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Cayla's post reminds me of book written Dr. Andrew Weil. In the book Weil points out that he has observed a unique trend among people designated with life threatening illnesses such as cancer or other systemic diseases. Two experiences in the patient's life appear to "cure" disease—or at least put these conditions into remission: religious conversion and the act of falling in love. As a future physician, I find this concept fascinating. It gives rise to so many questions.

If religious conversion and the act of falling in love can reverse the course of different diseases, how is this accomplished? Is this accomplished by raising levels of hormones in the blood?

Let's consider the stages of falling in love (if only because it is easier to find information about the biological effects of love on the internet than religious conversion). According to one BBC article there are three stages of falling in love: lust, attraction and attachment. In the lust phase, testosterone and estrogen predominate. In the attraction phase, monamine neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinenephrine and serotonin are at their peak. Finally in the attachment phase, the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin play key roles. Is it a combination of some of these hormones that is responsible for disease remission?

In a previous post, I explored the role that hugging plays in increasing the levels of oxytocin—a hormone thought to be critical to bonding not only between mother and child, but also in couples.

If this is true, should we engage in matchmaking for those individuals with difficult to treat conditions? Surely this would be more cost effect than many current therapeutic strategies.

One psychologist from York England http://www.youramazingbrain.org/lovesex/sciencelove.htm performed a study where strangers were introduced to one another, told to reveal intimate details of their life for 30 minutes, and then told to stare into each other's eyes for 4 minutes. Many of his couples felt deeply attracted after the 34 minute experiment; two of his subjects later got married to each other.

Cayla sums it up correctly when she says that “mental diseases have effects not just in the brain, but also in the way the body functions. If the mind is in a negative place, that is reflected in the body.” I would merely add that when the mind is a positive place, it also reflected in the body. The important thing here is develop new ways to maintain the mind/nervous system/etc in positive ways, so that it can heal itself.