A book by Esther M. Sternberg M.D.

Sternberg, M.D., a medical professional who served for 26 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Senior Scientist working on Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior, has written an accessible book that links the built environment to our body’s ability to heal. Sternberg asks “Can the spaces around us help us heal?” (2009, p.1). The author focuses on the correlation between external stimuli that affect our senses (beauty, sight, sound, nature, and wayfinding) and their impact on our endocrine system (bodily hormones) and brains. She examines how these stimuli help or hinder the body’s healing process — a process she describes in fascinating detail as one that is continuously healing, every second of every day. Amongst other things, she discusses the psychophysiological effects of stress, and how the brain reacts to the hope hormone or the placebo effect.

In the chapter titled “Seeing and Healing,” Sternberg describes how the retina in our eyes has special receptors that sense the color of daylight and in turn tell our internal clocks (circadian rhythm) through the release of hormones (such as melatonin) if it’s time to wake up or wind down for the day. Since the rhythms of our bodies are in tune with the sun (rise with the sun, rest when it sets), the invention of artificial light sources and the proliferation of night shift work has led to an increase in disease. For example, a 2005 study from Richard Stevens at the University of Connecticut “found that women who spent their working lives on the night shift had a 30-80 percent greater chance of developing breast cancer than those who worked regular hours.” (2009, p.50).  Sternberg goes on to mention how access to sunlight has also been reported to significantly reduce the length of hospital stays and relieve mood disorders such as depression. From the evidence, it is easy to see how a connection to sunlight through windows or through the dappled shade in a park would have beneficial effects on healing.

One thing the book does not cover is the link between environmental toxins, manufacturing, and disposal of everyday building and consumer products and their impact on the health of fenceline communities. There is no emphasis on the realities of “sick building syndrome” and little concern over the way conventional building products and architectural finishes create poor indoor environmental quality, make occupants sick, and lead to the need for healing in the first place. That said, this book is a good place to start for those readers interested in the link between our thoughts, sights, sounds, smells, space, and healing. One will leave with admiration for the incredible work our bodies carry out every day when faced with an accumulating amount of harmful toxins in everyday consumer, household, agricultural, and building products.