The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions: Amazon.ca: Esther M. Sternberg: Books

From Publishers Weekly

The immune system was long believed to be autonomous--unconnected to the brain; Sternberg, a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Mental Health, focuses here on research done over the last few decades that disproves this belief. She methodically details the history of this science--describing, for example, the Nobel prize-winning work of three French scientists who, in 1958, discovered the "interleukins" (molecules that signal between cells), which led to further investigations into how immune cells communicate with the brain, and discussing the seminal but controversial work of Hans Selye, who in the 1950s explored the body's response to stress. Although Sternberg leavens her account with anecdotes and historical snapshots of early medical treatment, her litany of scientific experiments (mostly performed on rats) into the body-mind connection may overwhelm readers without any scientific background. Of greater interest are her reflections on the implications of this research for maintaining health and treating disease. According to Sternberg, physical and psychological stresses--such as prolonged lack of sleep, divorce or social isolation--can make people sick by adversely affecting their immune and hormonal responses. Conversely, a strong belief in healing rituals and prayer may help make them well (via the placebo effect). All in all, Sternberg is optimistic about the idea of bridging disciplines to develop new treatments for disease. B&w illustrations. BOMC selection; author tour. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The director of the Molecular, Cellular, & Behavioral Interactive Neuroscience Program at the National Institutes of Health gives us one of the best recent books on emotions and health. Sternberg effectively draws on her ample research and clinical experience to provide detailed descriptions of the interrelationships of the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems and how they in turn relate to emotions and the body. Into her clear scientific exposition, she folds the lives and works of such fascinating researchers as Wilder Penfield and Hans Selye. She has the personal touch, as when she stresses the importance of face-to-face communication and contrasts it to the impersonal aspects of Internet communication. She has a feeling for place and vividly depicts Montreal and other settings. Finally, in her citation of medical cases, she enlightens and stimulates, as, for example, when in recalling a classic case of alert perception, she reveals the importance of total-body tattoos in the study of the lymphatic system. William Beatty --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Dr. Sternberg weaves historical perspective, recent lab results, academic rigor, and popular appeal into an engrossing book."
—Dallas Morning News

"One of the best books on emotions and health."
—Booklist

"A tour de force, a romp through centuries of scientific discovery written by an expert in the field who brings us to that point where mind speaks to body."
—Abraham Verghese, author of The Tennis Partner

"The Balance Within delivers the latest scientific advances in prose that is clear and arrestingly beautiful. Sternberg has a gift for the illustrating detail, the clarifying allusion, the telling metaphor. With The Balance Within, Esther Sternberg joins Steven J. Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward Wilson in the current pantheon of great biology writers."
—Francisco J. Ayala, Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine

"Few science books are a beautiful read but The Balance Within achieves exactly that. Esther Sternberg not only illuminates the connections between emotion and health with fascinating precision, but she manages to evoke the emotions themselves, from sunlight happiness to sheltering serenity."
—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Sex on the Brain, Professor of Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This refreshing personal saga of research on brain-body interactions knits together historic vignettes with recent experimental approaches. The book is a welcome addition at a time when considerable puzzlement and confusion exists regarding alternative or complementary medicine. We learn to respect the powerful influences exerted by the brain on body function."
—Joseph Martin, M.D., Dean of Harvard University Medical School

"Many of the most pressing contemporary health problems are related to the everyday stressors of contemporary society. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Esther Sternberg charts the mechanisms by which everyday stressors affect health and well being as well as the means for minimizing their deleterious effects."
—John T. Cacioppo, Ph.D., Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, The University of Chicago

Book Description

Since ancient times humans have felt intuitively that emotions and health are linked, and recently there has been much popular speculation about this notion. But until now, without compelling evidence, it has been impossible to say for sure that such a connection really exists and especially how it works.

Now, that evidence has been discovered.

A thrilling scientific detective story, The Balance Within tells how researchers finally uncovered the elusive mind-body connection and what it means for our health. In this beautifully written book, Dr. Esther Sternberg, whose discoveries were pivotal in helping to solve this mystery, provides first hand accounts of the breakthrough experiments that revealed the physical mechanisms - the nerves, cells, and hormones - used by the brain and immune system to communicate with each other. She describes just how stress can make us more susceptible to all types of illnesses, and how the immune system can alter our moods. Finally, she explains how our understanding of these connections in scientific terms is helping to answer such crucial questions as "Does stress make you sick?" "Is a positive outlook the key to better health?" and "How do our personal relationships, work, and other aspects of our lives affect our health?"

A fascinating, elegantly written portrait of this rapidly emerging field with enormous potential for finding new ways to treat disease and cope with stress, The Balance Within is essential reading for anyone interested in making their body and mind whole again.

From the Back Cover

"This refreshing personal saga of research on brain-body interactions knits together historic vignettes with recent experimental approaches. The book is a welcome addition at a time when considerable puzzlement and confusion exists regarding alternative or complementary medicine. We learn to respect the powerful influences exerted by the brain on body function."
--Joseph Martin, M.D., Dean of Harvard University Medical School

"Dr. Sternberg's book is a dazzling tour of a most promising area of neuroscience--the interface between the immune system and the nervous system. This area of research, in which Esther Sternberg has been one of the world's leading scientists for at least two decades, is leading to new understandings and treatments of the stress-related diseases of modern life, including chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia."
--Elliot S. Gershon, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Chicago

"The Balance Within delivers the latest scientific advances in prose that is clear and arrestingly beautiful. Sternberg has a gift for the illustrating detail, the clarifying allusion, the telling metaphor. With The Balance Within, Esther Sternberg joins Steven J. Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward Wilson in the current pantheon of great biology writers."
--Francisco J. Ayala, Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine

"This is a tour de force, a romp through centuries of scientific discovery written by an expert in the field who brings us to that point where mind speaks to body. The Balance Within is elegant, entertaining, and beautifully written."
--Abraham Verghese, author of The Tennis Partner, and My Own Country

"In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Esther Sternberg charts the mechanisms by which everyday stressors affect health and well being as well as the means for minimizing their deleterious effects."
--John T. Cacioppo, Ph.D., Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, The University of Chicago

"Few science books are a beautiful read but The Balance Within achieves exactly that. Esther Sternberg not only illuminates the connections between emotion and health with fascinating precision, but she manages to evoke the emotions themselves, from sunlight happiness to sheltering serenity."
--Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Sex on the Brain, Professor of Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"The Balance Within is a tour de force of the past, present, and future of our knowledge of mind/body interactions and stress. Dr. Sternberg, a leading expert on the interaction of the endocrine and immune systems, writes beguilingly. A knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide, she makes complex issues clear. More than food for thought, this book is nourishment for those curious about mind and body."
--David Spiegel, M.D., Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine

"The author has undertaken the daunting task of bridging a chasm between what we know as the scientific basis behind disease and what we don't know about how our brains can influence this science to make our physical and mental health either better or worse. She takes us on a fascinating trip, describing difficult scientific concepts in easily understood terms and liberally uses colorful analogies to bring the science into a reality we can all appreciate."
--Frances K. Conley, M.D., author of Walking Out on the Boys --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., is Director, Integrative Neural Immune Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health. She was trained in rheumatology at McGill University and practiced medicine in Montreal before returning to a research career and teaching at Washington University in St. Louis. The winner of the Public Health Service Superior Service Award and President of the International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation, Dr. Sternberg has written over one hundred scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters on the subject of brain-immune connections. She lectures nationally and internationally on emotions, health and disease.