ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF APPLIED PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY

The Association for the Advancement of Applied Psychoneuroimmunology was established in June of 2002 in Naples, Florida by health psychologist Sparks Lunney, and Jef Morris, a Miami based tai chi instructor who provides tai chi classes for persons managing a variety of illnesses including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, arthritis and HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the Association is to serve as a resource for information and education concerning the field of

psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) and applied psychoneuroimmunology in the areas of management of chronic illness and disability and more generally immuno supportive life-style changes as they relate to individual self-responsibility for wellness. The Association does not provide diagnostics, health care services or individual medical advice.

In the past 15 to 20 years, the interdisciplinary field of PNI has provided a greater understanding of the relationship between immune system function and both disease inducing and wellness promoting behaviors. In large part due to the sophisticated biometric technology previously unavailable, PNI researchers have produced a body of empirical evidence which has gained increasing acceptance among both scientists and clinicians.

Hans Selye, M.D. is credited with introducing the concept of stress and its relationship to the manifestation of disease. In his 1956 classic “The Stess of Life” he spoke of the need to “lay the scientific foundations for a new type of treatment whose essence is to combat disease by strengthening the body’s own defenses against stress." The scientific foundations of which Dr. Selye spoke were laid down by number of pioneer PNI researchers. Many trace the origins of PNI to the work of George F. Solomon, M.D., who opened his “psychoimmunology Laboratory" at the Stanford University affiliated - Palo Alto VA Hospital in 1964. Today, PNI is a booming, cutting edge interdisciplinary field. PNI has produced a large and growing body of research findings. The immediate past-president of the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, University of Michigan professor of psychology, Christopher Coe, Ph.D. speaks to the transition from PNI as a research field to the clinical application of the collective findings of PNI research. In the June 2002 issue of the American Psychological Associations “Monitor On Psychology," Dr. Coe notes: “Our challenge is to take basic science and bring it into the clinic in a logical and straightforward way and maybe make people’s lives a lot less miserable.”

A wide variety of practices including acupuncture, tai chi, meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, nutritional modification and body work, have been identified by PNI research as having value in the promotion of wellness and the management of chronic illness. These practices derive from the world’s spiritual, healing and martial arts traditions. As a group, these practices place in the hands of clinicians an effective complementary medicine. These practices provide specific life-style changes which allow the wellness seeking individual to make healthy choices and take responsibility for their health.