I witnessed the prototype of the cardiac defibrillator in the early 1960’s at Jersey City Medical Center.  It was as big as the wall of a room.  Now they are hand-held portable ones, having transitioned through multiple evolutions because of our wonderful technology.  Surgeries were performed through incisions then: now many through a small scope into a body cavity, and often there is a robot at the helm.  We have, as many say, come a long way baby.

Taught deference as a nursing student, I was expected to stand when the physician entered the room, 99.9% being a male.  Even attempting medical school at the age of 37, I was warned I was too old, and not a good enough student, having an A-B average.  Fast forward to 1982, again that ageism thing, being told I was too old to withstand the rigors of an obstetrical residency.  Well, here I am thirty long years later having achieved far more.

Though we have made awesome advances in the sciences in the practice of medicine, we are just now scratching the surface of the new kid on the block: epigenetics.  What an incredible dimension it has added to the diagnosis, treatment and maintenance of disease.  Change our DNA, our very cellular matrix with our thoughts, words, behavior??  Blasphemy, the vast majority of practitioners bellow.

Let me portray a scenario: you smoke, you imbibe more than what would be considered socially acceptable alcohol; you partake in drugs known to harm; you are a couch potato with the TV remote fused to your hand, the only exercise being to open the refrigerator or cabinet door for another diet soda, chips, or drive through fast-food fare for your favorite chemicalized treat.

You would have no issue with your physician warning that unless you change your habits, your inevitable lung disease, fatty liver, and overworked pancreas and blood vessels will gift you with the essentially preventable illnesses that plague millions of Americans.

Now the scenario more and more recognized by readers: you drink healthy ph alkaline water; you eat greater and greater amounts of organic foods, more vegetables, beans, grains and fruits than animal protein; you pride yourself on elegant daily elimination, and you present yourself regularly to the gym, your yoga classes, even my most recommended, meditation classes.

But, what you may not accept as vital for your ultimate health and peace is releasing your ‘stinkin’ thinkin;’ forgiving your ex-spouse for stopping the alimony, forgiving your mother for not making you chocolate chip cookies 40 years ago; even forgiving your sexual abuser those many painful decades ago.  But this, my beloveds, is the key to vibrant health: forgiveness of self, then others; compassion for your unwise behavior, then that of others.  The mind/body/spirit is indeed one energy- all one source, and the most magnificent thing of all—as well as the most frightening—is that we are the masters of our lives.    Read more in my book: HARDWIRED FOR LOVE.

Helene B. Leonetti, MD, FACOG, DABIHM

www.helenebleonettimd.com