Posted on February 5th, 2009 by Craig Maltby, Editor
Felix Mendelssohn should be an example of immune system’s prominence
Here’s one from way out in left field. In other words, a brainstorm. I was listening to a radio news feature the othe
r day reporting on something called The Mendelssohn Project. It is an effort to put the works of 19th century composer Felix Mendelssohn on the highest plane in the the music world’s consciousness. The Mendelssohn Project proclaims the works by the composer should be placed in symphonies’ the musical repertoires at the same level at Mozart, Beethoven and the other classical music icons.
The project says that history shows the German-born composer, who lived only to age 38 (and obviously had a sweet set of mutton-chop sideburns), was, during his heyday, every bit as popular and in demand as Mozart or Bach were more than a century earlier. Because of various historical events after his death, including a long, nasty smear campaign against him by Richard Wagner, Mendelssohn was denied his rightful place among the masters of classical composers. So today there is an organized movement, based on a worldwide search for unpublished and unperformed composition manuscripts, letters and documents, to demonstrate Mendelssohn’s essential value and merit that would place him at the head table of history’s musical Brahman.
What does this have to do with immune balance? Good question. Here’s my treatise. The human immune system has been denied its place in the pantheon of leading health platforms, popular medicine and nutritional instruction. Just as Wagner posthumously dissed Mendelssohn’s body of work in order promote his own priorities, balanced immune function–as a basic nutrition and health parameter that if managed well or poorly can affect multiple health conditions–has been given short shrift in the harmonic universe of health science.
Today, we have multiple pharmaceutical and over-the-counter products to fight symptoms and disease, while early, preventive efforts including immune health management, are not on center stage. Instead of timeless, lasting fundamentals of healthy, balanced immune function (Mendelssohn), consumers are drawn to quick-fix promises such as pop-culture overuse of antibiotics (Clay Aiken), the pseudo-soul myth of vitamin C (Michael Bolton) and a national addiction to limitless analgesics for stress-induced pain and inflammation (Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and all the other Disney pablum).
Who wants to organize an Immune Health Project? Sign me up if you’re out there.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Great metaphor and comparison! I hope that with this last year’s publicity about the immune system, inflammation and cancer that people will start to look at immune health as being important and will start to understand health in a more holistic way. I remember when I was a young adult and I had a naturopath tell me that whatever cold I had then was already two to three months in the making. It changed the way I thought about my health and the way that I took care of myself.
jh
http://www.bodaweightloss.com
February 10th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Jen:
Amen, my friend. You’ve said it all. Thanks for jumping in.