CHAPTER 4
Where Most Disease Begins—
And the Real Secrets to Prevention
More than 56 million Americans report symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease,
20.5 million suffer from gallstones, 14.5 million from peptic ulcer, and 3.1 million from
constipation. Millions more don’t report digestive trouble but suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome.o comprehend the fundamental reasons we become weak, age or fall ill, we must first understand the
purpose and activities of the digestive system. The digestive system represents not only the physical
“engine” of the body, but also the center of emotions and the seat of the subconscious mind. If you wish
to understand and deal with the most influential, yet least tangible, basis of any physical illness, you have
to include its mental and emotional aspects. Although the body and mind appear to be separate entities,
each with a completely different purpose, they are intrinsically one, and they function as one unit. All
events on the physical level, like eating food, cell metabolism, removal of waste or exercising the body,
occur at the same time on the mental and emotional planes as well. Accordingly, you cannot keep an
emotional or mental experience secret from the body.
If you are diagnosed, for example, with a certain illness, such as cancer, and you happen to take the
diagnosis seriously, the biochemical impact of this sudden threat against your life (diagnosis) can cause
you to die. This gripping fear of survival is enough to instantly stop the secretion of the body’s natural
anticancer drugs—interleukin 2 and interferon—and dramatically reduce the production of its healing
hormones, including endorphins and growth hormones. At the same time, the fear induces a strong stress
response (causing the release of stress hormones) that can last as long as the conflict or threat does. Both
of these changes in the body’s biochemistry practically prevent the body from healing itself. In other
words, while being gripped by the fear of death from cancer or any other disease that threatens health and
happiness, the diagnosis becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. What most people don’t know is that the
diagnosis of disease is often more harmful than the disease itself. I would like you to keep this in mind the
next time you feel tempted to check out, “What’s wrong with me?”
What applies to the diagnosis of disease also applies to other conflict situations, such as the loss of a
loved one or the painful end of a relationship. It is important for you to understand the true reasons behind
emotional trauma^7 and illness. Once you know that disease is actually the body’s attempt to end these
underlying issues of conflict and imbalance, the fear of the unknown (of what disease really is) disappears
and you can start supporting the healing process instead of sabotaging it.
(^7) For details, see the author’s book Lifting the Veil of Duality.
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