Can Your Brain Make Your Body Sick? New Research Is In!

So many simple and childlike solutions exist for the most complex problems, but only the children can understand them, and certainly only the children can use them. God’s Holy Bible, the owner’s manual of this life and even the Book by which to access eternal life, is available to all, but only the children can open the Book.  Jesus speaks in Mark 10:15:

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

One cannot approach God through this world’s scholarship.  It is so foolish and infantile, so inadequate.  If a man wants to know God, he must approach on humbled knees and with an ear fully bowed down to the ground in complete surrender.  God will meet such a man at this place, and how glorious and magnificent this place is. 

Dear visitor, have you yet to be BORN AGAIN? Jesus declares the importance in John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There are not enough words in the human lexicon to describe the full marvels of a soul’s salvation.  BORN AGAIN means exactly what it says: Born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God. In just a few moments, I will invite you to follow me in a simple prompt, and if you follow from your heart, everything becomes new for you today—absolutely NEW!  Today, all your sin and shame will be washed away by Christ’s cleansing blood. Today, all of the devil’s bondages in your life will be broken—the bigger, the better. Today, you will become a new creature.  Today, you will become a son or daughter of God.  Today, you are in the valley of decision and your own soul is in your own hand.  God sets before you two doors: One is life, and the other is death.  Choose life and live forever.  Here is the prompt I promised: Click onto Further with Jesus for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 8:11-13:

11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

GOD SAID, Matthew 11:28-30:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

MAN SAID: I’m into ME—my hair, my clothes, my car, my career, my pleasures, my complete satisfaction.  I’m into ME!  Really deep, don’t you think?

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1142 that will once again certify the perfect and supernatural veracity of God’s Holy Book. All of these Word-centric features are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification and as a platform from which to engage the lost. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one.

Thank you for visiting.  May God’s face shine upon you with Light and Truth.

Everything with which we will ever have to do is a word issue.  Psalm 33:6-9:

6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

We are, in fact, a word product.  We were spoken into existence with God’s Words of intent.  Our very DNA that carries the instructions for life is a four-letter alphabet that gives those instructions in words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and volumes. We are a word product.

◉ John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

◉ Revelation 19:13: …and his name is called The Word of God.

Everything with which we will ever have to do is a word issue. 

The following excerpts are lifted from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “The Ultimate Benefits Package (The Science is In):”

Prayerful, mental/spiritual intentions can move mountains, but don’t confuse that with “mind over matter.”  When God’s Word, mixed with our faith, is articulated as prayer, big, fourth dimension motion is put into play.  Prayer sits at the intersection of energy and matter, and it is not just mental intentions affecting things like gray matter, or the placebo and nocebo effects, or living 11% longer.  No, it is so much unimaginably more—even to harnessing the power and favor of God, the energy and life source of heaven and earth.

The benefits of the beautiful Book are far beyond staggering.  Today, anxiety, despair, depression, suicidal tendencies, alcohol and substance abuse, are all out of control.  Satan has placed a deadly chokehold on the world’s inhabitants, and he is enjoying every moment of it.  But wouldn’t you know it?  The God of the Bible offers the remedy.  Today’s science is discovering that God’s commandment to His children to attend church is the antidote.  The headline in Science News reads: “Regularly Attending Religious Services Associated with Lower Risk of Deaths of Despair, Study Finds.” The article was submitted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on May 6, 2020.  Excerpts follow:

People who attend religious services at least once a week were significantly less likely to die from “deaths of despair,” including deaths related to suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol poisoning, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

“Despair is something that can confront anyone dealing with severe difficulties or loss.  While the term ‘deaths of despair’ was originally coined in the context of working-class Americans struggling with unemployment, it is a phenomenon that is relevant more broadly, such as to the health care professionals in our study who may be struggling with excessive demands and burnout, or to anyone facing loss.  As such, we need to look for important community resources that can protect against it,” said Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb, and Frances Lehman Loeb, Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.  VanderWeele is also director of the Human Flourishing Program and co-director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at Harvard University.  

The study will be published online in JAMA Psychiatry on May 6, 2020.

Religion may be a social determinant of health, and previous research has shown that attending religious services may be associated with a lower risk of various factors related to despair, including heavy drinking, substance misuse, and suicidality. 

For this study, researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study II on 66,492 women as well as data  from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study on 43,141 men.  Among the women, there were 75 deaths from despair: 43 suicides, 20 deaths from poisoning, and 12 deaths from liver disease and cirrhosis.  Among the men, there were 306 deaths from despair: 197 suicides, 6 deaths from poisoning, and 103 deaths from liver disease and cirrhosis. 

After adjusting for numerous variables, the study showed that women who attended services at least once per week had a 68% lower risk of death from despair compared to those never attending services.  Men who attended services at least once per week had 33% lower risk of death from despair. 

The study authors noted that religious participation may serve as an important antidote to despair and an asset for sustaining a sense of hope and meaning.  They also wrote that religion may be associated with strengthened psychosocial resilience by fostering a sense of peace and positive outlook, and promoting social connectedness.  [End of quotes]

The following information was published in 2013, a decade ago, in the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Far Better than Placebo Power:”

The world is full of sinful disobedience and consequently, evil and disease—and sooner or later despair and death—but God offers a better way. 

In the April 2013 issue of Whistle Blower, under the heading of “Americans Snapping by the Millions,” author David Kupelian listed very stark data regarding the mental health of the United States:

◆ One-third of U.S. employees suffer chronic, debilitating stress. 

◆ One-half of all 18- to 33-year-olds experience levels of stress that keep them awake at night. 

◆ 75-90% of visits to the doctor [General Practitioner] are stress-related. 

◆ Stress is now known to play a major role in the progression of cancer. 

◆ The CDC reports 23% of U.S. women take antidepressants.

◆ 11% of Americans 12 and up take SSRI antidepressants that are mood-altering drugs with suicide warnings; statistics show an alarming correlation between antidepressant-medicated students and school shootings. 

◆ Suicide surpasses car crashes as a leading cause of injury and death. 

◆ 20% of New York City children 6-12 have been diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, depression, or bi-polar disorder.  [End of quote]

◆ April 2013, Psychology Today reports 14 million U.S. adults suffer from BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder).

◆ 5.7 million U.S. adults have bi-polar disorder.

◆ In a given year, 2.4 American adults are diagnosed with schizophrenia. 

◆ Approximately 6 million U.S. adults experience panic disorders.

The following paragraph, published in October 2011 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reads:

Antidepressants were the third most common prescription drug taken by Americans of all ages in 2005-2008 and the most frequently used by persons aged 18-44 years.  From 1988-1994 through 2005-2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the United States among all ages increased nearly 400%.  [End of quote]

Several months ago, GodSaidManSaid published the latest mental health statistics of Europe, which diagnosed its people as 38% mentally ill and the U.S. can’t be far behind.  Does anyone doubt that the wheels are coming off?  [End of quotes]

The situation is dire and becoming progressively worse, but to those who embrace Christ, the hopelessness is replaced with hope and the darkness is replaced with ‘Son’shine. [End of quotes]

Truly, there is only one lasting and eternal remedy and the King of Glory calls it BORN AGAIN. I need to know God’s Word is true; literally everything depends on it, every single thing.

The vast majority of the world is in a deep state of sin, and as a result, it’s citizens are laden with fear and stress.  The result of their anti-Christ ways is sickness, suffering, and death, but God offers the remedy and calls it BORN AGAIN.  This event begins the total renewal of the mind and life of the participant.

Yes, we are made out of words and the words we think and speak dictate our future.  Proverbs 18:21 is completely accurate:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

This passage was penned about 3,000 years ago.  Still quite relevant, don’t you think? Consider this headline from a November 2021 issue of the Jerusalem Post’s health and wellness section: “Can Our Brain Make Our Body Sick? Likely Yes, Israeli Research Shows.”  Several excerpts from the article follow:

Can our brain trigger an actual illness in the body?  New research by Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists conducted on mice suggests that the answer is likely yes. 

Over the years, the intuitive idea that the brain exercises a significant influence on people’s physical well-being has been supported by increasing scientific evidence. 

“Several years ago, we studied the mechanism behind the placebo effect, demonstrating that when people experience a positive expectation, their conditions improve in many ways,” Technion Prof. Asya Rolls said.

“We were able to show that by activating brain areas that are related to positive expectations, we would boost the immune response,” she said.  “What amazed us was how precise this response was, and therefore we thought that the brain could not have such an exact control of the system without knowing what its status is.”

The researchers started to examine whether the brain is able to represent the status of the immune system.

The new study was led by Rolls and her MD/PhD student Tamar Koren and was conducted in cooperation with Dr. Kobi Rosenblum of the University of Haifa and Dr. Fahed Hakim of EMMS Nazareth Hospital.  The results were published in the journal Cell on Monday.

The scientists checked which areas of the brain would be activated when mice experienced genetically induced colon inflammation.  Among others, the insular cortex—which is responsible for sensations such as thirst, hunger, and pain among other manifestations of the body’s physiological state—presented increased neurological activity.

“When we reactivated the same neurons afterwards, we recorded the same inflammatory response,” Rolls said.  “It was quite shocking.”

The results offer evidence that the brain contains a representation of the immune system, and it can reactivate it when presented with specific stimuli and possibly other forms of memories, the researchers said.

The brain does not cause the body to be reinfected by a pathogen, but it might potentially trigger a reaction in the body similar to the one caused by the original infection, they said.

“We have to remember that, many times, the damage to the body is not caused by the pathogen itself but, rather, by the immune system’s reaction to it,” Rolls said.

The mechanism may help explain what triggers psychosomatic disorders, which are health problems that appear without any apparent biological cause, the researchers found.  Autoimmune disorders or other conditions, such as Crohn’s disease, could also be based on a similar process.

“There are many ways we can control the neuronal activities in the human brain, for example, through magnetic or electrical stimulation or by neurofeedback when a person learns how to control their neurons on their own,” Rolls said.

“We know we can do it because we know the power of a psychosomatic effect,” she said.  “For example, during the clinical trial of the COVID vaccine, many people who received the placebo experienced very similar side effects to those who received the actual vaccine. Clearly, this was caused by some mental process resulting in a physiological response.”  [End of quotes]

God’s Word clearly teaches that words are the entire issue.  We are a word product, and the words we immerse ourselves in will produce life or death—and we choose the words.

Consider these paragraphs from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Deadly Rumination—It Must Stop!”

Thoughts, which are spiritual in nature, produce physical outcomes, good or bad, and I have been given charge as a believer to control the dialogue. I am reminded of I Thessalonians 4:4:

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

I must possess my own vessel. 

In the book Switch on Your Brain, Dr. Caroline Leaf demonstrates the power of death and life that’s in the tongue.  Dr. Leaf’s biography reads, in part:

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and audiologist who has worked in the area of cognitive neuroscience since 1985.  Her pioneering work on neuroplasticity—that changes in thinking actually change the brain and can effect behavioral change—paved the way for her current research on how scientific principles are supported by Scripture and vice versa.

Passages from Switch on Your Brain follow:

You are a thinking being.  You think all day long, and at night as you sleep, you sort out your thinking.  As you think, you choose, and as you choose, you cause genetic expression to happen in your brain.  This means you make proteins, and these proteins form your thoughts.  Thoughts are real, physical things that occupy mental real estate. 

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Whatever you believe in and hope for becomes substance on a physical level, and you act upon this.  This process can move in either direction—negative or positive. 

It is very interesting that every cell in the body is connected to the heart, and the brain controls the heart, and the mind controls the brain.  So whatever we are thinking about affects every cell in our body.

When you make a conscious decision to focus and direct your attention correctly, you change physical matter—your brain and your body change in a healthy way. [End of quotes]

From the GodSaidManSaid feature, “God’s Brain and Harnessing the Placebo:”

You’re aware of the placebo effect.  In clinical measurements, for instance, a proposed medical remedy is measured by taking a group of people and distributing the correct medical product to part of the group and a harmless sugar pill—or placebo—to the other part.  Results are then tabulated.  According to the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, the placebo (sugar pill) clocks in with a cure rate of 33%, which is sometimes higher than the proposed remedy that is administered.  They also discovered that the benefits of the fake placebo spikes measurably upward if the doctor talks up the benefits of the fake placebo.  It’s a matter of words.  Converse to the placebo effect is an effect now known as the nocebo effect, which is the simple, measurable result of negative words. 

What science calls placebo, the Bible calls hope.  Medical researchers are shocked at what they’re finding. Discover magazine’s July/August 2014 publication, in an eight-page spread, addresses the subject of the placebo effect.  The subhead of the feature reads, “Once dismissed as a psychological curiosity, the placebo effect is now recognized as the key to the brain’s ‘inner pharmacy.’ If only doctors knew how to open the medicine cabinet.”  Excerpts from the article follow:

The new evidence has established that placebos trigger the brain’s “inner pharmacy”—in essence, a warehouse perpetually stocked to deliver active drugs to itself.  In addition to improving Parkinson’s symptoms, that same inner pharmacy can affect conditions like pain, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, schizophrenia, and more.  As the placebo effect emerges from a long history in the shadows, the new question is:  How can we use this age-old brain trick to our advantage?

When Wager analyzed subjects’ brain activity, he found that people who reported the greatest relief after receiving a placebo also showed the strongest reduction in activity in the ACC, the thalamus, and the insula, all evolutionarily primitive brain structures that respond to physical pain. 

Suddenly, it was clear that when a patient improved on placebo, it wasn’t just some delusion or an effort to please a person in a lab coat.  It was a measurable brain event and reflected an actual reduction in the experience of pain. 

Today, placebos are widely recognized not as a psychological mirage, but as a potent inner pharmacy that we might someday even harness. 

But the real placebo revolution may be in reshaping clinical practice.  Jensen says many doctors cripple their chances of leveraging the placebo effect by acting disinterested or lacking confidence with patients.  She would know:  When she started out, she had trouble eliciting a placebo effect.  It was the doctor, not the patient, who had to change in order to boost the placebo.  She learned to exude confidence and crafted a warmer manner, and her patients began to respond.  [End of quotes]

The thoughts we fixate on will deliver real physical results.  This is a cardinal law. [End of quotes]

Words, spoken and silent, will dictate our eternal future and certainly the physical in the now. Not only have we been created out of God’s Words, but our glorious salvation itself is a Word covenant. Romans 10:9-10:

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is where BORN AGAIN begins, and here, everything becomes brand new, even the very language that we speak.  II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The actual renewal of the mind, even a neurological transformation process, begins immediately at the Cross of Christ.  It is supernaturally and truly transformative, even down to the physical shape-changing of the brain that neurobiologists know as neuroplasticity.  Consider Romans 12:1-2:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This transformation that affects shape and function of the brain, this neuroplasticity, is augmented daily by a Holy Ghost word-of-intent process called “washing the water by the word.”  Speaking of the marriage union and the bride of Christ, Ephesians 5:25-27 reads:

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The placebo effect, where good things happen because one believes in a good outcome, has its counterpart in the nocebo effect, where the opposite rules: When wrong words are embraced, deadly outcomes are the result.  It is surely true that the negative words one immerses himself in lead to sickness and despair. Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

We are heading into very dark times for this world, and the word-confession of the mouth—either good or bad—will order the day. The marvelous new language of the BORN AGAIN changes the entire paradigm.  Tune out the world’s dark and deadly dialogue.  Tune out the constantly negative news cycle.  Turn off your cell phone and digital wristwatch, and tune INTO Holy Ghost words of intent.  Your day will be filled with promise.  The glorious Christ says to us in Matthew 11:28-30:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Kiss the Christ (…and His name is called The Word of God, Rev. 19:13) and you can kiss this world’s dark depression, anxiety, and fear goodbye forever.  If you have yet to be BORN AGAIN, please click onto “Further with Jesus” now.  Everything changes today.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 8:11-13:

11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

GOD SAID, Matthew 11:28-30:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

MAN SAID: I’m into ME—my hair, my clothes, my car, my career, my pleasures, my complete satisfaction.  I’m into ME!  Really deep, don’t you think?

 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “Deadly Rumination—It MUST Stop!”

GodSaidManSaid, “Far Better than Placebo Power”

GodSaidManSaid, “The Ultimate Benefits Package (The Science is In)”

Tercatin, R., “Can Our Brain Make Our Body Sick?  Likely Yes, Israeli Research Shows,” Jerusalem Post, November 10, 2021

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