Disease Progression

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Disease Progression JoAnn Guest

Jun 02, 2006 14:46 PDT

 

 

Karen Lyke, M.T.

 

http://www.camaweb.org./library/misc/disease_progression.php

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All disease is a manifestation of a body's efforts to maintain

homeostasis, to secure its continued existence and identity with

respect

to its environment. Since all living entities are constantly in

flux --

(stagnancy is death), homeostasis is thus maintaining constancy

within a

dynamic context.

 

In the normal course of life, an organism takes things into itself,

processes them and eliminates the remainder. Food, which is really

energy entrapped within plant substance, is consumed, metabolized,

and

the waste products eliminated through the primary channels of

elimination: the intestines, the kidneys and bladder, the lungs. The

energy derived from the food is released as motion as well as

creative

(or destructive) actions and emotions.

 

Ideally, the balance of substance and energy into an organism equals

that eliminated by it, and the flow continues without interruption.

However, numerous factors constantly disturb that flow. These

factors

include changes of temperature and pressure, electrical, magnetic

and

sound waves, and interactions with other living beings. In response

to

interactions and their subsequent imbalances, the channels of

elimination must modify their activity in order to achieve

homeostasis:

balance and constancy within flux.

 

At first the organs of ELIMINATION become overactive. This is

manifest

in the lungs as irregularities in breathing; in the urinary system

with

dark & scant urine or excessive urination; in the intestines through

vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, etc. If homeostasis is maintained, then

the

organism continues its growth and development with restored flow. If

the

organism does not succeed in maintaining homeostasis, the process of

development of disease begins.

 

1. The first step in the development of disease, the path toward

death

and demise of the organism, rather than continued life, is FATIGUE.

Fatigue reflects toxins in the blood. Metabolic wastes accumulate,

impeding the delivery of fresh nutrients to the cells. Sometimes

overcoming fatigue can be accomplished simply by resting to let the

liver filter out the toxins for discharge through the intestines.

Simplifying the diet to an abundance of fresh vegetables relieves

the

burden on the digestive system and lets it process what's already

there,

discharging residues and restoring a healthy balance.

 

2. When residues and toxins exceed what the body can eliminate in

the

course of normal housekeeping, the body moves into the REACTION

phase.

DISCHARGES through the mucous membranes and skin as rashes, pimples,

boils, tears, coryza (runny nose), ear wax etc. are the efforts to

restore balance by eliminating excessive accumulations. Sometimes

bacteria or viruses are attracted to these discharges, resulting in

itchy feet, ears or hands, persistent enigmatic infections.

Parasites

and yeasts, finding the conditions ideal for them, often thrive on

such

environments. Inimical as these organisms may be to humans or other

hosts, they are merely doing their job.

 

3. STIFFNESS indicates that toxins are so in excess that the body

finds

it necessary to store them: in the liver -- impeding many metabolic

functions and often reflected through anger; in creaky joints &

hypertonic muscles; in inflexible thought patterns; in

irregularities in

the meridians. These substances may also be stored as warts, cysts,

adipose tissue, hypertrophies of ovary or prostate, kidney or gall

stones. This phase is DEPOSITION.

 

4. EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS, or inwardly held imbalances (such as

attitudes,

resentments, rigidity or absence of affect) as well, are further

efforts

to expel or segregate toxins and excessive accumulations when

physical

efforts haven't been successful.

 

5. When discharge is no longer possible, storage and IMPREGNATION

set

in. Abnormal molecules become incorporated into cells or tissues,

resulting in subtle and unpredictable misfunctions. Often the

problem is

not obvious enough to be clearly definable as wrong; one simply

feels

and knows that things aren't right. Manifestations of this phase

include: pigmentations, asthma, viral infections.

 

(One view of viruses is that they are the products of cellular

metabolism gone awry. A virus is a core of nucleic acid surrounded

by a

protein coat which preempts an organism's proper nucleic acids (DNA

&

RNA) and insists on replication according to the virus's

instructions.

In the view proposed by John Ott, a virus occurs when a cell's

metabolism malfunctions and produces distorted DNA. The resultant

distorted DNA with a bit of accompanying protein, is seen as a

virus.

The distorted DNA then infects adjacent tissue, reproducing the

distorted, viral genetic material. The virus is similar to ash which

results from a fire: it can perpetuate the fire but it cannot

initiate

it, or can initiate a " fire " only when conditions are receptive to

it.)

 

6. Enduring impregnation, the storage of inappropriate materials in

tissues and cells as well as their possible faulty incorporation

into

structure, leads to organs that no longer function appropriately.

Consequently, DEGENERATION of tissues and cells ensues.

Manifestations

of the degeneration phase include lupus, TB, cirrhosis, sterility,

muscular dystrophy. When the nervous system ceases to produce

appropriate responses to its impulses, because tissue and cellular

integrity are extensively compromised, DEGENERATION of the nervous

system ensues, perhaps as multiple sclerosis or ALS.

 

7. In an effort to maintain its existence and balance, the damaged

tissues and cells continue their efforts to repair themselves.

However,

the overwhelming presence of toxins makes it impossible to rebuild

and

repair themselves in a healthy manner, so they step back to a more

primitive form, generating cells less differentiated and specialized

than the ultimately desired form. Eventually there is rapid

proliferation of cells with minimal differentiation. This is

NEOPLASM,

which, in its most insidious form, is cancer.

 

The way toward healing entails retracing the steps into the disease.

Thus, in recovery from a degenerative or impregnative stage disease,

rashes and inflammations may occur. They should not be suppressed,

but

facilitated, to expedite expulsion and elimination of pathogenic

matter.

Homeopathic remedies are excellent for this purpose, along with

other

detoxifying procedures.

 

The underlying premise throughout is that life -- continued

existence --

will prevail, and that the adaptations in each of these steps is a

way

for the body to continue to be a carrier or vessel for the life

force

dwelling in it. Were it otherwise, the body would simply quit when

anything was off balance. To use measures for healing which

exaggerate

the body's efforts to maintain itself is akin to the premise of the

Asian Martial Arts: lean in the direction in which the opponent is

pushing.

 

The above is a synthesis of ideas from Homotoxicology of HH Reckeweg

MD,

1905-85. Similar and complementary ideas underlie homeopathy and

other

forms of holistic healing.

 

In Neuromuscular Therapy, the laws of German Physiologist E.F.W.

Pflugler (1829-1910) describe the course of myofascial pain. Here

again,

the way to health follows the reverse of the path into the problem.

USIRG is the acronym which stands for the Laws of Unilaterality,

Symmetry, Intensity, Radiation, Generalization.

 

At first the problem is UNILATERAL. The irritation applied to one or

more sensory nerves manifests in movement only on one side, usually

the

same side that is irritated.

 

If the stimulation is sufficiently increased, motor reaction is

manifest

not only on the irritated side, but in similar muscles on the

opposite

side of the body. The effect on the spinal nerve affecting the area

is

to prompt pain in the dermatome (area served by a spinal nerve)

corresponding on the opposite side, in SYMMETRY. The more intense

the

pain is on one side, the more spillover there is to the other

symmetrically corresponding area.

 

As the problem progresses, there is INTENSIFICATION of pain. Reflex

movements are usually more intense on the side of irritation; at

times

the movements of the opposite side equal them in intensity, but they

are

usually less pronounced.

 

If the excitation continues to increase, it is propagated upward,

and

reactions take place through centrifugal nerves coming from spinal

cord

segments higher up. The problem then impinges on adjacent nerves in

the

spinal column, causing RADIATION of pain, usually upward, but

occasionally downward as well.

 

If conditions are not changed, the irritation spreads throughout the

system, leading to GENERALIZATION. When the irritation becomes very

intense, it is propagated in the medulla oblongata, which becomes a

focus from which stimuli radiate to all parts of the cord, causing a

general contraction of all muscles of the body. The concomitant

chemical

changes lead to a chemically based depression pervading the entire

body.

 

A single stimulus merely prompts reaction toward conclusions. The

persistence of a stimulus or its occurrence in extreme intensity

elicits

the General Adaptation Syndrome or GAS, leading to aging or disease.

 

The General Adaptation Syndrome of Dr. Hans Selye proposes that

initially an irritation prompts REACTION. This is followed by

ADAPTATION, homeostatic or adaptive measures to accommodate the

modified

function, necessitated by the continuing irritation. The adrenal

glands

usually go into overdrive to maintain the continued adaptation. When

all

the body's supportive resources have been tapped to support the

adaptation, and nothing remains, EXHAUSTION occurs.

 

Proper diet and massage both serve to strengthen and nurture the

body's

efforts to sustain itself with homeostasis. Massage especially

stimulates the parasympathetic aspect of the autonomic nervous

system,

supporting the body's effort to restore itself to health.

 

Nurturing has not been a strong point in Western tradition. To take

care

of oneself has often been tainted with being selfish. To exhaust

oneself

has been celebrated as heroic, suggesting that a person has

superhuman

capacities.

 

With what is now known about disease process, a shift in attitude to

recognize the value and benefit of rest and renewal, accompanied by

healthy eating, can do wonders to eliminate the diseases which

currently

afflict our modern technological society.

 

The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When all tissues in

an

organism are nurtured and supported, the entire being is sustained

in

health, as well as far more content and autonomously productive

longer

in a lifetime. When the individual components are strong, the

society as

a whole is strong.

 

To honor the need for rest and regeneration, and the merits of

actively

nurturing those dimensions, as well as to recognize that which

allopathy

commonly considers disease, are really steps which an organism takes

toward self preservation and renewal, promoting a renewed paradigm

of

health. That, accompanied by healthy eating, can do wonders to

alleviate

the diseases that currently afflict our modern technological society.

 

 

 

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Karen Lyke is a graduate of ASHA School of Massage and is

experienced in

therapeutic massage, including Swedish for relaxation & renewal, and

Neuromuscular Therapy. In addition she has a M.S. in Nutrition

through

the University of Bridgeport online studies and is an Instructor in

Nutrition at ASHA. You may reach her at (770) 493-6746.

 

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets