“Illnesses hover constantly above us, their seeds blown by the wind, but they do not set in the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them.” -Claude Bernard
Claude Bernard was a 19th century French physiologist and contemporary of French chemist Louis Pasteur. The two famous doctors argued throughout their lives as to what really was the cause of disease, the soil or the seed. Pasteur insisted it was the seed (germ) while Bernard claimed it was the soil (the body). On Pasteur’s death bed, it is said that he admitted that Bernard was right; he said, “it is the soil, not the seed.”
Claude Bernard was a 19th century French physiologist and contemporary of French chemist Louis Pasteur. The two famous doctors argued throughout their lives as to what really was the cause of disease, the soil or the seed. Pasteur insisted it was the seed (germ) while Bernard claimed it was the soil (the body). On Pasteur’s death bed, it is said that he admitted that Bernard was right; he said, “it is the soil, not the seed.”
The seed (germ factors) or the soil (the body, host factors) argument was as prevalent then as it is now again today. Today many medical authors are agreeing that, although germs are certainly a factor involved in the diseases of man, the germ involved in the diseases of man, the germ alone is not the cause of disease.Dr. B. J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, stated: “If the ‘germ theory of disease’ were correct, there’d be no one living to believe it.”
Think about it for a moment, and you will see the common sense in Dr. Palmers statement. The cause of disease is within you, it is the lack of your bodys ability to ward off disease. Or else why do some individuals never get sick, while other’s pick up every cold in the neighborhood. Although the germ may be one of the essential and contributing causes, it alone is not sufficient to produce illness.
Accomplished and noted medical writer Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. , in his popular book “Health and Healing,” states:“Germs are agents of disease. …Agents of disease are not causes of disease…agents of disease do not cause us to get sick. They are merely potential vectors of illness waiting for chances to do their mischief. Given a chance, they will do it. Chances come along because of the natural fluctuations of our cycles of relative health. Agents of disease are all around us, not only in the form of viruses, bacteria, and parasites, but as a multitude of potential irritants, such as carcinogenic chemicals, allergens, insects, toxic plants, and so forth. A person solidly equilibrated in a phase of relative health can often interact with these agents and not get sick. Since internal factors determine the nature of our relationships with them, the true causes of disease are internal.”
The ancient Indian health system of Ayurveda which is one of the world's oldest and still most practical health treatises states the same philosophy that the cause of disease comes from inside, not outside. Rather than warring on disease agents with the hope of eliminating them, we ought to worry more about strengthening resistance to them and learning to live in balance with them. Ayurveda states how yoga, pranayam, plants, herbs and diet not only benefit immensely in strengthening our immune system but also aid in healing us physically,mentally and emotionally.
To your holistic good health !
Vikram
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