holistic medical care that have been adopted
throughout the world.
Banerjee, P. N. Author of Chronic Disease: Its Cause
and Cure, 4th edition (Banerjee & Company, Gidni,
India, 1971). This book was originally published in
1931.
Barral visceral manipulation A system of body-
work that is geared to releasing restrictions and
tension by manipulating the body’s organs and
connective tissues, developed by the French
osteopathic physician Jean Pierre Barral. This
therapy is reported to enhance the entire body’s
functioning, including organ mobility and activity,
circulation, hormonal secretions, immune system
activity, and muscle function. In addition, Barral’s
modality may facilitate the release of internalized
emotion. He discovered that the organs have a
five- to eight-cycle-per-minute rhythm of move-
ment (relative to its position or referring to its
function), and when the cycles are impaired, irri-
tation and disease may develop. The Barral tech-
nique involves the use of light, precise mechanical
force, which rebalances the organ and helps
revive its normal function.
Bates Method for Improving Eyesight A relax-
ation system geared toward restoring the natural
use of the eyes and relearning to see developed by
the American ophthalmologist William H. Bates,
M.D. (1865–1931). A graduate of Cornell Univer-
sity and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
in New York, Bates practiced at Bellevue, Harlem
hospitals, Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, and
the New York Eye Infirmary and taught ophthal-
mology at the New York Post-Graduate Medical
School and Hospital. In 1920, Bates wrote The Cure
of Imperfect Eyesight by Treatment Without Glasses
(New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co., and
London: Arther F. Bird), which presented his the-
ory that sight can be deliberately and naturally
improved after being diminished by eyestrain, ten-
sion, and misuse of the eyes.
behavioral medicine A physical, psychiatric,
and psychologic approach to health care that
focuses on how behavior relates to states of both
health and illness. In opposition to age-old theo-
ries that the mind and body were of a different,
and therefore separate, nature, Herbert Benson,
M.D., author of several books, wrote in The
Mind/Body Effect (New York: Simon & Schuster,
1979): “The close interrelation between your
mind and body cannot be ignored when modern
scientific knowledge is considered. The potential
exists for thought processes to lead both to disease
and to good health.” He cited psychosomatic med-
icine, which is commonly defined as a discipline
that recognizes the power an individual’s thinking
has over his or her physical condition, as a start-
ing point for the rationale of behavioral medicine.
He also pointed out that psychological factors
affect the conscious perception of and sensitivity
to pain and pain relief, and that symptoms of cer-
tain diseases such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis,
and colitis are clearly at risk of being aggravated
by psychological stress.
“If you are ill,” Benson wrote, “extensive tests
and procedures may be required to diagnose and
treat your ailment. However, even then the risk
versus benefit principle should be applied. You
should not allow yourself to become convinced
that you are sick or becoming sick. Is it not foolish
to spend healthy years worried about disease that
is not present and may never occur? Many indi-
viduals in previous generations appeared to have
faith in their own health. People should strive to
adopt this attitude. If you become ill, the medical
profession is there to help you. There will be
enough time for you to work with your physician
and to learn how to adjust to an illness if it occurs.... You have a right to expect to be as well as pos-
sible for as long as possible.”
See also BENSON, HERBERT.
Beinfield, Harriet, and Korngold, Efrem Pio-
neers in the practice of acupuncture and herbal
medicine in the United States and authors of
Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1991). Both are
licensed acupuncturists, and Korngold is also a doc-
tor of osteopathic medicine.Bellavite, Paolo, and Signorini, Andrea Med-
ical doctors and authors of Homeopathy, a Frontier in18 Banerjee, P. N.