In his earlier works, Dr. Dean Ornish proved that comprehensive lifestyle changes could influence even severe coronary heart disease, enabling a patient to avoid drugs or surgery. Now he goes one step further with the proposition that love and intimacy have a powerful impact on both illness and health. Ornish presents startling scientific evidence from researchers from many parts of the world on the important role of social support in healing all kinds of diseases.
The real epidemic of our times, according to the author, is the emotional and spiritual heart disease stemming from feelings of loneliness, isolation, alienation, and depression. Just when people need more connection and community as an antidote to the pressures of stress and overwork, membership in clubs and local organizations is plummeting. Ornish makes a good case for maintaining social ties and for doing volunteer work as preventative medicine. He also shares his own personal journey toward intimacy.
The final segment of Love & Survival contains interviews with such mind/body luminaries as Jon Kabat-Zinn, Joan Borysenko, Naomi Remen, Robert Thurman, Candace Pert, John Gray, Daniel Goleman, and Larry Dossey who talk about the value of nurturing an open heart. This practice is both healthy and spiritually enriching.