HEALING GOD’S WAY

Addressing the mind-body-spirit connection.
Kiri Christina Hyatt, editor

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1. MINISTRY ARTICLE: IT’S COLD AND FLU SEASON
   By Kiri Christina Hyatt (c)

Recently a friend of mine came down with the flu. Nothing serious, just a bug going around. Since she is a self-employed hairdresser she had to go to work sick or not. She would leave after her last scheduled client instead of sticking around in case someone walked in off the street. She had been ill for almost a week when another hairdresser expressed surprised that my friend was still ill. Then this co-worker said, "Are you sure you are not sick because of sin".

No one likes to be told his or her medical problem is sin. We live in a world where medical science has progressed to the point WE THINK we know what causes disease. That really is not true, but for some medical doctors are god.

When it comes to the flu and colds, medical science does know a lot. No one questions the existence of viruses and bacteria. As I write this I am suffering from a cold. If someone looked at my blood under a microscope they would be able to identify the specific cold virus I am battling. We do not need a microscope or medical degree to know how viruses and bacteria are transmitted. It is common knowledge these days.

The question for us today is why did my friend catch the flu? Why did I catch a cold? Why do some people, like my brother for instance, seem to never get ill? Was my friend guilty of a sin that opened her to the flu? Are people who never seem to catch what is going around more righteous then those of us who do?

For six days God created and on the seventh He rested. I do not know if God created viruses and bacteria. I have heard some preachers suggest that viruses are the result of Satan trying to play god and screwing up. I have no idea if that is true or not. What I do know is that disease did not exist in the Garden of Eden.

During the time Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden they were in total harmony with God. They were in perfect peace. They had no fears, no stress, no anxiety (which is just another word for stress), no anger, no feelings of abandonment, no bitterness, none of the negative emotions that plague so many of us today. Disease and death did not exist.

That all changed when Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. That is when mistrust, fear, and all the sins that we are very much aware of today entered the human family. They soon learned what death was too. When exactly viruses and bacteria entered the world I do not know. And I really do not care if they are the result of the natural consequences of sin entering the human race or Satan trying to create like God. How they came to be is not the issue.

First, let’s look at what the Bible says on the topic.

Writing to Timothy, The Apostle Paul said, "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." (1 Timothy 5:23)

Have you ever looked at water taken directly from a river or pond under a microscope? I have and I can assure you I would not want to have to drink it. I saw a lot of microscopic organisms swimming around in it. It is only recently that humans have had access to water treatment plants. I have no idea where Timothy’s water came from, but it clearly was making him ill. Wine use to be drunk because it was safer then water and also the alcohol when mixed with water could kill off some organisms that will make a person ill.

What is most interesting here for us is not that the Apostle Paul told Timothy to drink wine, but that he never suggested to him that sin might be at the root of his illness. This verse proves not all viral and bacterial infections are the result of sin. Some illness is the result of living in a fallen world where cold and flu germs get passed around.

That does not mean getting colds and the flu never is the result of sin in our lives. Medical research has shown that people under stress and anxiety have lowered resistance to infections.

If your life is out of balance you are opening yourself up to catching a bug. Stress and anxiety are synonyms for fear. Fear is not trusting God, which is a sin. If you are not taking proper care of your body, working to hard and not getting enough sleep, your resistance to infection will be lowered. Not eating properly will also lower your resistance to infection. Eating lots of junk food: sugary foods, fatty foods, sugary soda’s, while avoiding vegetables and other foods necessary for a healthy body affects a person’s heath negatively. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you need to take care of it.

The conclusion then is if you get an occasional bug your guilty of being human. But if you find yourself getting ill a lot, or even if you only get ill occasionally, you might want to take a look at your life. Have you been under a lot of stress? Have you been really busy lately and this bug is a sign you need to slow down? Are you eating right? Getting a cold can be a sign that maybe you need to make some changes in your life.

And if a well meaning friend asks you if you have any sin in your life because you have come down with a bug, just remind them of 1 Timothy 5:23.

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2. MESSAGE FROM A FRIEND

36 Ways to Reduce Stress

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No, to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that
   will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; 
   don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out
    what God would have you to do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't
    do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key
    buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.,

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut.) This single piece of advice can prevent
    an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough exercise.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality
    of life.

21. Write thoughts and inspirations down.

22. Everyday, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems
    in the bud. Don't wait until its time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often
    a good "Thank you Jesus!"

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but yourself not at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that
    you've never been grateful for before.

Submitted by John L. Bechtel

3. SITE OF THE WEEK

Is Procrastination a problem for you? Well, the second week of March is National Procrastination Week. For tips on helping to avoid procrastination:

http://www.onlineorganizing.com/CalendarHoliday.asp?holiday=11

DISCLAIMER: The following news stories are provided as a source of scientific information on mind/body medical research, environmental issues, and other topics.   AOCCCI does not necessarily agree with all the viewpoints or suggestions expressed in these articles. Not all viewpoints and/or therapy modalities recommended in these secular news stories are compatible with Christianity. If you have any questions or doubts about a therapy mentioned in a news story below,feel free to contact AOCCCI for advice.   These news stories are provided as a public service only.  

4.1 As Stress Mounts, Self-Control Goes Out the Window
    Apr 21, 2005
    By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - During times of stress, we're less able to hold ourselves back from unhealthy temptations, new study findings indicate.

Australian researchers found that during exam periods, students smoked more cigarettes, drank more high-caffeine drinks, ate less healthy foods, kept up with fewer household chores, neglected commitments, and monitored spending less.

"The results tell us that during periods of high stress - such as examination periods for students - we may see a relapse in behaviors that we had successfully controlled in the past, such as smoking," lead author Megan Oaten of Macquarie University in Sydney told Reuters Health.

"These findings have practical importance because they illustrate that at times of stress we are particularly vulnerable to breakdowns in self-control," she added. "Therefore, we should not ask too much of ourselves during such a period."

Oaten pointed out that handling stress itself takes self-control. "So, the work required to cope with stress consumes a lot of our self-control strength, and leaves us less able to control our behavior," Oaten said.

During the study, Oaten and her co-author, Ken Cheng, asked 57 students about their typical self-control, then re-interviewed them 4 weeks later, when half were coping with a high-stress exam period.

The researchers found that, during exams, students were less likely to control their behaviors, reporting that they ate more junk food, exercised less, and left more dishes in the sink. They also neglected to shave, brush and floss their teeth, wash their hair, change their clothes and do laundry.

Stressed out students also smoked an average of 7 additional cigarettes each day, and drank 7 extra cups of caffeinated drinks each week.

In contrast, students not coping with exams had no increase in self-indulgent behaviors, suggesting their self-control was as strong as ever, the authors report in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

These findings suggest that people should be extra careful during times of stress, Oaten noted. "It appears that people can only control so many behaviors at any one time, and should therefore avoid taking on too much at once, particularly during periods of stress."

Developing stress management skills may also ward off lapses, by leaving more self-control reserves available to fend off the urge to overeat and smoke, she said.

SOURCE: Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, March 2005.

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4.2 Non-Soldiers Suffer Post-Traumatic Stress
    By JEFF DONN, Associated Press Writer
    August 13, 2005

For hundreds of thousands of Americans, mental illness is just a drive down the road. Ask Beth Puglisi. The 45-year-old mother was out to fill her gas tank on a bitter-cold January day last

year. She turned the wheel of her pickup, felt a wrenching jolt, and watched the roadway fly into a spin.

"No!" she heard herself screech. The rubbery aroma of spilled antifreeze filled her nostrils.

In the days after her crash with a car, she took to the couch, weeping — but not over her fractured vertebra and dislocated shoulder. Her mind was staggering.

"It felt like a death," she says.

Her body was quickly tended, but it took months before doctors even put a name to her other injury: post-traumatic stress disorder.

Once associated mainly with the horror of combat, PTSD has stretched to take in more frequent swerves along life's road — car crashes, house fires, a sudden death or severe family illness, witnessing a disaster, or even learning of one. PTSD has broadened the model of mental illness to cover disturbances set off solely by external events, outside of the mind. Almost anyone can be vulnerable.

Research suggests the disorder is now present in 5 percent of Americans, or more than 13 million, according to the PTSD Alliance, which unites professionals and advocates. It is expected to touch 8 percent of adults during their lives. By contrast, just over 3 percent of Americans have cancer.

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Puglisi had been in accidents before, but she never felt this way.

She couldn't stop picking over this crash in her mind. It wasn't her fault; it just wasn't. So why did it have to happen? Why?

Her family encouraged her to talk: "Each time I would tell someone about it, I could feel it and smell it — the whole thing." In a kind of flashback typical of PTSD, she could still smell the antifreeze.

As PTSD's debilitating anxiety took hold, Puglisi started to feel nervous, flushed, even lightheaded when she was driven to a doctor or physical therapist. She would tremble, and her chest would tighten: "Just thinking about it was making me crazy."

When she tried driving again, she'd have to circle around to avoid making the same kind of turn as in the crash. She'd bypass where it happened. Ashamed, she asked her husband to drive the children to their activities.

While television droned war news from Iraq, she felt trapped in her own combat zone: "When you're in the war, you have no idea if you're going to be alive or dead in 10 minutes. That's exactly the way I felt."

Warring soldiers have carried home psychological scars for centuries. The ancient Greeks noticed it.

In American wars, it has been called shell shock, combat fatigue and post-Vietnam syndrome. Though skeptics discounted some cases as shams meant to win compensation, other extreme cases were taken for schizophrenia.

Medical authorities first accepted PTSD as a distinct psychiatric condition in 1980 at the urging of Vietnam veterans and their medical caretakers.

In PTSD, stress hormones like adrenaline scorch a painful event deep into long-term memory, scientists believe. Lab studies show such hormones normally improve memory in animals. They seem to overshoot the mark in PTSD.

People get very edgy and fearful, prone to nightmares or flashbacks. They desperately want to avoid reminders of their shock, even to the point of feeling numb. PTSD happens more often in women, in cases of multiple traumas (Puglisi had another road accident just a couple weeks earlier), and in people with depression.

Once defined, the disease was soon embraced, and insurance coverage expanded. Here was a psychiatric condition touched off by concrete events, not something hidden in the mind's dim recesses. It could theoretically happen to anyone, even the hardiest and soundest of mind. It wasn't your fault.

The federal government established the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It began researching PTSD and treating hundreds of thousands of veterans. Survivors from rape and car crashes began to seek therapy in greater numbers too. In 1994, the sudden death of a relative, or even learning that one was hurt, joined the expanding list of PTSD traumas in the chief diagnostic manual for psychiatry.

By the late 1990s, when Dr. Greenbrier Almond was working as a psychiatrist at a West Virginia veterans hospital, PTSD was already its leading diagnosis, above heart disease and diabetes, he says.

Over the past five years, the number of cases among veterans — mostly from combat — has exploded nationally by almost 80 percent to 215,871 last year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is the agency's fastest-growing disability.

No similar statistics are collected for civilians, but the numbers are clearly substantial. Dr. Almond, who has left the veterans hospital, now treats PTSD in abused children at a community health clinic. Research at Henry Ford Health System, Harvard and Georgia State has identified the two leading causes of PTSD as unexpected deaths of relatives and car crashes. Combat ranks far down on the list.

Some bad diagnosticians and purveyors of pop culture have come to consider just about any of life's shocks — divorcing, losing a job, even failing a test — as triggers for PTSD. Though veterans officials say rising awareness has driven most of their growth, they are also reviewing whether some cases have been diagnosed too readily.

"Anything that happens to you that's remotely icky now qualifies," says psychologist J. Gayle Beck, at the University at Buffalo-State University of New York. "It's been culturally overdiagnosed."

This psychiatric illness has carried cultural baggage since its birth in the social turmoil over the Vietnam War. The new disorder tied to external events meshed with a Kafkaesque view of society inherited from the 1960s: Outside forces constantly threaten peace of mind.

Since 2001, PTSD has tapped into another source of anxiety: terrorists who can inflict mass death in an instant. A survey found highly elevated rates of PTSD in the New York metropolitan area, where the smoking towers of the World Trade Center could be seen for miles.

Afterward, some companies sent reassuring notices to workers listing PTSD symptoms and saying they were common responses. One compared them to a minor flu.

"It speaks to dangerous times and threats, and that certainly defines our era," says Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, a Harvard University psychiatrist who helped define PTSD as a condition. "There is bound to be widespread PTSD and an awareness of it."

Even so, many people with PTSD still do not come forward for help, caregivers say. And even experts may miss the signs.

"My father dropped dead in front of my mother. She developed PTSD for two years, and I was completely unaware of it. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was PTSD," says psychologist Terence Keane.

Yet he is director of behavioral science at the federal PTSD center.

The good news is this: Even untreated, PTSD goes away in about half of the cases within six months, research indicates.

The bad news: When it doesn't, it can last for decades.

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Puglisi had never needed therapy before and didn't think of treating her embarrassing automotive anxiety.

"I would say I'm all right," she recalls. But she wasn't.

Her doctor told her she'd soon get over it, but her physical therapists knew better. After several months, they persuaded her to look for help.

She found Edward Hickling, a former veterans psychologist who now specializes in road-accident PTSD.

"I came to private practice, and I saw motor-vehicle accident victims that looked a lot like ... the post-traumatic stress responses I saw in the veterans hospital," says the therapist based in nearby Albany.

Like many PTSD therapists, he relies on cognitive behavioral therapy. A common psychological treatment, it teaches how to replace negative mental monologues ("I could die on the way to work") with positive, rational ones ("I'll probably get there just fine, as usual"). It can be carried out one-on-one or in groups.

Like many PTSD therapists, Hickling re-exposes participants to memories of the terrifying situation, while desensitizing them over a few months or longer. They start by telling what happened and graduate to driving back to the crash site.

One woman was able to drive back and gaze at the place where her car plunged down a hill, trapping her for more than two hours. Later, she felt as though she had "removed a cloud from her brain," according to Hickling.

The therapy can work in up to 75 percent of road-accident survivors with chronic PTSD, research suggests.

Some patients, though, can't tolerate thoughts of their ordeal. "It's just too painful," says psychologist Charles Figley, at Florida State University. Lesser symptoms persist in many people.

Psychiatrists often treat PTSD with drugs. The federal government has approved two depression medicines, Zoloft and Paxil, for PTSD. Research suggests they help at least a quarter of PTSD patients.

Other researchers are experimenting with potential PTSD drugs like anti-adrenaline agents and the antibiotic D-cycloserine. In theory, they might disrupt the consolidation of long-term PTSD memories or help the brain forget them later.

Psychological therapy alone conquered Puglisi's symptoms, though it took a year.

She still hasn't gone back to work but doesn't feel so alone. Now she knows of many others like her: "The mind does this sometimes."

What happened to her, she has learned, is normal.

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Jeff Donn, the AP's Boston-based Northeast regional writer, often writes about medicine.

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4.3 Pregnancy stress 'passed to baby'
    September 27, 2005
    BBC News

Children whose mothers were overly stressed during pregnancy may themselves be more vulnerable to anxiety as a result, research suggests.

High levels of stress hormone may cross the placenta and affect the baby in the womb in a way that carries long-term implications, UK scientists believe.

A Bristol University team found anxiety in late pregnancy was linked to higher cortisol levels in children aged 10.

The work in Biological Psychiatry tallies with earlier animal findings.

Stress effects

Past studies have shown stress in animals during pregnancy affects the body's stress response system - the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis which controls stress hormone levels, including cortisol.

But scientists have not been able to show that it also affects humans in the same way.

US psychologist Dr Thomas O'Connor, from the University of Rochester in New York, working with UK colleagues from Bristol University and Imperial College London, studied 74 children aged 10.

They analysed saliva samples first thing in the morning and three times a day on three consecutive school days to monitor levels of stress hormones.

The children's mothers had completed questionnaires 10 years previously, when they were expecting, about any stress or anxiety they were experiencing during their pregnancy.

Alleviating anxiety

The researchers looked back at this data to compare the results with those of the saliva tests.

The children with high levels of cortisol in their saliva tended to be born to the mothers who reported the most stress during their pregnancy.

Dr O'Connor said: "These results provide the strongest evidence to date that prenatal stress is associated with longer term impact on the HPA axis in children.

"Several human studies of children and adults suggest that elevated basal levels of cortisol are associated with psychological risk...notably depression and anxiety.

"Our findings point to a possible mechanism by which prenatal stress or anxiety may predict these disturbances in early adolescence, and possibly into adulthood."

However, he said much more work was needed to check that this was the case.

He also pointed out that it was not clear whether high cortisol itself could cause psychological disturbance. Some psychiatric disorders have been linked with low rather than high cortisol levels.

Other factors, such as the personality of the child and the environment they are living in, may play a part in childhood stress too.

Gillian Fletcher of the National Childbirth Trust said: "It's certainly something we need to look at in more detail.

"We don't want to make women who are pregnant more anxious than they already are by saying stress could have long term implications for the growing child."

She said there were many things pregnant women could do to alleviate stress and anxiety.

"Antenatal classes can help allay fears women might have about pregnancy, the birth and the health of the baby.

"They can also teach a women about stress and relaxation and taking life more slowly can help. It's trying to find a balance."

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4.4 Violence-Related Stress May Harm Kids' Health
    April; 20, 2005Z
    By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The stress some young children suffer after being exposed to violence in their neighborhoods or homes may have repercussions for their physical health, according to a new study.

Researchers found that among 160 preschoolers from low-income families, 78 percent had been exposed to some form of violence -- either in their communities or in their own homes, sometimes in the form of child maltreatment.

Those children who consequently suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder -- such as nightmares or bedwetting -- were at greater risk than their peers of having a number of health conditions, including asthma, gastrointestinal problems and headaches.

In the past, studies have found that young children exposed to violence between their parents have heightened rates of anxiety, fear and aggression. Other research has linked such childhood experiences to poorer health in adulthood.

But little research has looked into how post-traumatic stress -- a potential reaction to violence -- affects children's health in general, according to Dr. Sandra A. Graham-Bermann, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and one of the co-authors of the new report.

"Our study is unique in that we linked stress in the child's social environment to specific health problems of the child," she told Reuters Health.

The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, included 160 Michigan children who were taking part in Head Start, a federal preschool program for low-income families.

Mothers and teachers reported on the children's health, behavior and symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Mothers were also surveyed about their children's exposure to violence in the community -- ranging from shootings and stabbings to accidents and arrests -- and within the family.

Exposure to violence, the researchers found, was common, and included many instances of child maltreatment. In addition, children had witnessed an average of two violent incidents in their neighborhoods.

Overall, 20 percent of the children had reactions that were consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder -- though nearly all had some signs of traumatic stress.

Health problems, including allergies, asthma, colds and flu, were more common among children with PTSD, the study found. In particular, these children had a four-times higher risk of asthma and gastrointestinal problems than their peers did.

Moreover, the apparent effect of PTSD on children's health was over and above the impact of child maltreatment, domestic violence and mothers' health and substance abuse, according to the researchers.

Distress and anxiety, Graham-Bermann noted, can contribute to poor physical health, and studies show that even very young children can become afraid and worried after witnessing violence.

The positive aspect of the study findings, according to Graham-Bermann, is that they point to an additional way doctors can get at the heart of some children's health problems. The study, she said, shows the importance of looking "beyond the symptoms presented in the office" and asking questions about the environment in which children are living.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, March 2005.

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4.5 Stress in Early Pregnancy Linked to Miscarriage
    February 21, 2006

(HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who are stressed out during the first three weeks after conception are nearly three times as likely to miscarry, a new study finds.

"Try to provide yourself with what you consider a good environment. The less stress, the better," advised lead researcher Pablo Nepomnaschy, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

His team published its findings in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The NIH team evaluated 61 women over 12 months, collecting each woman's urine three times a week to check for pregnancy status and levels of cortisol, a stress-linked hormone.

"This study is special in the sense that we include cortisol data," said Nepomnaschy, He added that they did this testing very early in the pregnancy because "most pregnancy losses take place in the first three to four weeks after conception."

Of the 61 women, 22 got pregnant. Nine carried to term and 13 miscarried. Women with increased cortisol levels during the first three weeks of pregnancy were 2.7 times more likely to miscarry, the researchers found.

In all, miscarriages occurred in 90 percent of pregnancies in which the women had increased cortisol levels and in 33 percent of those with normal cortisol levels.

Nepomnaschy said it's unclear why a boost in cortisol might raise miscarriage risks, but he offered a hypothesis: "The body might interpret that [increased cortisol level] as conditions deteriorating, and maybe that might trigger an abortion mechanism."

The women studied were all residents of a rural area of Guatemala. "This population is more alike than any population in the United States," Nepomnaschy said, explaining that he was trying to get a sample of women who were similar in lifestyle, ethnicity and culture to rule out other factors linked to miscarriage. The women studied had similar diets and activity levels, and were all of the same ethnicity.

Another expert, Dr. Mary Stephenson, an obstetrician-gynecologist who runs the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Program at the University of Chicago, said, "It's an intriguing article. Certainly more research is needed. But it is a potential mechanism by which miscarriage may occur."

Other studies have looked at the cortisol/miscarriage link, Stephenson said. "The results have been conflicting. There are some studies in animals that suggest that stress increased the risk of miscarriage. And doctors have long suspected that stress does the same in people."

About 15 percent of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to the March of Dimes. But Stephenson said that statistic usually includes pregnancies that made it to six weeks. "When you count the ones that occur before six weeks, up to half of pregnancies end in miscarriage," she noted.

The best advice for women trying to get pregnant is to de-stress your life before you conceive, she said.

"I talk about this a lot with my patients," Stephenson said. "I recommend that before they get pregnant, they take a serious look at their lifestyle."

And that includes getting enough sleep, so fatigue isn't an issue. "Fatigue is a type of stress," Stephenson said.

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