What effect does positivity have on health? How do we maximize the placebo effect? When should you listen to your own intuition, even if it contradicts what you hear from your “licensed health care provider”? Cousins explains what he did.
TRANSCRIPT
Into Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient.
This is a book by Norman Cousins.
And it’s his own story about a pretty severe illness he had back in the 60s and his kind of unusual approach to dealing with it.
Yeah. And it’s interesting how– Yeah. Back then in 1964, this was really kind of a groundbreaking book. They got people thinking differently about the role of the patient in the whole healing process.
Yeah. So Cousins, he starts out by describing this illness that hit him really suddenly. And it was diagnosed as this serious collagen illness. His connective tissues were breaking down. And they did a sedimentation rate on him, which is a marker of inflammation. And his was 115, which is extremely high.
That’s really high.
Yeah, that’s really bad.
It shows how much inflammation was going on in his body.
Yeah. And so he’s in the hospital.
And even with this serious diagnosis, he’s starting to question some of these standard hospital practices.
Yeah, like they were taking four vials of blood every day.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. And he thought that was excessive.
Yeah. And you have to remember, this was the 1960s. So hospital hygiene wasn’t what it is today. And he was pretty concerned about the sanitation with his immune system already compromised.
Yeah. And he even talked about the food they were giving him. It was all this processed food.
White bread.
Full of preservatives. Yeah. And white bread, he specifically mentioned.
Right.
So–
It’s like he was ahead of his time with the whole food as medicine thing.
Yeah, decades before that became popular. That’s fascinating. So he was thinking about this whole person approach.
Yeah, the whole person.
Not just treating the disease,
but– The whole person, not just the disease.
The emotional well-being.
Right.
The nutrition.
Absolutely.
All the factors.
Decades before that became common.
Yeah.
And he even– On the holistic health movement?
Yeah. He even had this theory about what triggered this whole thing.
What did he think?
So he had been to Moscow on a trip.
OK.
And he thinks he was exposed to a lot of diesel exhaust and jet fuel.
Oh, wow.
And he thinks that maybe that combined with possibly some adrenal exhaustion from overwork and stress lowered his resistance and contributed to his illness.
Interesting. And it really makes you think how individual susceptibility, whether it’s genetics or lifestyle, plays a role in how we experience illness.
Yeah.
And that’s something that modern medicine is still trying to figure out.
Yeah. And so here he is hospitalized in pain, facing this grim diagnosis.
Right.
And he decides to take a radical step. And he partners with his doctor to explore some unconventional healing methods.
OK. Starting with reevaluating his medication.
Yeah. So at this point, he’s on a lot of painkillers. And he starts to wonder if those could actually be doing more harm than good. Right. He did some research and thought that maybe these drugs could be putting a strain on his adrenal glands.
Which he already thought were kind of depleted.
Yeah, which were already depleted.
So– That’s a big decision to just ditch the drugs altogether.
Yeah. So this is where it gets really interesting.
OK.
He decides to try laughter therapy.
Laughter therapy.
OK. So this came out of–
Where did he get that idea?
Reading Hans Silly’s work on stress.
OK. Yeah, I’ve heard of him. Silly had shown how negative emotions can lead to these harmful biochemical changes in the body.
Like stress hormones.
Yeah. And so Cousins starts to wonder–
Could positive emotions do the opposite?
Yeah. Could positive emotions like laughter–
Like laughter. Could that actually trigger healing?
Yeah, trigger healing. So he doesn’t just wonder about it.
He puts it to the test.
He sets up a way to test it.
How does he do that?
So he runs a hotel room, gets hold of Marx Brothers movies–
Then the Marx Brothers.
Oh my god. Candid camera episodes. And he has his nurse project these on a screen.
Oh, wow.
And he meticulously tracks his sedimentation rate before and after each laughter session.
So he’s measuring the inflammation before and after he laughs?
And what he finds– That happens. Every time he laughs, his sedimentation rate consistently drops. Wow. So his body is responding.
Yeah. It seems like his body is responding.
Is the laughter.
Yeah.
But could this just be– Could it be the placebo effect? Yeah, the placebo effect.
The power of the mind. You know?
Influencing healing even without real medication.
That’s a powerful thing, the placebo effect.
And Cousins himself acknowledged that that might have played a role in his recovery.
But he thought there needed to be more research.
He wanted more scientific research on it.
Yeah.
And today, there is a growing body of research.
Yeah.
Exploring this mind-body connection.
Really?
And how our beliefs– And our emotions. And emotions can influence our health.
And influence our physical health.
Wow. So– But Cousins didn’t stop at laughter, did he? No.
He also looked into high doses of vitamin C– Vitamin C. As a potential therapy.
As the therapy.
So he theorized that vitamin C could fight inflammation and support adrenal function.
Right.
And he worked with his doctor, who was remarkably open to this.
So the doctor was on board?
Yeah. So they started with 10 grams of intravenous vitamin C daily.
10 grams?
And they gradually increased it to 25 grams.
Intravenous vitamin C?
Yeah. And alongside the laughter therapy, he observed a further decrease in his sedimentation rate.
Wow.
And also his fever went down.
OK, so both things are improving.
Yeah.
But we should probably say, high dose vitamin C therapy, it’s still kind of debated in the medical community.
Yeah, it’s important to note
that– There’s no clear consensus on its effectiveness. And some studies even point to potential risks.
Yeah, so we’re not advocating for any specific treatment here. Right.
We’re just– We’re just sharing Cousins’ experience.
Sharing his experience and how it sparked this–
Yeah, how it got people talking about
it. broader discussion about–
Yeah, patient empowerment.
Patient empowerment and exploring–
Exploring all avenues for healing.
All avenues.
Right. And his doctor– Dr. William Hitzig deserves a lot of credit for being so open minded. Yeah. And partnering with Cousins on this unconventional path.
Yeah, he really did.
You really embodied that holistic approach.
Yeah.
You know, recognizing the patient as a whole person, not just a collection of symptoms.
Not just a set of symptoms.
He understood the power of Cousins’ will to live.
Right.
And he encouraged him to really mobilize his inner resources. So with this combination of laughter therapy– Yeah. Vitamin C–
And a positive attitude.
And a positive attitude. Amazing. Cousins starts to see this remarkable turnaround.
So he’s getting better.
He starts getting better.
Wow.
Yeah, so he regains the ability to move his thumbs without pain.
Oh, wow.
The nodules on his body start to diminish.
That’s great.
And eventually, he’s able to return to work at the Saturday review.
Wow. So he really did recover.
Yeah. So it’s a testament to–
The human body can heal.
The potential of the human body to heal.
Especially when the mind is engaged.
Yeah, when the mind is actively engaged in the process.
That’s powerful.
But even Cousins was realistic about his recovery. It wasn’t like a complete–
It wasn’t an overnight miracle.
Overnight miracle.
Right.
Yeah, he still had some lingering stiffness. OK. And limited mobility.
It wasn’t perfect.
Yeah, it wasn’t perfect.
But still, what a recovery.
But his experience raises this question.
What role did his belief play?
What role did his belief in his own recovery play?
And the positive emotions.
His positive emotions.
And these unconventional therapies.
Yeah, what role did all that play in his healing journey?
That’s a good question.
And this question kind of leads us into–
This leads us to the placebo effect.
Yeah, the placebo effect.
Something that Cousins really explores in depth in his book.
Yeah, so that’s a great point. Yeah. Let’s dive into that next.
OK.
What did Cousins discover about the placebo effect? And how did it shape his understanding of healing?
Yeah.
So stay tuned.
Yeah, we’ll be right back.
We’ll be back in a moment.
After the break.
To continue our deep dive.
OK, sounds good.Welcome back to our deep dive into Norman Cousins’ Anatomy of an Illness.
So last time we were talking about Cousins’ recovery.
Yeah, his amazing recovery.
It’s his unusual methods he used.
His unconventional methods, right?
Well, after therapy and vitamin C. It’s really something.
It sparked a lot of discussion in the medical world.
Yeah, what was the reaction?
You know when he published his story in the New England Journal of Medicine, he got thousands of letters from doctors. Wow. Over 3,000 letters.
That’s incredible.
A lot of them were supportive. Yeah, they liked how he emphasized the patient’s perspective and how he explored these different therapies.
So it wasn’t just doctors dismissing him as reckless.
No, not at all.
That’s interesting.
A lot of doctors share their own stories about patients who benefited from a more holistic approach, using things like nutrition and stress reduction.
Even humor.
Even humor, yeah.
So it sounds like he really started a conversation. Yeah, you could say he was a catalyst for change.
It sounds like he was a pioneer.
Yeah, paving the way for this more patient-centered and integrative model of health care.
Emphasizing treating the whole person.
The whole person, exactly.
Mind, body, and spirit.
Not just the disease itself.
But I’m sure not everyone was on board with his ideas.
Oh, of course not.
There must have been some pushback.
Some doctors were cautious. They wanted more scientific evidence for these therapies.
And rightfully so.
And they were worried about potential risks.
Especially with the high dose vitamin C.
Right.
Yeah,
we should always consult with qualified health care professionals.
Absolutely.
And make informed decisions.
Based on individual situations.
Based on our own situation, exactly.
So Cousins wasn’t saying to just throw out conventional medicine. No, not at all.
He was just advocating for a more nuanced conversation.
A more open-minded approach.
About different perspectives.
Different perspectives, yeah.
And he was willing to challenge the status quo.
He was a disruptor.
He was a disruptor.
And you know, his influence can be seen today.
Really?
And things like medical humanities programs in medical schools.
That’s interesting. Tell me more about that.
Well, in these programs, doctors are encouraged to think about the ethical and philosophical sides of health care. Even the spiritual dimensions.
So it’s not just about memorizing facts and procedures anymore.
Right, it’s about developing empathy. Seeing patients as individual.
Or own unique stories.
With their own stories, exactly.
I remember Cousins tells the story in his book.
Oh yeah, what’s that?
About a lawyer whose daughter was hospitalized.
Okay.
With viral encephalitis.
Oh wow, that’s serious.
She was in a coma.
Oh no.
And antibiotics weren’t helping.
And the lawyer had read Cousins’ article about vitamin C. So he thought maybe he could help his daughter.
Did he talk to the doctor about it?
He did. The doctor was dismissive.
Really?
He said he didn’t need advice from a layman.
Wow, that must have been frustrating.
It was.
So what did he do?
He came up with a plan.
Okay.
His daughter loved ice cream.
Okay.
So he bought a pound of sodium ascorbate.
That’s like a form of vitamin C.
It’s a more palatable form of vitamin C.
So he mixed it into her ice cream?
He did.
Sneaking in the vitamin C?
Every day while she was in the hospital, she started to get better.
No way.
She was able to breathe on her own more. Wow. After two weeks, she made a full recovery. That’s amazing.
It is.
So what did the doctor say?
He never told the doctor.
He didn’t.
He was afraid of the consequences.
I can understand that.
But it raises some interesting ethical questions.
Yeah, about patient autonomy.
The role of families in medical decisions.
And the importance of open communication between doctors and patients?
Absolutely.
It seems like Cousins was really ahead of his time.
He was advocating for a more collaborative approach to healthcare.
Where doctors and patients can discuss all options.
Even the unconventional one.
And that doctors should be open-minded.
Open to different perspectives.
Leaving those that come from outside of traditional medical expertise.
Exactly.
You know another thing that struck me about Cousins’ story. What’s that? Was his emphasis on human connection and healing.
Right.
He talked about how hospitals.
Even with all the technology.
Can feel cold and impersonal.
Yeah, he felt isolated and depersonalized.
Surrounded by machines.
And medical personnel.
But lacking that human touch.
A warm smile. A reassuring touch.
I wonder if that’s even more true today.
With our reliance on technology.
Yeah.
Cousins believed that the doctor. Through empathy and genuine care.
Could be a powerful healing force. So it’s not just about medical knowledge.
It’s about building a relationship.
A relationship built on trust.
Trust and partnership.
And Cousins really appreciated his doctor, Dr. Hitzig.
Yeah, for being willing to go beyond conventional medicine.
And support those unconventional approaches.
Dr. Hitzig really embodied holistic care.
Seeing the whole person.
Not just the disease.
So, Cousins’ legacy.
Yeah.
It goes beyond the specific therapies he used.
Right. He influenced how we think about healthcare.
He shifted the focus towards a more patient-centered model of care.
A model that emphasizes the relationship between doctor and patient.
And his influence continues today.
As more people seek integrative approaches to health and wellness.
Combining conventional and alternative therapies.
Exactly.
We’ve covered a lot of ground here.
Right.
From Cousins’ own experience to the broader impact of his story.
What other insights can we take away?
Well, Cousins also raises these interesting questions about technology.
Oh yeah, how technology is used in medicine.
He acknowledged the advances.
Of course, technology has revolutionized medicine.
But he was concerned about the potential for it to depersonalize care.
Right. The feeling of being metabolized by a database.
Losing your individuality.
Amidst the machines and the tests.
He thought technology should enhance the human element in healthcare.
Not replace it.
Finding that balance.
The balance between technology and the human connection.
And ultimately, Cousins reminds us.
Yeah.
That true healing.
True healing.
Goes beyond just treating physical symptoms.
It’s about nurturing the whole person.
Their emotional and spiritual well-being.
Their will to live.
Giving them hope.
And he said something really powerful.
What’s that?
The will to live is not a theoretical abstraction, but a physiological reality with therapeutic characteristics.
So our belief and our ability to heal.
It can have a real impact.
It’s not just wishful thinking.
Cousins believed it was a powerful force.
And his story seems to support that.
Along with a growing body of scientific research.
Yeah. So thinking about Cousins’ experience.
Yeah.
How might your own attitude and emotional state.
Play a role in your health journey.
What could you do to cultivate a more positive inner environment for healing?
Those are great questions to think about.
And if you want to delve deeper into Cousins’ ideas.
Check out his book, “Anatomy of an Illness” as perceived by the patient.
It’s a really fascinating read.
A moving and thought-provoking book.
Welcome back to our deep dive into Norman Cousins’ “Anatomy of an Illness.”
We’ve been exploring his remarkable recovery.
And how his story really changed the way we think about healing.
And last time we left off with that thought-provoking question from Cousins.
Yeah, about our own inner doctor.
If positive emotions and belief can influence our well-being, what untapped potential might each of us have to harness our own inner doctor?
So let’s unpack what idea a bit. Okay. What do Cousins mean by this inner doctor?
Well, he believed that we all have this innate capacity for healing. This powerful force within us that can be activated. When we connect with those positive resources in our minds and bodies.
So it’s not just about relying on external treatments.
Like medications or procedures.
Wait, those things can be important.
They can be essential sometimes.
But he’s saying they work best when combined with.
The patient’s own inner healing resources.
It’s like that saying, a doctor can cure the disease, but only the patient can cure the illness.
Exactly, and Cousins shares some pretty amazing stories. Oh yeah. That suggests this inner doctor might be more powerful than we realize.
Give me an example.
Okay, so Cousins tells this story about playing golf with Arnold Palmer.
Oh wow, Arnold Palmer.
The legendary golfer.
Yeah.
Known for his focus and determination.
Right.
And during one tournament, Palmer was struggling with a painful shoulder injury.
Oh man, I bet that made those long drives tough.
But instead of giving up, Palmer did something incredible.
What did he do?
He visualized himself hitting perfect shots. Completely free of pain.
So he used his mind to overcome the physical pain.
In a way, yes, he harnessed that mental focus. Wow. And incredibly it worked.
He kept playing.
He not only continued playing, but he won the tournament.
That’s amazing. What a testament to the mental strength.
It really highlights a core part of Cousins philosophy.
Which is?
The mind can have a profound impact on the body.
Okay.
Our thoughts, our beliefs, our expectations.
It can all influence our physical experience.
Including how we experience pain.
But are you saying that if we just believe strongly enough in our health, we’ll be healthy?
It’s not quite that simple.
Okay.
We can’t just wish away serious illnesses. Right. But Cousins argued that a positive mindset.
Okay.
And a belief in our ability to heal. Can create conditions that support the body’s natural healing processes.
So it’s not about denying reality or ignoring medical advice.
No.
It’s about cultivating a positive inner environment that promotes healing.
Exactly. And that brings us back to the importance of positive emotions.
Like hope and love and laughter.
Yeah, Cousins believed they weren’t just fleeting feelings. But they could actually trigger biochemical changes that promote healing.
So there’s a real physiological basis for feeling good.
Exactly. And Cousins pointed to scientific research. What was it? That was starting to emerge at the time. Okay. Showing this connection between positive emotions and physical health.
Like studies showing that laughter.
Laughter can release endorphins.
Those are our natural pain killer.
And they can boost the immune system.
So laughter is the best medicine isn’t just a saying.
There’s some truth to it.
It has scientific backing.
It seems like it.
Okay, so we all have this inner doctor we can tap into.
Right.
And positive emotions can trigger healing.
Yeah.
But how do we access these resources in a practical way?
Well, Cousins believed in taking an active role in our health. Paying attention to our bodies.
Listening to those signals.
And making choices that support wellbeing.
You’re talking about healthy diet and exercise.
Those are essential.
Sleep managing stress.
All of those things. But Cousins also urged us to go beyond that. To engage in activities that bring us joy. That spark our creativity. That connect us to something larger than ourselves.
So it’s not just about avoiding bad habits.
Right.
It’s about actively seeking experiences that nourish us.
That nourish our minds, our bodies and our spirits.
This is a really holistic approach to health.
He believed that healing wasn’t just about eliminating disease, but about living a full and meaningful life.
Even in the face of challenges.
Even amidst challenges.
What a powerful message.
It’s a message that resonates.
Whether we’re facing serious illness or just trying to live healthier lives.
Exactly. And Cousins reminds us that the will to live is not a theoretical abstraction, but a physiological reality with therapeutic characteristics.
So our belief and our ability to heal.
It can have a real impact.
It’s not just wishful thinking.
Cousins believed it was a powerful force.
And his story seems to support that idea.
Along with a growing body of scientific research.
So as we wrap up this deep dive into Norman Cousin’s Anatomy of an Illness, it leaves us with a lot to think about.
It does.
What role does your own attitude and emotional state play in your health journey?
It’s a good question.
What can you do to cultivate a more positive inner environment for healing?
These are questions worth pondering.
And if you’re interested in exploring these ideas further.
I highly recommend checking out Cousins book.
Anatomy of an Illness as perceived by the patient.
It’s a thought provoking and moving read.
Thanks for joining us on this deep dive.
It’s been a pleasure.
We hope it’s inspired you to tap into the extraordinary power of your own inner doctor.
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