Man is built to last by Nature and, as such, has an in-built wisdom, which tries to correct most deviations from the normal in the body functions. This capacity depends, to a great extent, on the attitude of the human mind. Mind needs to be happy for the body to be healthy and be able to correct any deviations from the normal state of health. Consequently good health needs a healthy mind. Put simply ill health emanates from the anxieties and worries that eat into us rather than caused by what we eat. Basically these could be divided into two classes. The poor are always anxious as they do not know where their next meal comes from, while the rich and the powerful are always anxious that they have not yet beaten their rival. Although the ravages of the mental attitudes on the body are the same on both those classes in this planet, the root causes are totally different, as one can see from the oversimplified version given above. We go deep into this dilemma in this article.



On an average it is estimated that about fifty per cent of those who see doctors or get admitted to hospitals have psychosomatic diseases. Many authorities put this figure at almost seventy five per cent. If one goes deep into the human mind there is no disease of the body that does not have its roots in the mind. While many of the known psychosomatic diseases are being treated with psychotherapy and also tranquilizers, the other majority are left to the mercy of either the surgeon’s knife or very powerful chemicals, poured into the system to get the biochemical reports back to normal or to get the measurable parameters back to the so-called normal levels. The latter many a time make the recipient come to grief.



Let us examine some of the commonest symptoms that take patients to doctors. Pain in the neck is a very common malady going under the name of cervical spondylitis, with or without concomitant x-ray abnormalities. The truth is that the neck muscles are the ones that go into spasm each time a man get worried or is tense. If these episodes last long enough over a period of months and years the poor patient gets constant pain in the neck. The conventional approach to this with drugs and physiotherapy only make matters worse. One could grasp the gravity of the situation if one holds the palm of the hand tightly squeezed for a short time. The forearm muscles start aching even after you release the grip. Imagine the neck muscles undergoing similar tension for hours together without the sufferer coming to know of the cause. From then on the patient becomes a pain in the neck for the medical profession!



Spasm of the upper oesophageal muscles bring on a lump in the throat which bothers millions all over the world. One of the types is called globus hystericus. Lower end of the gullet brings on pain resembling the pain of gastric ulcer and many are the patients taking anti-ulcer treatment all their lives! Stomach muscle tension could mimic gall bladder disease and could be a diagnostic mystery. Spasm of the colonic muscles could mimic many serious illnesses in the abdomen and many are the laparotomies that are due to this fallacy. It would need the ingenuity of a wise surgeon or a physician to avoid an operation under that circumstances.



Chest muscle spasms, especially on the left side, are so common that many of them land on the coronary catheterization table only to have innocuous atheromatous blocks there engendering more anxiety, eventually ending in bypass surgeries. A recent American audit showed that 84% of bypasses were done without any benefit to the patient. Curiously, the spasm could be brought on by fear of a heart attack or anginal pain coming on.