ANNOTATION

Provides a review of science supporting the powerful role of intimacy in health & illness, his own struggles w/intimacy.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A BOLD NEW LOOK AT HEALING FROM DEAN ORNISH, M.D.The visionary physician who showed-for the first time-that heart disease is reversible by changing diet and lifestyle now reveals one of the most powerful factors in health and illness: the healing power of love, intimacy, and spiritual transformation.According to Dr. Ornish, 3I am not aware of any other factor in medicine-not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery-that has a greater impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death from almost all causes.2 Dr. Ornish is a pioneer once more as he persuasively argues that love and intimacy are a root cause of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing.In Love & Survival, Dr. Ornish provides a review of the science supporting the powerful role of intimacy in health and illness, reveals in very personal terms his own struggles with intimacy and meaning, and describes strategies and techniques for enhancing love, intimacy, and communication.

Author Biography: Dean Ornish, M.D., is president and director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, CA. He is assistant clinical professor of medicine at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and an attending physician at California Pacific Medical Center.

SYNOPSIS

Dean Ornish offers a groundbreaking new theory of the positive effects love, intimacy, and spiritual awakening can have on health, particularly on heart disease.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile

More than diet, exercise, stress, or genetics, the greatest influence on healing is being connected to others in a loving, intimate way. We don't have continuous relationships at work and church anymore, so at home it's even more important that we share who we are in stable, trusting relationships. Such relationships make the heart more open to love and resistant to many types of medical problems. While the author's training and experience are impressive, what distinguishes the program is his compassion and openness about his own journey toward better connections with others. A similar audio is titled The Healing Power of Love and Intimacy and is based on the public TV special of the same name. T.W. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

Ornish, the bestselling author known for using diet, exercise, and stress management to treat heart disease Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease now insists that the most powerful influences on health are love and intimacy. The founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute near San Francisco says he knows of no other factor—"not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery—that has such a major impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death from all causes." After backing up this claim with an impressive review of the literature supporting the healing role of social support and intimacy and the health-damaging consequences of loneliness and isolation, Ornish looks inward and describes his own personal journey to greater openness. He follows these self-revelations with a discussion of intimacy-enhancing strategies. In what is the book's least cohesive chapter, he presents a standard exercise in communication skills and briefly discusses the value of human touch, the meaning of commitment, the practice of meditation, and the role of spiritual practices and psychotherapy in developing the sense of self that is a prerequisite to achieving intimacy. Ornish then inserts a lengthy illustrative anecdote: the case of a patient whose heart disease begins to reverse after he accepts Ornish's urging to open his heart and give up his anger. The second and more compelling half of the book consists of Ornish's conversations on the role of love and intimacy in health and disease with a broad spectrum of thoughtful men and women with different perspectives: a yogi, an intuitive healer, atheologian, a sociologist, a psychologist, and many scientists and physicians.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Revolutionary results....Dr. Ornish's work could change the lives of millions."  — Harper Collins - New Media

"Relationships bring freedom and joy. InLove & Survival, Dr. Dean Ornish powerfully demonstrates that intimacy also can heal. I am thrilled about this book!"  — Harper Collins - New Media

"Love & Survivalis an emotionally intelligent guide to good health and well-being. Everyone should read it."  — Harper Collins - New Media