Saturday, February 18, 2012

On Surgery for High Blood Pressure



The well known surgeon dr. Mehmet Oz, writes in Time magazine (jan. 9/12) of a new therapy for high blood pressure. He believes it is a major departure from serious surgery, only it is also an invasive treatment. It is a catheter inserted into the femoral artery which the doctors help wend its way to the precise spot where key and relevant nerves are lying. Then a jolt of electricity and basta, it is all over.

Remember my warning about any therapy without a “why” in it. It can never be curative because it neglects generating causes; origins and memories. It treats the current symptom as THE problem, hence manipulating the patient away from sources. It bothers me that this is found in august journals with high level scientists behind it. Where is their curiosity? Do they ever wonder why it is there? Or is the symptom just taken as a “given” and the doctors go on from there.

If we could all finally agree that memory is imprinted; that it is done so, partially, through the process of methylation and acetylation and that it can endure for a lifetime, and begins not long after conception, that is drives later act-outs and symptoms without cease and is the energy source behind the continuation of the problem , then we would not make the mistake ad nauseam of forgetting about “why” in illness and personality problems. And all of us doctors and scientists would no ignore and neglect originating causes. Isn’t that simply and logical? Why is it ignored? Because doctors ignore their own deep-lying feelings and cannot imagine what is down there. It is simply not put into question.

We have treated blood pressure for 45 years with great success. We have achieved a lowering of 24 points in the hypertensive (high blood pressure) group. We watch causes as we observe patients reliving their historic memories and see how when they get to childhood pains there is an elevation of blood pressure, but when the patient gets down to first line, gestation and birth trauma there is an even greater rise. We don’t have to theorize; we see it, and moreover, at the end of the session there is a drop of pressure to below baseline or beginning session values. And over one year there is a continuous and permanent drop in blood pressure. Because we also create one degree less in body temperature after one year of therapy we have good reason to think we are prolonging life. There is slower metabolism, the body is working less hard and less internal pressure as measure by our blood pressure cuff. We have seen confirmation of all this when we put a permanent cuff on a patient during a session and see the volatility of blood pressure. In those who are parasympaths their tendency is for a drop in pressure, but for the great majority of patients the blood pressure goes up. And then goes down and normalizes.

We see the difference between abreaction, crying and screaming without context and a real Primal because with a connected feeling, going back to the generating sources, there is nearly always a drop in blood pressure below baseline which is not the case in abreaction. And might I add that nearly every clinic and professional out there proclaiming to do our therapy what they get is pure abreaction. They too, do not ask why and take the symptom for the disease.

We have seen some remarkable cases with extremely high blood pressure drop into the normal range after several months of therapy; here it is life-saving.

Now here is the problem with all this: you are zapping an outlet, a place for release of the pressure; then the system has to find another outlet, and it will. It can then become fatal because there is no longer a “biologic” outlet. The pressure builds until we crumble or cave in. We must always ask “WHY?” It is not different from the symptom of smoking. If I smack you in the head every time you pick up a cigarette, sooner or later you will stop and the symptom is “cured.” Well it is the same if we get inside and mess around with the mechanics of the outlet. In this way we don’t let the nerve circuits react as they should in their defensive maneuvers. We block the ability to react properly (maybe “normally?) and reroute the system including the brain system. We must know that a symptom often means that the system is reacting properly to a damaging input, an input that begins with our life in the womb. And this input causes dislocation of function; our brain circuits get rerouted. We want to be careful to take that away. Just like a presidential candidate wants to stop homosexuality by all kinds of tortuous methods. She doesn’t ask how the behavior comes about; through her prejudices and strong bias against it she wants to stamp it out completely. The idea is that it will no longer show; therefore it must have been “cured.”

Even a smart doctor as Dr.Oz has overlooked the “why”, and because of that we will never be able to say, “because.”

29 comments:

  1. Dr. Janov and all,
    “Dr.Oz has overlooked the ‘why’ “ – like so many others.
    Another example:
    4 years ago I participate in a gene research for Psoriasis. For this reason I had to see a dermatologist to have confirm that I have psoriasis.
    The dermatologist, unable to listen what I was telling her, recommended with slight force Enbrel.
    Just a minute earlier I told her that I have a very low cortisol level and predisposed to inflammation.
    After I told her, I’m informed about Enbrel and I will not take it, because this medication lowers the immune system and the ability to fight infections, she answered, “you must like your psoriasis”.
    What drives these presume “specialists”, why are they unable to ask “why”?
    My observation concludes; no inside but lots of ignorance, besides treating the symptoms brings instant gratification and glorification and money.
    Sieglinde

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    1. Hi Sieglinde

      Such people are very frustrating. I would agree that such a person's approach is also about power and the persons bolstering of an insecure self through their position of power over others such as yourself because as a child they never had any power over themselves. It is a false power but one which sadly pervades society. You perhaps threaten her sense of power by rejecting her suggestion of Enbrel.

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    2. Sra Sieglinde,


      Having had epilepsy I had to take Tegretol XR /Carbamazepine even if it lowered my immune defense and troubled my liver. It would not have helped my case or the respect for Primal Therapy to blame the neurologists, who knew and could do nothing about my imprints from a horrific birthexperience.
      Eventually Primal Therapy could help me and I was able to stay off the Tegretol. All the time I kept my neurologist informed and I dare say that he was both confused and skeptical but he realized that I had found a unique alternative. He later invited me to inform his collegues in the neurologic department.

      PT is an alternative treatment, that places high demands on the patients’ willingness and ability to break out of their “prison of pain”. Until PT is fully established we will have to accept drugs even if they are no cure.

      Jan Johnsson

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  2. Art,

    When I look at the picture of you and “understands” what it is you write about and I feel the need to be candid ... to trust someone that I "know" I can trust... be the frail little Frank as I was… when I was in my attempts to feel… but life brutally denied it. Then I feel what I'm searching for.

    Frank

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  3. Dr. Janov, I just love reading your blog. I'm hoping to one day read what you have to say about abortion survivors and unwanted babies and how that imprint manifests in adult life ...

    Maya

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    1. Maya: I think that some of the survivors of attempted abortion are out there on the street with placards joining the evangelicals to stop abortions. art

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  4. How shall all these professors in psychiatry and psychology endure their suffering... if their role as professional alleviates suffering... alleviates sufferings when they don't recognizing primal therapy as a healing method? What I mean is... how shall the professionals endure something when endure is what they do to not recognizing what primal therapy is about?

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  5. I have a cousin who is an abortion survivor. I don't think she really aknowledges or conciously understands the full impact of surviving. In fact her two brothers and younger sister are also really abortion survivors too though I wonder whether they realise it. My younger male cousin told me his Father kept persuading his Mother to abort his younger sister. The fact that he would have only been 18 months or so when his sister was born means that he was told this by someone. The awful thing must be being born to a Mother desperately in need of love herself and at the same time not being wanted. I love my cousins dearly and yet because I have not denied what happened to me they have cut me off which is sad. I suppose my healing myself reminds them too much of the pain they ignore.

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  6. Dr. Janov,
    How do you see a medically performed abortion as a solution for unwonted pregnancies?
    Is a mother able to love a child conceived by rape? And what about the eventual genetic imprint.
    Rick Santorum thinks pregnancy through rape is God's gift?
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/25/rick-santorum-rape-pregnancy
    Sieglinde

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    1. Sieglinde: Listen, usually I treat delusions; I have no control of delusions in the public place. your questions have obvious answers. If you start answering those who live in another planet it will be endless; and they cannot hear you ever. art

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    2. What a great answer, Art
      Jacquie

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  7. Dr. Janov, I agree ... Or, like me, they can become hard-core "pro-choicers" who go on railing passionately for the right of a woman to choose. If my mother had been allowed to abort me, she would have. She secretly tried and failed and then had to make peace with the pregnancy. And so here I am. :-)

    I just finished reading your book "Imprints" and loved it. You did mention here and there the plight of unwanted fetuses, but for the most part, you emphasize birth trauma. I'm guessing that your new book "Life Before Birth" focuses predominantly on in utero imprinting. I plan to read it soon, but your next book on my list is The Primal Man.

    I'm wondering if this new book (Life Before Birth) discusses cases where the baby was not wanted and the mother tried to secretly get rid of it and/or spent most of her pregnancy wishing for a miscarriage.

    If I extrapolate from my own case, I think this kind of an in utero experience most commonly creates a parasympath because the fetus would have had to survive under extremely rejecting and depriving conditions. Life-long suicidal tendencies, serious attachment difficulties (hunger for attachment but no trust), low blood pressure, feeling cold all the time, "I'm a nobody" feelings, primitive defenses of splitting everything into all-good vs all-bad, etc .... (my personal experience)

    I wish more literature existed about cases where the fetus was unwanted not only because of her gender but also more generally because the mother was not ready. I would *love* to see an article by you on this blog ... :-)

    Maya

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    1. Maya: I think you need to change priorities and look at Life Before Birth first. It has some answers you are looking for. art

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  8. To all:
    Reading, “Children who are gender nonconforming at greater risk of abuse: Harvard study”
    http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1133865--children-who-are-gender-nonconforming-at-greater-risk-of-abuse-harvard-study?bn=1
    I ask myself, why do we need a study for something that has been known for thousands of years – going back to the first recordings by the Romans (Caligula and Claudius) and Greeks (Hermes – son of two mortal Love-gods). All were gender-nonconforming.

    It’s like reinventing the wheel. Why is Harvard not studying why we have a nonconforming gender?
    Sieglinde

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  9. Chèr ARTHUR JANOV,
    Votre travail est une source extraordinaire de ressources pour établir enfin un consensus quant à la cause de nos nombreux dysfonctionnements, reconnaitre, enseigner que le "RESPECT DES BESOINS DE L'ENFANT est le socle d'une humanité digne de ce nom, c'est à dire solidaire, libre et fraternelle!
    Nous vous prions à genoux d'accepter notre invitation à venir en France au mois de mai prochain, présenter une synthèse de votre travail lors de notre évènement "LE DROIT DE L'ENFANT UA RESPECT" Fondement d'une Nouvelle Civilisation. Au nom des "Générations A Venir" Mille Merci
    Agnes

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  10. Jan Johnsson!
    Instead of drugs what do you think of a ketogenic diet? See enclosed link!
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/

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    1. Excellent if the ketogenic diet keeps you off seizures. However, that was not the case for me and a majority of all other epileptics. Like drugs the diet is no cure. Only PT cuold have eliminated my anxiety and neurotic behavior which was a logic part of my illness/pathology. Jan Johnsson

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    2. Hello Jan,

      If the reason is not disclosed... then will never the right answers allow itself to be presented! Simple as that. I mean ... if a professor relieve his suffering by living up in the role of being a professor... he will never discover his passion. This is an equation similar to what Einstein presented with his theory of relativity and all who denied it. To convince a professor? It's almost necessary to wait for his passing to get on with what must be done. But we are hoping for more from the primal therapy's radical scientific evidence.

      Frank

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    3. Frank: Basically this is Kuhn's position, these guys have to die out (I guess that means me too) Art.

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    4. A "professor" Art... would never question a newfound science if it exceeded his profession... that's what being a professor means ... he knows where the limits of his profession goes... it is precisely that which is to be a professor... to always have science as his goal for his profession. I know you have giving up your own profession for another... so you are more than welcome to live a long life… you are one that is needed.

      Frank

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  11. Hi to all,
    I think medical and psych-professionals need “consciousness”. Awareness and book knowledge is not enough. The question is, how can we introduce them to the reality of evolutional imprints, when they themselves have altered genomes and must stick stiffly to their pragmatism.
    I believe Rick Santorum and others like him don’t even attempt to read work such as “Life before Birth”, yet his drive is to reach the throne of the white house, so he can force his “belief” on others.

    Planespotter: that’s it, “power over others” and, blindly following what pharma-companies tell them.

    Jan Johnsson: I relate to your experience. Yes, it is US who have to make the final decision and you did. Soon, I will do the same.

    Dr. Janov, I have my answer, which is very unpopular among “believers”. I always consider other thoughts. My brain has always room for improvement, while my alert feelings never betray me.
    Sieglinde

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  12. HI Art,
    I hope your stem cell therapy works however I am wondering why you need it? I assumed that as you have experienced primal therapy and resolved all your past pain that you wouldn't require stem cell therapy. Maybe I have misunderstood something. Can you enlighten me?
    Ade

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    1. Ade: As I explained I had 8 surgeries on my throat and they damaged or destroyed my nerve cells in the throat; hence stem cells to regrow throat cells. art

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    2. Keep us updated on that, I am wondering how you're going
      x x

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  13. Dr. Oz. . . Now is he any relation to the Wizard of Oz? He was a fraud too. Why do some people have names that give themselves away? How is that?

    Could it be the Antipodes of bad jokes? Hey Jacquie, you come from 'down under', help us out here.

    Paul G.

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    1. Paul: Not sure about "fraud". Perhaps misled. Art

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  14. Hi Art, yes of course, misled,

    I often wonder which of the heroes I was as a child on my yellow brick road. Not the Lion, not the Scare Crow, not Dorothy, not Toto the terrier but the Tin Man. I am the Tin Man.

    That's what they did to me in institutions. I am a very good robot. Ready to obey. Just so, so, programmed, programmed.

    Paul G.

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  15. Hi Art & All,


    Frank: Basically this is Kuhn's position, these guys have to die out (I guess that means me too) Art"-.

    Well Art, that makes you one of many sacrificial goats into the alter of evolution. The sacrificial King; "Hail the goer".

    PG.

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Review of "Beyond Belief"

This thought-provoking and important book shows how people are drawn toward dangerous beliefs.
“Belief can manifest itself in world-changing ways—and did, in some of history’s ugliest moments, from the rise of Adolf Hitler to the Jonestown mass suicide in 1979. Arthur Janov, a renowned psychologist who penned The Primal Scream, fearlessly tackles the subject of why and how strong believers willingly embrace even the most deranged leaders.
Beyond Belief begins with a lucid explanation of belief systems that, writes Janov, “are maps, something to help us navigate through life more effectively.” While belief systems are not presented as inherently bad, the author concentrates not just on why people adopt belief systems, but why “alienated individuals” in particular seek out “belief systems on the fringes.” The result is a book that is both illuminating and sobering. It explores, for example, how a strongly-held belief can lead radical Islamist jihadists to murder others in suicide acts. Janov writes, “I believe if people had more love in this life, they would not be so anxious to end it in favor of some imaginary existence.”
One of the most compelling aspects of Beyond Belief is the author’s liberal use of case studies, most of which are related in the first person by individuals whose lives were dramatically affected by their involvement in cults. These stories offer an exceptional perspective on the manner in which belief systems can take hold and shape one’s experiences. Joan’s tale, for instance, both engaging and disturbing, describes what it was like to join the Hare Krishnas. Even though she left the sect, observing that participants “are stunted in spiritual awareness,” Joan considers returning someday because “there’s a certain protection there.”
Janov’s great insight into cultish leaders is particularly interesting; he believes such people have had childhoods in which they were “rejected and unloved,” because “only unloved people want to become the wise man or woman (although it is usually male) imparting words of wisdom to others.” This is just one reason why Beyond Belief is such a thought-provoking, important book.”
Barry Silverstein, Freelance Writer

Quotes for "Life Before Birth"

“Life Before Birth is a thrilling journey of discovery, a real joy to read. Janov writes like no one else on the human mind—engaging, brilliant, passionate, and honest.
He is the best writer today on what makes us human—he shows us how the mind works, how it goes wrong, and how to put it right . . . He presents a brand-new approach to dealing with depression, emotional pain, anxiety, and addiction.”
Paul Thompson, PhD, Professor of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine

Art Janov, one of the pioneers of fetal and early infant experiences and future mental health issues, offers a robust vision of how the earliest traumas of life can percolate through the brains, minds and lives of individuals. He focuses on both the shifting tides of brain emotional systems and the life-long consequences that can result, as well as the novel interventions, and clinical understanding, that need to be implemented in order to bring about the brain-mind changes that can restore affective equanimity. The transitions from feelings of persistent affective turmoil to psychological wholeness, requires both an understanding of the brain changes and a therapist that can work with the affective mind at primary-process levels. Life Before Birth, is a manifesto that provides a robust argument for increasing attention to the neuro-mental lives of fetuses and infants, and the widespread ramifications on mental health if we do not. Without an accurate developmental history of troubled minds, coordinated with a recognition of the primal emotional powers of the lowest ancestral regions of the human brain, therapists will be lost in their attempt to restore psychological balance.
Jaak Panksepp, Ph.D.
Bailey Endowed Chair of Animal Well Being Science
Washington State University

Dr. Janov’s essential insight—that our earliest experiences strongly influence later well being—is no longer in doubt. Thanks to advances in neuroscience, immunology, and epigenetics, we can now see some of the mechanisms of action at the heart of these developmental processes. His long-held belief that the brain, human development, and psychological well being need to studied in the context of evolution—from the brainstem up—now lies at the heart of the integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy.
Grounded in these two principles, Dr. Janov continues to explore the lifelong impact of prenatal, birth, and early experiences on our brains and minds. Simultaneously “old school” and revolutionary, he synthesizes traditional psychodynamic theories with cutting-edge science while consistently highlighting the limitations of a strict, “top-down” talking cure. Whether or not you agree with his philosophical assumptions, therapeutic practices, or theoretical conclusions, I promise you an interesting and thought-provoking journey.
Lou Cozolino, PsyD, Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University


In Life Before Birth Dr. Arthur Janov illuminates the sources of much that happens during life after birth. Lucidly, the pioneer of primal therapy provides the scientific rationale for treatments that take us through our original, non-verbal memories—to essential depths of experience that the superficial cognitive-behavioral modalities currently in fashion cannot possibly touch, let alone transform.
Gabor Maté MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

An expansive analysis! This book attempts to explain the impact of critical developmental windows in the past, implores us to improve the lives of pregnant women in the present, and has implications for understanding our children, ourselves, and our collective future. I’m not sure whether primal therapy works or not, but it certainly deserves systematic testing in well-designed, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trials.
K.J.S. Anand, MBBS, D. Phil, FAACP, FCCM, FRCPCH, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Senior Scholar, Center for Excellence in Faith and Health, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System


A baby's brain grows more while in the womb than at any time in a child's life. Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script That Rules Our Lives is a valuable guide to creating healthier babies and offers insight into healing our early primal wounds. Dr. Janov integrates the most recent scientific research about prenatal development with the psychobiological reality that these early experiences do cast a long shadow over our entire lifespan. With a wealth of experience and a history of successful psychotherapeutic treatment, Dr. Janov is well positioned to speak with clarity and precision on a topic that remains critically important.
Paula Thomson, PsyD, Associate Professor, California State University, Northridge & Professor Emeritus, York University

"I am enthralled.
Dr. Janov has crafted a compelling and prophetic opus that could rightly dictate
PhD thesis topics for decades to come. Devoid of any "New Age" pseudoscience,
this work never strays from scientific orthodoxy and yet is perfectly accessible and
downright fascinating to any lay person interested in the mysteries of the human psyche."
Dr. Bernard Park, MD, MPH

His new book “Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” shows that primal therapy, the lower-brain therapeutic method popularized in the 1970’s international bestseller “Primal Scream” and his early work with John Lennon, may help alleviate depression and anxiety disorders, normalize blood pressure and serotonin levels, and improve the functioning of the immune system.
One of the book’s most intriguing theories is that fetal imprinting, an evolutionary strategy to prepare children to cope with life, establishes a permanent set-point in a child's physiology. Baby's born to mothers highly anxious during pregnancy, whether from war, natural disasters, failed marriages, or other stressful life conditions, may thus be prone to mental illness and brain dysfunction later in life. Early traumatic events such as low oxygen at birth, painkillers and antidepressants administered to the mother during pregnancy, poor maternal nutrition, and a lack of parental affection in the first years of life may compound the effect.
In making the case for a brand-new, unified field theory of psychotherapy, Dr. Janov weaves together the evolutionary theories of Jean Baptiste Larmarck, the fetal development studies of Vivette Glover and K.J.S. Anand, and fascinating new research by the psychiatrist Elissa Epel suggesting that telomeres—a region of repetitive DNA critical in predicting life expectancy—may be significantly altered during pregnancy.
After explaining how hormonal and neurologic processes in the womb provide a blueprint for later mental illness and disease, Dr. Janov charts a revolutionary new course for psychotherapy. He provides a sharp critique of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, and other popular “talk therapy” models for treating addiction and mental illness, which he argues do not reach the limbic system and brainstem, where the effects of early trauma are registered in the nervous system.
“Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” is scheduled to be published by NTI Upstream in October 2011, and has tremendous implications for the future of modern psychology, pediatrics, pregnancy, and women’s health.
Editor