Ohashi returns to Acqui Terme, Italy November 22, 2017 to offer a workshop and sessions for treating Parkinson’s disease, sponsored by Sastoon Pietra Di Luce. For more information, please download the English and Italian versions of the brochure. In the meantime, we want to share with you a preface he wrote last year. The book is a group of stories of people with Parkinson’s disease who were treated by Ohashiatsu Instructor Claudia Minetti and her colleagues at their clinic in Acqui Terme. Both Italian and English versions of the preface to Canta Che Ti Passa: Storie di Persone col Parkinson are below. 

PREFACE  by Ohashi

People nowadays live longer. Allow me to talk first about myself. I am 72 years old this year, and I am still healthy, active and working full time. Actually, I am working more than ever before. My generation is a generation of long life. In other words, we are a “longer life” generation, perhaps the longest-lived generation in the history of human life on earth. Today, an average Japanese woman lives 86 years, while an average Japanese man lives 80 years. In Japan, we have an aging population with many 80, 90 and even 100 year-old people. This chronological age we call “life age.”  When I go back to Japan, everyone calls me “baby Ohashi” because so many Japanese people are much older than me. This phenomenon is not limited to Japan, but is occurring elsewhere in the world including Italy, wherever peoples’ improved health have extended their life age.

We also have another “age” which I call “health age.” Our health age is the age in which we are living our active, independent, and healthy lives. Our quality of life is central to our health age. When we begin to need a caregiver’s help and assistance in order to live and survive, our health age begins to end. Our health age fades when we are no longer able to live actively and independently without professional or personal care assistance. For example, a Japanese woman’s average health age ends at 82, while a Japanese man’s average health age ends at 78. This means the average Japanese woman needs and depends on her caregiver’s help for 4 years, while the average Japanese man may require 2 years of assistance. Even as our generation lives much longer than our ancestors, we are reliant more than ever and longer than ever on the care of others.   

As we live longer, we are also more prone to develop the types of health problems which were not as prevalent in our ancestors’ generations. Diseases such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological disorders have now become known as problems of aging or gerontological diseases. The treatment and care of gerontological issues and problems are both very important and very urgent at this time for our societies. Because we are living longer in our life age there are growing demands on our social, economic, psychological, and even ethical resources. Our aging generation is needing more medical attention and family care.

Recently, I noticed that Parkinson’s disease seems to have rapidly increased over a short period of time. Over the last 10 years, I have treated more people with this problem. Unfortunately, I have witnessed many people with this disease suffer for a long time, as gradually their condition worsens year by year. We can not cure people of this debilitating disease—I found this to be the case after I treated so many  patients—but we can give “care medicine” for them, often with profound and beneficial results. Oriental medicine such as Ohashiatsu is care medicine.  

Claudia Minetti, Oriana Repetto and Serena Rusin are graduates of the Ohashi Institute, established in New York City in 1974. They have been practicing  Ohashiatsu® for many years. Ms. Claudia Minetti is a Certified Ohashiatsu  Instructor®, and for the last 30 years, has taught many, many students all over Italy. These dedicated women have established a clinic in Acqui Terme, where they are treating Parkinson’s disease with great success. They have developed Ohashiatsu for Parkinson’s disease and are helping so many people. In 2013, I was invited to Acqui  Terme to their clinic where they are giving treatments of Ohashiatsu and teaching this method. I was very impressed and moved to witness their sincere dedication to their work and the good results they have with Ohashiatsu treatments. They are truly helping people with Parkinson’s disease. Fortunately, they have kept all of the records from years of their work and experience. And now, after many years of giving care medicine and treating people with Parkinson’s disease, they have written and developed this very important booklet. This booklet is published at the best time for all of us in our long-lived generation and for those to come, as more and more people need this healing method of care.

It is my personal and professional honor to be asked to write the introduction of this booklet. I believe this book will help people who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and will give hope and bring joy to those who want to live longer, healthier and more active lives extending their health age now and in the future to come.

Ohashi

Ohashi  Institute

U.S.A.  

2016