About Dr. DeMarco
Dr. Anthony DeMarco is a board certified member of the American Board of Anesthesiology. He is a graduate of Kansas City University with a Doctor of Osteopathy degree, a holistic approach to patient care.
Dr. DeMarco completed his residency in 1993 at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.
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Mind and Body Medicine
Bad moods. Bad attitudes. The dawn of mind and body medicine tells us that bad moods and unhealthy attitudes have a great impact on the body’s health and well-being. Research has shown that many diseases have rooted from bad moods, pent up emotions, an angry disposition, and unhealthy behavior towards everyday stress. Mind and body medicine helps 
us learn how to manage our mental and emotional state to achieve a healthier body and a better outlook of life.
Hippocrates wrote, “The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.” In his quote, Hippocrates has given a definition for mind and body medicine, emphasizing on the moral and spiritual aspects of healing. He believed that the person’s attitude, the environmental influences and the many natural remedies available are essential for health treatment.
What is Mind and Body Medicine? Mind- body medicine has revolutionized our modern healthcare. Mind and body medicine is an approach to healing that explores the complex and profound interconnection of the mind and the body. The power of thoughts and emotions are used to influence and achieve good physical health. It suggests that there is an innate healing connection in the body and that there is a role of self-responsibility in the healing process.
Mind-body medicine dates back to 2000 years ago, when the concept of the mind became an integral part of the treatment of diseases. This points back to the healing approaches of traditional Chinese and Ayuverdic medicine. It is after then than science was redirected and focused on the separation of human emotional dimensions from the physical body. At present, mind-body medicine has become an important consideration in the medical community, utilizing this approach to treat diseases and maintain a better and balanced quality of living.
MIND-BODY TECHNIQUES
Mind and Body techniques work on the theory that physical health is achieved and is influenced by mental and emotional factors. Other factors that help preserve health and prevent diseases are behavioral, psychological, social and spiritual methods.
In recent years, the use of mind-body techniques has become massive, with the abundance of scientific evidences that these techniques are effective and beneficial to one’s health. Mind-body techniques are used to treat chronic pain, depression, anxiety and panic disorders, insomnia, incontinence (loss of urinary control), childbirth, coronary artery diseases and many more.
Mind-body techniques aim to train the mind to focus on the body. It is believed that when one achieves a state of “focused concentration”, he will be able to be more in control of his mind and emotions, to change his outlook, his general health and wellbeing.
MOST COMMON MIND-BODY TECHNIQUES
Biofeedback. Biofeedback is a technique of bringing unconscious biological processes under conscious control. In this method, the individual is taught and trained to control internal and involuntary bodily processes such as blood pressure,
heart rate, muscle tension and brain surface electrical activity. A machine is used to measure these internal activities, with a monitor that allows the patient to view his or her body’s internal processes. This allows him to use this information and gain control over these “involuntary” activities. Biofeedback is found to be effective in treating pain such as tension headache, migraine headache and chronic pain. It has also been found to achieve effective results when used to treat stress, insomnia, urinary incontinence, attention deficit disorder, tinnitus and Reynaud’s syndrome.
Relaxation Techniques. Relaxation techniques aim to reduce the activity of nerves that trigger the stress response, the sympathetic nervous system. During the time of stress, the body responses in alert, and thus vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate increase. Relaxation techniques help relieve tension and strain, by lowering blood pressure, easing muscle tension and slowing metabolic processes. There are three major types of relaxation techniques:
- Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). This PMR technique involves a two step-process. The first step is to deliberately apply tension on a certain muscle group, and then very slowly releasing each muscle group individually. Start with the toes and up the head. Notice how the tension flows away as the muscle relaxes. Do this repetitively and you will learn to distinguish the associated feelings of a relaxed muscle and a tensed one. This simple knowledge will allow one to activate muscular relaxation as soon as muscle tension is experienced.
- Autogenic Training (AT). This technique is used to train the body to respond to verbal commands. AT teaches one to create a feeling of warmth all throughout the body until a profound state of physical relaxation, mental peace and bodily health is achieved. In this practice, the individual uses verbal commands to tell the body to control breathing and relax. All other internal processes follow suit – blood pressure, heartbeat and temperature. Also called Autogenics, this technique is used to manage stress, overcome addictions such as smoking or alcoholism, to resolve anxieties and fear such as flying or fear of heights or change unwanted behavior such as procrastination or nail biting.
- Meditation. Meditation is probably the most popular method to achieve a profoundly relaxed bodily state. In the United States, there are two forms of meditation. One is the Transcendental Meditation, wherein the individual is asked to repeat a single word or phrase (Mantra). The second form, Mindfulness Meditation lets an individual focus on their moment-by-moment thoughts and the sensations they currently feel. Meditation helps to achieve physical relaxation, metal calmness and other emotional states such as loving-kindness and even-temperedness.
Hypnosis. The term hypnosis comes from the Greek word “hypnos”, which means sleep. This technique focuses on achieving a trance-like state of mind, where the body relaxes and the thoughts become more focused and attentive. This is done with the help of a hypnotherapist. When this state of concentration is achieved and the body is deeply relaxed and calm, the individual become highly responsive to a hypnotherapist’s suggestions and less critical or disbelieving. Today, hypnosis is used to treat people with certain addictions, with anxiety disorders, phobia and chronic pain.
Guided Imagery. Guided imagery is one technique that is used quite frequently. It is a program of directed thoughts and suggestion, making one imagine toward a relaxed, focused state. This process is achieved with the help of an instructor, an audiotape or a script. The individual is asked to imagine details that are comfortable and safe like a beach or a garden or recall happy moments they has when they were young. The individual usually responds positively, achieving a more relaxed and peaceful state, making him more in control of his emotions and thought processes. Guided imagery can improve a person’s attitude, health and sense of wellbeing.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This technique helps an individual recognize and therefore change dysfunctional thoughts that usually lead to maladaptive emotional patters and behaviors. Cognitive restructuring is used, wherein the therapist examines assumptions behind the individual’s thought patterns. Behavioral therapy techniques are also used. CBT is used as a treatment option for psychological disorders such as depression, eating disorders, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety, phobia and panic disorders.
HOW MIND-BODY MEDICINE WORKS
Mind and body medicine focuses on how the mind, the emotions and other internal body processes can influence the physical body’s health. Studies have shown that emotions can have a great link or influence in the development of a disease. Stress influences our everyday emotional response. When a person is under a stressful situation, stress hormones are activated. These stress hormones are the ones responsible for unhealthy emotional responses such as anger, depression, hostility and etc. these unhealthy emotional responses are associated with many disease conditions, particularly the development of high blood pressure and coronary heart diseases.
The goal of mind-body medicine is to reduce the stress responses and activate the relaxation response. When a person is relaxed, he develops in himself improved coping skills to reduce tension and pain and lessen the need of medication. A relaxed body will also have a great influence on the immune system, making it efficient and increasing one’s susceptibility to infection.
OTHER DISEASES TREATED WITH MIND- BODY MEDICINE
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Anxiety and phobic disorders
- High blood pressure
- Asthma
- Coronary heart disease
- Obesity
- Cancer-related symptoms such as pain
- Nausea/vomiting related to chemotherapy
- Diabetes
- Stomach and intestinal disorders (indigestion or dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, heartburn, and Crohn’s disease)
- Fibromyalgia
- Menopausal symptoms such as depression, irritability and hot flashes
- Tempomandibular joint disorder
- Neck and lower back pains
- Muscle tension and involuntary muscle spasms
- Headache such as tension or migraine headache
Mind-body medicine promises many potential benefits and advantages. Further research and study on this medical approach leads to a more enhanced and effective mind-body interventions, giving opportunities to individuals to tailor their thinking about their moods, emotional responses and physical health. The mind-body medical approach is proven to have positive effects on psychological functioning and a balanced quality of life.
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