The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions

By Roger C. Parker

Book Overview

A thrilling scientific detective story, The Balance Within tells how researchers finally uncovered the elusive mind-body connection and what it means for our health. Since ancient times humans have felt intuitively that emotions and health are linked, and recently there has been much popular speculation about this notion. But until now, without compelling evidence, it has been impossible to say for sure that such a connection really exists and especially how it works. Now, that evidence has been discovered. In this beautifully written book, Dr. Esther Sternberg, whose discoveries were pivotal in helping to solve this mystery, provides first hand accounts of the breakthrough experiments that revealed the physical mechanisms - the nerves, cells, and hormones - used by the brain and immune system to communicate with each other. She describes just how stress can make us more susceptible to all types of illnesses, and how the immune system can alter our moods. Finally, she explains how our understanding of these connections in scientific terms is helping to answer such crucial questions as "Does stress make you sick?" "Is a positive outlook the key to better health?" and "How do our personal relationships, work, and other aspects of our lives affect our health?" A fascinating, elegantly written portrait of this rapidly emerging field with enormous potential for finding new ways to treat disease and cope with stress, The Balance Within is essential reading for anyone interested in making their body and mind whole again. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0716734796
• ISBN13: 9780716734796
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

a fascinating look at stress and the immune system

This book is useful for students, scientists, and those who are otherwise interested in integrative medicine. Sternberg augments her explanation of the stress-immune connection with interesting and relevant research studies. I found it useful as a student studying neuroscience and as an individual trying to understand and manage stress in my life.

Solving The Mind-Body Conundrum

I am a writer who is currently at work on a book on my living through colon cancer. I was diagnosed at age 47 with Duke's C-3 colon cancer. Because of the early onset of my disease, I was three years too young to be considered for routine colon cancer screening, which doctors are supposed to offer to patients when they reach age 50. I was lucky. Even with one year of chemotherapy (due to minor lymph node involvement) medical...

Through the Eyes of a Sensitive Human Being

Brilliant scientific exploration of the mind-body connection expressed in compelling, animated realism. I enjoyed this delightful learning experience. Dr. Sternberg not only demonstrates outstanding knowledge and expertise in the field of psychoneuroimmonology, but she does so through the eyes of a sensitive, caring human being. A true inspiration to read many times over. Especially recommended for anyone who is looking for...

Bold and Daring, Advanced Knowledge!

Dr. Esther Sternberg from the outset tells us that she wrote this book "out of a question" that "seemed ostracized from the rest of the scientific community." Clearly, it seems that the information in "The Body Within" is a daring challenge to present new brain-immune connection information to the lay public, and is determined to not let it stagnate only among the doctoral elite. I found all 11 chapters fascinating and richly...

As inspiring as it is illuminating

I'm an academic bioscientist but not trained in the immune system. I have always been interested in the brain-immune connection (for personal as well as professional reasons), and I have always appreciated getting the history of a scientific field's evolution -- something that we find less and less time to discuss in the college classroom, much to the detriment of the next generation of scientists. I am a huge fan of this...