by
Robert Ornstein, Ph.D.
and David Sobel, M.D.
A person who
survived the
harzardous years
of childhood was
likely to live
nearly as long
with or without
modern medicine
1850s—
3,000/1 mil
1973—
20/1 mil
1945 97%1940s
Streptomycin
1950s
Vaccination
TB 肺病
農夫而不是醫生為最重要
The contemporary
health and medical
effort has, in large
part, been
misdirected,
misspent, and its
successes
misattributed.
方向  
金錢  
成功
Utah and Nevada
猶他州﹑內華達州
地理 天氣 收入 教育
城市發展
醫生病床對人口比例
地理 天氣 收入 教育
城市發展
醫生病床對人口比例
猶他州 內華達州
成人死亡率 高 40%
Lifestyle: an indication on
resistance to illness
不吸煙
少喝甚至喝酒
定期運動
定時食飯
足夠睡眠
General Motors
• Le germ n’est rien,
c’est le terrain qui
est tout.
* conservative
* brake
* back to
normal
* arousal
* excited
* accelerate
* acetylcholine
* decentralized
* Norepinephrine
* centralized in brain
Sick child
Doctor took off
white coat,
Peeled a peach
2-3 days later boys
got much better
Artery tying operation
10,000
1. Most ailments are
“self-limited”
2. Many illnesses
follow their own
specific “natural
history”
Sept 12 2002

The Healing Brain

Editor's Notes

  • #4 1850s 3,000 deaths per million; 1973 –20 per million The decline started before medication intervention. Similar reductions occur with pneumonia, influenza, etc. What accounts for the decline of infectious disease? The advances in agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries allowed people to eat much more varied and nutritious food.
  • #6 Pp.23
  • #7 Pp.24 Medicine has made some contribution to health, but its interventions in diseases have been greatly emphasized as to their real effectiveness and worth to society.
  • #8 24 People are healthier today not because they receive all this well-publicized better treatment when ill, but simply because they tend not to become ill in the first place.
  • #9 Pp.25 Geography Climate Income Education Degree of urbanization Similar number of physicians and hospital beds per capita
  • #10 Utah Religion—abstain from smoking and drinking Rigid social organization Quiet stable life Nevada Adult death rate 40% higher Liberal doses of alcohol and tobacco 100-600% higher death rate from cirrhosis and lung cancer Lifetyle more transient Socially unstable—more divorced, sinlge, separated and widowed
  • #11 Pp.26 San Francisco study—7,000 adults for seven years Not smoking Drinking in moderation or not at all Exercising regularly Eating regular meals Getting adequate sleep
  • #12 2002 Sept news – one hong kong company reported less people sick under the no smoking rule
  • #13 Budget expenses Steel Design Factory HEATLH INSURANCE
  • #14 1870 silk industry nearly destroyed by a disease that killed the silkworm. Louis Pasteur was called to look into it. He noticed that it as not just the presence of the germ but the physiological state of the silkworm that also determined the susceptibility to infection.
  • #15 Reptilian –survival, fight or flight Mammalian – homeostasis (body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar level) Cortex – avoid trouble (executive function)
  • #17 54 Connects output of nerve, muscle, gland cells Monitors all organs Controls heartbeat, blood pressure, blood composition and volume, breathing, entrance of oxygen to bloodstream, production, combination and distribution of thousands of chemicals of the internal pharmacy, integrity of the internal organs, safety of the organizm, avoidance of danger, attachments to family, friends, and society, creation of mental processes, mental routine
  • #19 http://ep.llnl.gov/msds/pdb/acetylcholine.gif
  • #20 “hate” dislike – “crazy, silly” 68
  • #21 73
  • #22 80-81 *one group did the operation *one group opened and closed 90% reported improved symptoms 75% better on exercise test BUT – of those who claimed well—only 20% showed actual improvement in heart function; 60% no improvement; 20% worse following the operation
  • #23 77