine aspects of aging, and if we develop ways to repair aging tissues with the help of embryonic cells, we could add 30 healthy years to human life in the next decade. And beyond that, as we learn to control the genes involved in aging, the possibilities of lengthening life appear practically unlimited.
• It sounds as if a group of scientific visionaries, taking over where the God of Genesis left off, is heralding the dawn of the Eighth Day of Creation -- and in fact they are proposing nothing less than a revolt against the one-billion-year tyranny of the genes.
• A telling parallel: After 20 [plus] years of confident forecasts there is still no cure for cancer, and aging is a far more complex phenomenon than cancer. . . . 'the most complex of all biological problems,' and time has ruthlessly discredited all previous so-called solutions. . . . Dr. Steven Harris, 35, a gerontologist and biological researcher at UCLA, compares it to a big gray elephant. 'We're pawing at this enormous enigma like the blind man in the story. We grasp its side, we say aging is a wall. We grasp its trunk, we say aging is a snake. We grasp its leg, we say aging is a tree. We're all partly wrong -- and partly right. But every time we grasp something new, our understanding of the elephant grows, and we're grasping something new every day. We're getting to know the nature of the beast.'
• A scientist in California has identified the genes that make skin age and is now researching substances that reverse the process and may open the way to a wrinkle-free future for the human race. A team in Dallas found a way to make human cells live up to 100 percent longer and then figured out another way to make them immortal . . . a discovery they believe prefigures the possibility of extending human life span. . . . Treating a group of elderly men with a potent hormone, one scientist temporarily reversed some symptoms of aging by up to 20 years in less than six months. [And on, and on it goes.] 'For the first time, after years of evolution, we are on the verge of influencing our fate. Nothing, nothing is impossible.' . . . Dr. Vincent Cristofalo, 59, a cell biologist at the University of Pennsylvania, insists that 'no magic bullet is going to put an end to aging. It's too complex. We may progressively stop certain aspects of aging over the next hundred years. We definitely won't stop all of aging in the near future.' Dr. Anna McCormick, 43, a molecular biologist at the NIA, warns . . . 'One wrong step and you could wind up with a very sick organism.'
• And even if aging could be slowed or stopped, there are those who wonder if it should be. Given a birth rate that would hugely exceed the death rate, they foresee a Malthusian nightmare, an appalling population explosion that could wreck the world's economy and ravage its environment. They also foresee a worldwide social earthquake . . . wall-to-wall revolution that would force every human institution through a meat grinder of change and demolish civilization in its present form. The brave new world that emerged . . . would be a dreary, overcrowded zoo of ancient mutants, a monotonous community of smooth-faced Dorian Grays enduring eternal youth on a planet where time no longer ticked and death alone offered relief from boredom.

Why indeed do we die?

So why do we live as long as we do?

What's the secret of longevity?

What if it works?21

Cryonics

• "Consider cryonics. This idea, that properly freezing people immediately after they have crossed the threshold we call "death" may allow them to be later reanimated, is an assertion about the future." The article points out that the three cryonics organizations in existence today face considerable antagonism, much of it quite emotional. The antagonism continues as well as widespread views that cryonics is inherently wrong, greedy, or else the work of con men. "This fervently felt resistance suggests a deep unvarying uneasiness about death in our society. . . . The number of people who invest in cryonics as a rational gamble is increasing exponentially. Over forty are now suspended in liquid nitrogen, with hundreds signed up to be."
• "What kind of concerns enter here? . . . First, the metaphysical. To preserve people's minds, we naturally think of saving their brains. What are the chances that the brain carries the mind?"
• "Next, what are the odds that our brain structure tells the whole story? That is, that your Self is not the product of continuing electrical activity in the brain."
• "Finally, there is a chance that your Self can make it through the process of being frozen down to liquid nitrogen temperatures. "22
• What are the chances for survival of your brain? What are the chances society will make it for a century? What if my cryonic organization fails?
• The author figures the chances of making are between 1 and 30%. He ponders what the future would be like without all that we have and love now.
• What if there is an afterlife? Well, cryonics hedges the bet that there is no afterlife.
• "Cryonics is the ultimate gesture of defiance. Even if it offers only one chance in a hundred thousand, that chance is worth taking. Death is intolerable, and I am seizing the only available opportunity to transcend it."23
• "Cryonics is affordable to almost anyone who can take out a life-insurance policy. Typically, the total cost of insurance plus membership in a cryonics organization is under $1000 per year. For more information . . . contact Alcor at (800) 367-2228."24

What Are Some of the Financial Implications of the Movement?

Wellness and Business

• In 1993, over 2000 chaplains were employed by large corporations to be available to minister to their employees. "That type of position offers tremendous potential in the workplace. It's very creative in the area of wellness to have someone on the scene who can deal with the emotional needs -- and maybe the spiritual needs of employees. So many people are hungering to be listened to and also hungering for the spiritual elements of life."25
• "Here's what small companies are offering:
  • Alcohol and drug policy 85%
  • Smoking restrictions 55
  • Exercise/fitness program 33
  • Stress-management education 29
  • Back-care information/activities 28
  • Weight-management information 27
  • High-blood-pressure information/activities 23
  • HIV and STD information/activities 23
  • Nutrition education 22
  • Information/activities pertaining to off-the-job accidents 14
  • Cholesterol screenings 10
  • Cancer screenings 6
  • Prenatal education 5"26
• "An increasing number of insurance companies and private corporations are taking aggressive measures to offset rising medical costs by offering substantial discounts, savings and outright dividends to clients and employees who vow to stay fit.
• Why? It is good business. Each year, companies spend as much as $109 billion on employee medical services and prescription drugs and lose an estimated $18.2 billion because of lost productivity due to costly ailments such as diabetes, lung cancer and stroke. They hope to change their sagging bottom lines, low productivity figures and how their employees view fitness by offering corporate fitness programs and monetary incentives. . . . [Hershey] pays employees who maintain adequate fitness levels as much as $14 a month in benefit credits. . . . those employees with physical conditions "brought on by unhealthy living" pay penalties. . . . [at Hershey] those who refuse to exercise and suffer from high blood pressure and cholesterol levels lose up to $70 in company-allocated benefits. . . . The company is trying to make sure that people are healthy at home and on the job."27
• "So what is company 'wellness?' It isn't just about jogging five miles before work or eating chicken with the skin removed. When you get right down to it, company wellness is about 'productivity.' . . . Many growing companies -- and their enterprising owners -- are trying to get a grip on both the fiscal and physical benefits of 'wellness,' and with good reason. Consider these facts:
• Heart disease costs this country $52.4 billion a year: that's $14 billion in direct health care, $3 billion in lost workdays and $34 billion in future earnings.
• Smoking costs . . . more than $52 billion a year . . .
• Misuse of alcohol and drugs . . . $100 billion a year . . .
• Seven out of ten American workers say job stress is causing frequent health problems and 46% rate their jobs 'highly stressful.' . . .
• Depression costs . . . $43.7 billion . . .
• Lower back pain . . . $20 billion.
• No wonder that health care has taken the front-burner position as the #1 domestic issue today. The costs are spiraling out of control. In fact, charges for hospitals and doctors are rising three times the rate of inflation and are equal to 15% of the total gross domestic product. . . . With medical costs now consuming as much as 50% of corporate profits, by the end of the next decade, medical benefits will consume all corporate profits. . . . the corporate payoff in terms of lifestyle changes and dollars saved is a profitable venture. . . . Now, some companies are refusing to hire smokers. . . .
• There is no doubt that wellness in the workplace programs are helping employers contain costs and helping employees make voluntary lifestyle changes which reduce their health risks and enhance their individual productivity. . . . Wellness is our future."28
• "In an effort to control health-care costs, many businesses are setting up rules to improve their employees' health--whether or not the employees want to be improved. Some even extend the rules to spouses of employees. Examples:
  • Company A won't hire smokers because it claims they have more illnesses than nonsmokers, and a high claims rate is sending its health insurance premiums through the roof. It tests its workers' urine, discovers nicotine in one worker's sample and fires him just for indulging in a legal activity on his own time.
  • Company B is a 24-hour trucking firm worried about increasingly high accident rates. It sets new rules prohibiting off-hours drinking. Now the personnel manager gets anonymous notes reporting who was seen at what bar Saturday night.
  • Company C decides anyone more than 20% overweight is a financial liability, must lose weight and start exercising--or else. . . . So companies figure they can lower costs by dictating life style changes.
• Instead of punishing smokers or couch potatoes, . . . companies are rewarding employees with good life style habits. One company pays 85% of insurance premiums for its employees, increasing that to 90% for those who avoid higher-risk behaviors. Some companies lower the deductible; some offer better benefits packages. To make the decisions, some use questionnaires to collect the information and work on the honor system; others, usually larger companies, require medical examinations. In some cases, companies reward employees with direct payments: $10 for each excess pound lost and kept off; $500 to quit smoking; bonus payment for each sick day not taken.
• Using a positive approach to keeping employees healthy also can help you avoid litigation. More and more states are enacting laws prohibiting discrimination against employees who indulge in legal off-the-job activities. As such rules become more widespread, rewards for healthy behavior probably will outlast penalties for unhealthy behavior."29

When Is Enough, Enough? Is More Really Better?

Wellness Mania

• "We know that growing numbers of Americans are utterly hooked on bodily perfection. Witness one respondent in a focus group in California who admitted to drinking eight pints of Evian every night between going to bed and getting up! The phenomenal growth of health and fitness clubs across the US further endorses the belief of perfect health followed by all ages from teenagers to octogenarians."30
• Lodge argues that the new-age health and fitness fad sweeping across the industrialized world, especially in the US, has resulted in the phenomenal growth in business for fitness clubs and health foods. He also contends that the downside of too much concern for physical health is that people develop a negative attitude towards growing old. Moreover, the new age fad, like most fads, is bound to go out of fashion and be taken over by a new fad which promotes what the previous ones had tried to eschew.
• The Ashram is a spa that is geared toward weight loss and physical fitness. Celebrities and others pay $2,100 a week to be fed an 800-calorie diet and spend their days going on strenuous hikes and doing yoga. The program also includes massage therapy and hot tubbing.31
• According to reports in the British tabloids, Princess Diana has amassed fashion and beauty bills of around $240,000 a year. This goes to pay hairdressers; buy clothes, skin-care products and new-age wellness treatments like aromatherapy.32

Excessiveness

• "So increasingly I wondered if it was possible that excessive exercise might not only be unnecessary, but might even be harmful--so harmful that my own physical training philosophy and recommendations should be altered. Given my previous efforts to promote the acceptance of regular exercise as a prerequisite to good health, I believed that these were landmark issues that had to be resolved."33
• "But a paradox has emerged. It is now necessary to question the claim if something is good, more is even better. A prevalent assumption, which we now must challenge, is that the more oxygen your lungs and heart can process, the healthier you will be. In other words, is it possible to be fit but unhealthy?
• Those questions have been transformed into convictions as research has emerged showing clearly that not all oxygen is good oxygen. Indeed, we now know that a number of environmental factors and seemingly beneficial health habits--including exercise to excess--can harm our health by triggering the release in the body of unstable oxygen molecules known as 'free radicals.'"34
• "The key to the effective and safe operation of free radicals in your body is balance, but the problem is that the delicately balanced mechanisms frequently get out of whack. To correct the situation, your body produces free radical scavengers--known as 'endogenous antioxidants'--which gobble up the extra free radicals and prevent them from damaging your body.
• Some antioxidants that we take in from the outside through our diets help to bolster our defenses against excessive numbers of free radicals. The most important of those outside (or 'exogenous') antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene."35
• "In humans, breathing pure oxygen for as short a period as six hours caused chest soreness, coughing, and sore throats--and longer periods of exposure could destroy the air cells in the lungs. . . . four extremely destructive forms of oxygen have been identified. Two of them--the hydroxyl radical and the superoxide radical--are true free radicals in that they have an unpaired electron in a molecular orbit. Two other renegade forms of the oxygen molecule, known as 'non-radical reactive oxygen species,' can also do significant damage to the body. Labeled the oxygen singlet and hydrogen peroxide, these forms of oxygen, along with the two free radicals, are the main enemies we will be fighting through the various practical programs described in this book."36
• ". . . Lester Parker, a biochemist at the University of California at Berkeley, . . . and others have determined that free radicals benefit the body by working with the immune system to ward off disease by killing alien bacteria and other invaders that enter your body. Also, they help regulate the contraction of the smooth muscles of your blood vessels and contribute to the control of your blood flow by influencing the tone of the tissue lining of your vessels.
• Free radicals are released during the normal metabolism of your body, as your food is turned into energy by your body's cells. . . . The problem arises when too many free radicals are generated for your internal antioxidant police force. When that happens, the radicals become renegades."37
• "In evaluating more than one thousand Swedes, researchers compared medical histories and questionnaires, which focused on important life events during a ten-year period. They found that serious work-related problems made a person five times more likely to develop colo-rectal cancer and that unemployment of more than six months doubled the cancer risk. In addition, those who moved more than 120 miles had nearly three times the risk of cancer. Divorce or a spouse's death increased cancer risk by 50 percent. The exact reasons for the apparent relationship between stress and cancer are unknown, but the increased free radical production that can result from stress may be the answer."38
• "Exhausting, high-intensity exercise may increase your susceptibility to different cancers, heart attacks, cataracts, premature aging, decreased immunity, and a variety of other medical problems.
• What is the evidence for this charge that I am leveling against high-intensity exercise programs? . . . According to a report in 1986 in The New England Journal of Medicine, . . . death rates were lower for men who were involved in regular physical activity than for men who were not. The death rates declined steadily as the number of calories they burned per week increased. In fact, the rate of death was one-fourth to one-third lower among men expending two thousand or more calories per week, as compared with the less active men--a finding that translates to an estimated increase in life span of 2.4 years.
• But at the highest intensity levels, exercise seemed to be less beneficial. The rates of death began to go up slightly among men expending more than three thousand calories per week. . . . The rate of death slopes downward at first as exercise intensity goes up. But when the intensity of physical conditioning reaches its highest pitch, the death rate goes up slightly. . . . there was a slight increase in the death rate from all causes among women who were engaging in the heaviest workouts."39

Titles/Resources

• Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old, by Deepak Chopra, M.D.
• Vogue -- "Beauty for Life."
• Prime Time: A Doctor's Guide to Staying Younger Longer by John E. Eichenlaub, M.D.
• Biomarkers -- The 10 Determinants of Aging you can Control by William Evans, Ph.D and Irwin H. Rosenberg, M.D.

"Muscle mass, strength, basal metabolic rate, body fat %, aerobic capacity, blood sugar tolerance, cholesterol/HDL ratio, blood pressure, bone density, and internal temperature."

• Your Health, Your Mood and the Weather by W.S. Kals.

"Have better control over your life by knowing low weather affects you and others."

• Fitness Without Exercise by Bryant A. Stamford, Ph.D. and Porter Shimer.

"The scientifically proven strategy for achieving maximum health with minimum effort."

• Life Extension by Durk Pearson ans Sandy Shaw.

"A practical scientific approach which will add years to your life and life to your years."

• Superimmunity -- Master your emotions and improve your health by Paul Pearsall, Ph.D.
• Your Vitality Quotient by Richard Earle, Ph.D., et al.

"Fight aging and stress with this clinically proven program that can reduce your body age and increase your zest for life."

• Making Miracles by Arnold Fox, M.D. and Barry Fox, Ph.D.

"Inspiring mind methods to supercharge your emotions and rejuvenate your health."

• Stress & Wellness Resources, Whole Person Associates Catalog, Duluth, MN, 1995.

"At Whole Person Associates, we're 100 percent committed to providing stress and wellness materials that involve participants and have a 'whole person' focus--body, mind, spirit, and relationships."

The catalog offers materials which address numerous topics, including: stress management through a variety of strategies (imagery relaxation, inner healing, daydreams, natural tranquilizers, spiritual centering, personal empowerment, healthy balancing, meditation, music, etc.), wellness promotion, relaxation, making healthy choices, etc.

These instructional materials are directed at individuals and groups. They include teaching materials which are designed to used by personnel staff in the workplace.

• Fitness, March/April, 1995. See the insert on p. 109 entitled "Deep cleaning: enemas and colonics."

"Many ritualistic fasters--particularly for fasts lasting more than 24 hours--also give themselves enemas to stave off constipation and cleanse the colon, which they believe is impacted with fecal matter. Some may undergo 'colon irrigations,' or 'colonics.' A kind of superefficient enema, the most popular colonic involves inserting a device into the rectum with valves to flush water in and out. A practitioner massages the abdomen during the half-hour procedure, until the water runs out clear. The colonic is performed before, during and after a fast.

Detractors object to enemas and colonics for both physical and psychological reasons. 'There's the physical risk of perforating the bowel or--because you've usurped its function--causing it to shut down altogether,' says C. Wayne Callaway, M.D., of George Washington University. 'But underlying the behavior is a kind of troubling ideology: In the absence of a clearly defined illness, are we so arrogant that we can outsmart our body and assume that we can do its job better?'"

"Today meditation is being embraced by mainstream health experts as a major weapon in promoting good health, well-being and even physical fitness. In fact, some predict that combining meditation with exercise is the workout direction of the future--a powerful way of maximizing the emotional benefits that accompany exercise.

. . . the linking of body and mind in the field of physical exercise will be one of hte most important areas of research in the next 10 years. . . .

Although there is no scientific proof yet, some researchers believe meditation may promote long-term good health even more effectively than exercise."40

"Certain kinds of exercise . . . are rooted in the practice of meditation. They emphasize calmness, fluidity of movement and concentration on the moment."41

Local Programs

"Since the Elizabeth Blackwell Center opened its doors in 1985, its mission has been to improve access to health care for everyone -- especially women. For the Blackwell Center, 'health' was defined in much broader; nontraditional terms: not just physical, but mental and social well-being.

Today, as researchers discover more about the mind/body connection, that definition has won acceptance by many within and outside health care. And the Blackwell Center continues to innovate the programs and services that it has been offering for 10 years.

'Fibromyalgia/Hatha Yoga' -- A discussion of the symptoms, causes and treatment of this increasingly common problem characterized by fatigue, muscle aches and sleeping problems. Followed by a brief introduction to basic Hatha Yoga which may help manage fibromyalgia symptoms.

'Healthy Pleasures for Young Women' -- 'What is Your Life's Work' -- How to define and live your life's purpose.

'This is Your Life: A Personal Empowerment Workshop' -- Develop a sense of self-value and learn strategies that will help you take charge of your life.

'Making Peace with the Body You Live In' -- For women, body image is often shaped by external -- societal and cultural -- forces. A two-hour workshop to help develop realistic and accepting images.

'Natural Movement' -- Move with greater ease and feel more fully alive with a technique that blends the ancient Eastern wisdom of 'chi' (energy) with an understanding of body movement.

'T'ai Chi for Health and Fitness' -- T'ai Chi is a fitness program of moving meditation that is practiced slowly to promote good balance, strong muscles and focused attention.

'Mind/Body Medical Institute at Riverside' -- Riverside adds a new dimension to its health and wellness focus and its treatment of pain and disease. The Mind/Body Medical Institute at Riverside is affiliated with the Mind/Body Medical Institute of Deaconess Hospital and Harvard Medical School.42

See Wellness Wrap, a publication on Banc One's personal wellness program.

See Health Pages, a publication made available as part of Banc One's overall commitment to wellness. Their goal is to increase awareness and knowledge of health issues and area doctors and hospitals so that employees can make informed decisions about health care and save everyone money.

See The Ohio State University Medical Center's Health for Life, a catalog of classes and programs. The catalog highlights more than 120 low-cost or free classes, events, and special community services designed to keep you in good health for life. "From healthy cooking to stress management, exercise classes to support groups, and childbirth to caring for your aging parents, there's no better time than now to set your course for better health."

Endnotes:

1 The Wellness Encyclopedia by editors of the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, p. 1.

2 The Well Adult by Mike Samuels, M.D. and Nancy Samuels, p. 6.

3 Wellness: Optimal Health and Longevity by Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, pp. 7-8.

4 Ibid, p. 23.

5 New Age Almanac by J. Gordon Melton, 1991, p. ix.

6 Ibid, p. 3.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid, p. 169.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid, pp. 169-170.

11 Scientology - The Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard, p. 9.

12 Ibid, p. 11.

13 Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old by Deepak Chopra, M.D., pp. 5-7. In 1992, Chopra was appointed to the National Institute of Health ad hoc panel on alternative medicine. He is also a member of the scientific advisory board of Longevity magazine.

14 Ibid, p. 8.

15 Ibid, p. 9.

16 Idid, pp. 10-11.

17 "Doc of Ages" by Craig Bromber, People Weekly, Nov 15, 1993 v40 n20 p169.

18 "Can we live to 150?" by Tobert Langreth, Popular Science, Nov 1993 v243 n5 p77.

19 Time, March 6, 1995 v145 n9 p85, "How to Live to Be 120" by Claudia Wallis.

20 Runner's World, Jan 1993 v28 n1 p34, "Laboratory Tested" by Hal Higdon.

21 Life, Oct 1992 v15 n10 p32(11), "The War on Aging" by Brad Darrach.

22 The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept 1993 v85 n3 p78, "Calculating the Future" by Gregory Benford.

23 Omni, Feb 1992 v14 n5 p28, "Confessions of a Cryonicist" by Charles Platt.

24 Omni, Jan 1994 v16 n4 p56, "Please Freeze Me" by Charles Platt.

25 Fr. Ken Czillinger in the National Catholic Reporter, Aug 1993 v29 n36 p5, "Chaplains Become Big Business" by Cheryl Heckler-Feltz.

26 "1992 National Survey of Worksite Health Promotion Activities" (companies with fewer than 100 employees), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. as reported in INC., Sept 1993 v15 n9 p31, "What Wellness Means."

27 Ebony, July 1994 v49 n9 p88, "Fitness is Good Business" by Lisa C. Jones.

28 INC., Aug 1994 v16 n8 p77, "The Healthy Workplace: Creating Wellness for a Profitable Workplace."

29 Profit-Building Strategies for Business Owners, Nov 1992 v22 n11 p15, "Many Employers Try to Have More Say on Employees' Off-The-Job Life Style."

30 "Downside to the new-age health and fitness fad" by Creenagh Lodge, Marketing, Nov 10, 1994 p. 12.

31 "I spa. (The Ashram, near Los Angeles, CA; Forbes FYI: A Supplement to Forbes Magazine) by Adam Platt, Forbes, Sept 26, 1994 v154 n7 pS16.

32 People magazine.

33 Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, Antioxidant Revolution (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, 1994), p. 7.

34 Ibid, p. 8.

35 Ibid, p. 11.

36 Ibid, pp. 21-22.

37 Ibid, p. 23.

38 Ibid, p. 24.

39 Ibid, pp. 54-55.

40 Fitness, March/April, 1995, "Meditation While You Sweat," by Sue Woodman, pp. 117, 119.

41 Ibid, p.118. See for instance the disciplines of yoga, karate, tai kwando, and tai chi.

42 Health and Wellness Choices, The Elizabeth Blackwell Center [Riverside Methodist Hospital and Grant Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio], Spring/Summer 1995.

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