Life-force energy released upon death?

Dear Dr. Roach: After many years of dealing with reflux, I have now developed Barrett’s esophagus. The biopsy said “Barrett’s/intestinal metaplasia.” After speaking to the nurse at my gastroenterologist’s office, she explained that they were the “same thing.”

Needless to say, I’m a bit concerned knowing that this diagnosis is a precursor to esophageal cancer. I am really careful with my diet and have adjusted to having very little caffeine, chocolate, tomato sauce and other things that may cause acid production. Having had a motility test done recently, I was told that my reflux isn’t my main issue and that it’s actually the very slow motility of my esophagus.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I destined to end up with a cancer diagnosis? I am unable to speak to my gastroenterologist for another month. I am pretty scared.

P.O.

Answer: Food goes down the esophagus through the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and into the stomach. The lining of the stomach is specially adapted to the strong chemicals needed for digestion, which can damage other cells. Stomach contents, including acid and bile, are not supposed to get into the esophagus.

However, in many people, stomach contents do go backward (“reflux”) through the sphincter and into the esophagus. If this happens for long periods of time, the lining of the esophagus changes in response to acid and bile, which is known as metaplasia. This protects it against chemicals, but it also predisposes people to cancer.

Reducing acid in the esophagus is thought to slow progression of Barrett’s. Caffeine weakens the LES, which is why it isn’t recommended in people with symptomatic reflux and those with Barrett’s.

A slow movement of the esophagus lets those toxic chemicals from the stomach stay in the esophagus longer, causing persistent damage. Medications to stop acid production, like omeprazole, seem to reduce cancer risk; although this is not definitive, most experts believe it to be true based on theory and observational studies. Aspirin and statins also may have benefits, but the data are not strong enough for me to recommend them as preventive agents at this time.

While I fully understand being scared of developing cancer of the esophagus, fortunately it is not common. On average,

of 1% of people with Barrett’s will develop cancer each year. Your risk for developing esophageal cancer is higher than people who don’t have Barrett’s, but it’s still low overall. Your gastroenterologist will likely recommend periodic screening of your esophagus to look for any precursor lesions of cancer.

Dear Dr. Roach: In a recent column, you said there wasn’t any treatment to stop the progress of osteoarthritis. Some years ago, I began to have osteoarthritic symptoms in my big toes, then in my thumbs. I tried glucosamine and chondroitin for a couple years with no apparent benefit. Then I tried turmeric, and I saw some reduction in joint pain. So, I upped the dose to 2,000 mg twice a day and had complete relief of pain. I know this is a sample size of one, but it is working for me!

J.E.

Answer: There are treatments that can improve symptoms. Anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen help many people. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, too, and I have many patients who benefit from it. Unfortunately, none of these repair or stop damage to the joint.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or send mail to 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

Dear Dr. Fox: I read one of your articles after researching an experience I just had with my dog. Long story short, I had two older huskies who both died around Christmas, two weeks apart. The first one made it to the vet, but unfortunately passed there. With the second one, I was able to see the same signs and knew she was about to pass, so I had her do so in my arms at our home.

I monitored her every breath for five straight hours. At the very end, she took three spaced-out breaths and her lungs finally stopped, same as her heart. As I kept my hand over her chest to feel for any sign of a pulse, her body vibrated for almost four seconds. I could not believe what I was feeling.

I have researched as much as I can, but have you ever heard of a body vibrating after death? Did I feel her conscious energy or soul leave her body? Or was it a fluke medical thing?

D.M., Cleveland, Ohio

Dear D.M.: What you experienced, I, too, have felt while holding animals who were on their way out. My interpretation is that this is the release of their bioelectrical energy. With our beloved cat Mr. Mark Twain, who had had a stroke, I held him for about four hours as he went in and out of consciousness. Then he had a three- to five-second seizure, his body convulsing, and I felt that energy being released and he was gone.

I theorize that this energy is what we call “spirit” or “vital force,” and after death, it returns to the unified field that some call “heaven.”

One journalist friend told me that he saw a very clear ephemeral form of his dog’s body rise up when the dog died on the veterinarian’s surgical table after euthanasia. He said it seemed to evaporate, then was gone. Metaphysically, this has been termed the “etheric double.” The etheric body can be characterized as the life force also present in the plant kingdom, which maintains the physical body’s form until death. At that time, it separates, and the physical body reverts to natural disintegration.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder if other readers, including veterinarians euthanizing animals, have ever sensed and felt similarly.

Dear Dr. Fox: Our sweet little mixedbreed Chihuahua, Bailey, was a word learner. He passed away in 2022 and it was like losing a child. We were retired when we adopted him, so he got a lot of attention.

We had to spell many words to keep him from knowing what we were saying: eat, out, treat, carrot, bed, ride, car and up, for a few. The cutest was that he knew our grandkids’names. They are here almost every day, and Bailey learned, on his own, to go to the door at 3 p.m. and wait for them after school. If I mentioned their names at any time, he would bark and run to the door, looking for them. We miss him so very much.

After that, we adopted a little elderly Pekingese who was in hospice care. He was such a blessing to us, and we were able to have him for 6 months before he had to cross the bridge. He was mostly deaf, but within a couple of weeks, he came to learn my habits and motions – like lying down on his bed at night when he saw me getting my bed ready. Dogs are such smart creatures. V.B., Cumberland, Maryland

Dear V.B.: Many readers will enjoy what you have shared about your bright little Chihuahua. Not all dogs are so word-attentive. Still, those who do not or cannot learn many words shouldn’t be looked down on, as your Pekingese made clear. We should appreciate all dogs, who have so many different talents – and, in many ways, more virtues than we do.

A bill introduced in Hawaii’s state senate would fund a pilot program allowing screened, trained inmates at the Women’s Correctional Center to foster cats from animal shelters until they can be adopted or returned to the shelter. If approved, the bill could reduce overcrowding in shelters and improve inmates’ well-being, supporters say. (Full story: KHON-TV Honolulu, Jan. 31)

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