'Mindfulness' For His Own Life And His Patients'

Tom Casey's family tree casts a dark shadow. Heart disease infected virtually every branch. Heart attacks and strokes claimed the lives of both his father and mother before they were 60. They died within a year of each other, when Casey was only 24.
It was, he says, "a wake-up call."

Casey, who grew up in Ardmore and went to Monsignor Bonner, St. Joe's, and Temple University School of Medicine, stopped smoking. He began exercising - biking, running, swimming. He reformed his diet and monitored his blood pressure and cholesterol.

Healing and the Mind, Bill Moyers' 1993 PBS special, fascinated him. He was receptive to the gospel of cardiologist Dean Ornish, who recommends yoga and meditation for reducing stress and managing hypertension. He was impressed by the research of Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, whose studies showed that Buddhist-based "mindfulness" not only lowers stress but also improves the quality of life of people with cancer, severe pain, and chronic heart and lung disease. (MORE)

Source: Philadelphia Enquirer