On December 20th we lost a true revolutionary: Robert Ader, the experimental psychologist who pioneered the
study of psychoneuroimmunology (don't let the big word scare you), or how our thoughts influence our immune systems.
Nowadays mind/body interactions are accepted as basic and almost self-evident, but as recently as 1985, the
New England Journal of Medicine dismissed interactions between the mind and the immune system as "folklore." 

But the truth is that the human organism is spectacularly complex; we assume simplicity because it's easy for us
to understand, not because it reflects reality.  And as I've said before, chronic stress causes or worsens almost
every disease.  Why, I can tell you about a few from personal experience.

And assuming that you are a really smart person (who can learn from other people's mistakes) or at least a smart
person (who can learn from your own) then you will realize that chronic stress is your implacable enemy, and take steps
to combat it.

Right now, however, I'd like to revisit Dr. Ader's seminal experiment, which as you'll see was quite serendipitous - if you're
not a lab rat.  Bear with me; I think you'll find this fascinating.  I'm quoting now from the 12/29/11 New York Times obituary.

"In the experiment, one group of rats was given sweetened water accompanied by an injection that caused stomach aches.
(A control group got only sweetened water.)  When the injections stopped, and the rats that had experienced stomach aches
refused to drink the water, researchers force-fed them with eye-droppers in order to complete the experiment's protocols.

"Dr. Ader and Dr. Cohen had expected the conditioned rats to refuse the drink.  They had not anticipated that forcing them to drink
would eventually kill them, however, which it did, some time afterward.

"The two reviewed their protocols and guessed that the drugs used in the injections might have had some bearing on the deaths.
They could have used any drug that caused stomach pain without doing serious harm.  But the researchers discovered that they had unwittingly picked Cytoxan, which besides causing stomach aches suppresses the immune system.  At first they suspected that the rats had died from an overdose of Cytoxan.  Then they determined that the dosage the rats received had been too low to support that explanation.

"So they developed a theory, which became a landmark of medical science as further experiments proved it correct:  The rats died
because the mere taste of saccharine-laced water was enough to trigger neurological signals that did indeed suppress their
immune systems - exactly as if they had been overdosed with Cytoxan.  The rats succumbed to bacterial and viral infections
they were unable to fight off."

This is in fact the NOCEBO effect, the placebo effect's evil twin.  Instead of getting better because you think you're supposed to get better, you get worse because, well, you think that's what you're supposed to do.  And if you are as intelligent as you must be to have subscribed to this newsletter, I'm betting that lots of little light bulbs are turning your head into an approximation of a
Christmas tree right about now.

I've talked about stress before, and no doubt will again, as it is a fact of the modern lifestyle.  You know that breathing can be your ally or your enemy  http://www.humanhyperformance.com/page/page/1475392.htm  But for those of you in the area, there's another option.  I'll let one of my new clients describe the experience.

"Skipped the spa and went to Human HyperFormance instead. I won't ever go for a massage again!! 1/2 hour
in full body massage chair, relaxing music and aromatherapy had my muscles so relaxed...This is the best part -
my brain fog was gone! You don't get that at the spa...the infared sauna and ion foot detox was amazing and
only enhanced the effects of the massage. Not to mention my energy level was back to normal, and allergy symptoms
almost completely gone. Still felt the effects today. Bang for the buck definitely outweighs that of a massage.
For all you Scotia girls, Mr. Guare hasn't changed a bit since high school!! I can't wait to go back!"
http://www.humanhyperformance.com/ultimate_destressdetox.html

Well, I have changed a bit since high school, but in a good way, you know?  That's a huge perk of owning the Center for Advanced Anti-Aging; which uses the best things I found to deal with my own issues.  And I found out that you can stop and reverse premature aging, but the really smart people (of which I was not one, alas) will prevent it in the first place.  Much easier.