Belief kills and belief cures

Sonia Morgan, Staff Reporter

PEOPLE BELIEVE mineral waters can cure even AIDS. According to Daniel Fullcott, the security guard at Bath Fountain, "The only thing the water don't heal is bad mind." He told Outlook that his mother had suffered a stroke and she used the water to ease her pains. She is among the many people who have come from all across the island. People have come too from Asia, Africa, Germany and all over the world to experience the natural healing properties of the water.

Without even possessing healing properties, water is special for its therapeutic value, said Professor Errol Morrison from the University of the West Indies Department of Biochemistry and Endocrinology. He added that water at any temperature can be beneficial; water from the sea, hot water, tepid or cold can help to relax the body and the mind. "Immersion in any kind of water will give you some kind of positive result. Even taking a bath or listening to the flowing sound of water has a calming therapeutic effect." He said he was not prepared to say yea or nay to the healing properties in the water, but was certain that many stress-related illnesses could be alleviated from visits to a mineral spa. Of special note is that temperature change in water offers a certain relaxation. "It is no one thing that cures ­ plus if you go with a positive approach you might get a positive result."

Belief kills and belief cures.

This saying is not to be taken lightly. There is, in fact, a scientific explanation. According to Dr. Brown, "If you believe strongly enough in something your immune system is stimulated and will work more positively towards the healing process."

Professor Morrison said minerals are good for the body and that we would get them in our foods. But if people feel better after coming into contact with the mineral water, whether by inhalation or by absorbing the minerals such as sulphur and phosphate into the body, then they should. However, they should not trade getting diagnosed by a physician for taking a dip. It can be practised alongside medical attention. "We need to be quite cognizant of the holistic approach for the treatment of certain illnesses and where they get benefit ­ by all means."

People have also practised drinking the mineral water (some say for laxative). Professor Morrison said the practice was fine, as long as the water is purified. However, he warned that persons might get bacterial infection in the gut from drinking unpurified water.

"Sulphur, it's good stuff, smells awful, it must do something."

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