hospital impact

by Nick Jacobs

The World Congress on Cardiology is meeting this week in Belgrade, Serbia, and, as an invited speaker, we are going to be exploring the efficacy of the coronary artery disease reversal program currently being studied at our research institute. One of the most unique findings of our studies, as identified by our lead researcher on this topic, Dr. Darrell Ellsworth, is a major reduction in measurable depression scores. After having personally gone through the program nearly ten years ago, it is very clear to me exactly why this is the case.

When any type of serious medical reality hits us, be it a cancer, heart disease, or neurological dysfunction, we are thrown into a spiral that feels irreversible. All of our lives, we have worked very hard to ensure that we had as much control over our personal situation as possible. At the same time, we tend to live in denial of our own mortality until we are staring it directly in the face.

What we/I have found with programs like the Dean Ornish Coronary Artery Disease is that, not unlike the old factory experiment directed toward seeing if low lighting or bright lighting made the employees happier, the outcome was that either worked equally well because the act of changing the lighting demonstrated that someone was paying attention to them.

In our research, a group of highly trained medical professionals work carefully with each participant to explain his or her condition, risks, challenges and alternatives. The most important outcome, however, is that the patients are taught how NOT to be victims of their disease anymore.

It is my deep belief that every human being would benefit from this type of exposure to medical professionals, people who take the time to help us sort through our personal situations, to give us hope and to ensure that we will have mental and physical support while working toward improving our health both mentally and physically.