Our Creator Designed a Feedback System Often Overlooked

Our Creator Designed a Feedback System Often Overlooked

How wonderfully God has made our bodies:
One thing often overlooked by modern medicine's approach to health care is the extraordinary feedback system with which God created within our bodies. I was reading this article about diabetes and why additional treatments to prevent heart troubles don't seem as effective. HERE

As I read through the article, I can't help but notice how the prescribed medicines are aimed at treating each symptom as though it exists alone.

A symptom is a noticeable change from the normal and may be subjective (as in pain, soreness, gas, anxiety, lethargy, nausea) or measurable (like pulse, temperature, blood pressure, rate of breathing, range of motion). Often its our subjective symptoms which prompt us to visit the doctor. There he takes our report and adds the measurable symptoms to what we've told him and compares it to personal and family health history and begins the process of eliminating diagnosis starting with the most common and easiest and proceeding to the complex.

Some symptoms may get immediate attention, particularly if he already sees a pattern of previous report, for example, repeated rise in B/P (blood pressure), which may be easily addressed with medication. Some times this may be all it takes for a combination of symptoms to go away, such as fatigue, lightheadedness/ or head aches; but, to get it adjusted properly may require additional visits and monitoring or trying a different med or additional tests to determine that that is our only health issue, for the moment.

Unfortunately, whether due to lack of research and understanding or due to the expediency necessary to keep appointments short and control cost within the limits of most people's budgets and insurance coverage allowed, most medical visits will not allow the doctor nor the patient the time for a thorough health evaluation aimed at prevention of disease. Thus both doctors and patients are often caught having to agree with treatment of symptoms rather than the time consuming investigations which include blood and fluid assays to evaluate the individuals chemistry, and dietary adequacy. .......And, when it comes to things like nutrition, many who study medicine retain little beyond the basics as in their residency and beginning practice they are encouraged to think in terms of symptoms, most probable and common diagnosis and treatment.

The general blood work for diagnosing the complex systems of things like liver function with the SGPT, etc, or Blood, like the complete blood count with differential, or the BUN and creatinine, ect, or the electrolytes, like sodium (Na), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca), etc., or blood gasses (CO2, and O2), are examples of fairly common and relatively inexpensive screening of organ systems for generalized function or problems. Glucose level is a common assay to determine the adequacy of the body's control and metabolism of sugar.

In a lab report there are often two columns and one must read the header in order to know which is which. One column represents the normal ranges as calibrated by that particular laboratory for its units of measurement...... and the other column represents an individual measurements on a particular day at a certain time and under certain conditions (such as fasting or non-fasting).

If a patient is looking at their own lab report (and most doctors are willing to give a patient a copy if patient requests it at office visit), he will see the column with his values and may compare his with the column which shows the range within which 'normal' is considered. Many labs also include an 'alert' nomenclature of "H" for high and "L" for low as a flag for attention of individual values outside the normal range. The doctor is responsible for determining the significance of these values and often there is a acceptible range which may be 'flagged' by the lab as not within the normal range but have little significance when the difference is small and all other systems and checks show the health is good.

If the doctor sees a problem with a particular value or he sees a progressive change of an individuals lab values is consistant over a period of repeated monitoring ..... like yearly or more or less monitoring ....depending on his own reccommendation..... he might recommend additional evaluation. An appropriate question, if not already answered by the doctor, is to ask him what the test is for, what is the procedure and what preparation is required by you and your care afterward. Sometimes the nurse or an office staff is able to answer questions which can save the doctor time.

During the visit, when a medicine is prescribed, it is appropriate to ask questions, if not already answered, like what is this med treating, how quickly should you expect a change, how often is it taken, must it be taken on an empty stomach or with food, what are common side effects which are normal and to be expected and what ones are serious to report: is there an older medication or generic medication that will work just as well and may be cheaper and more proven; is there any dietary adjustment needed (for example milk and milk products interfer with some meds and anti biotics, and some medications are actually intensified or interferred by citrus drinks like grapefruit or orange juice, and for those on statin drugs for treating high cholesterol.... additional Coenzyme Q10 is often recommended). Often the pharmacist who fills the prescription can also answer these questions concerning meds.

 

Returning to the opening article and my alluding to the feedback system in our body with which we are created:
Whenever we present to the doctor with a symptom or symptoms for which, by various tools of analysis, he determines a diagnosis and treatment for a condition, the medications which he prescribes are very potent and do cause some alterations in the body. If the condition is one which normally has its own limits......... such as treating an infection, there may not be too much concern for expecting long term changes in the body. But, when treating chronic conditions, whatever caused the changes to need the medication may not be known. Even in the presence of testimonies of alternative treatments, we may not have assurance that our body will similarly be responsive or whether a condition is or is not reversible. One thing the consumer/patient can know is that his health care is dependent on a collaboration between himself and his doctor or health practitioner whom he trust. The best care requires that the patient is an active participant in his own health care. This means that he does what he can to find out what he can concerning his own health issues, and the alternatives available and participates with his doctor in the design of his own care. For most people who have no or little background in the understanding of their body and how it works, and particularly if they have been led to believe they have a weak educational background, it may at first seem like too big a task. However, one should feel encouraged that as a patient, his task is focused on his own health issues and specific areas of diagnosis and doesn't require a medical degree to begin learning.

One book I would recommend is the MERCK MANUAL OF MEDICAL INFORMATION.........home edition. My own copy was $7.99 in 1999 when purchased with 1620 pages of information. (paperback, publisher Simon & Schuster Inc.)

The actions of prescription medications on the body are varied and involve chemistry and feedback systems throughout the body. It is the pharmaceutical companies own research which knows most thoroughly which systems are involved, but the focus of the medication is upon reducing or controlling the symptoms of disease or physical conditions, and not focused upon cure, and seldom candid regarding other imbalances which may occur over long term use. Doctors have to keep up with many patients and many medications and current with the latest standards and recommendations and new medications being approved. The patient only has the few which are prescribe to him to keep up with. The patient is the best person who knows his own body; how it felt when it was in health; the order of its changes in health; what medications he takes and for what conditions. He is also the one with the most at stake to invest his own time: Learn what your health conditions are. What can you find out about what causes changes in these conditions or what body systems are affected either in influencing the condition or stressed by these conditions. For example....in the OP article, the condition of diabetes is known to be a factor of adding stress to the circulatory system including the heart. Modern medicine's position is that of anticipating the development of heart and circulatory problems and starting interventions early to try to stop or slow down the progression from diabetes to these other conditions. Is this really the only choice available for this patient? Yes, if the patient is passive or unable to develope a knowledge base. If the patient is determined and can find reliable information (I've given one excellent source.......but it is lacking alternative care with goals of prevention) upon which he changes his lifestyle, then he may be able to slow or prevent the progression of one chronic condition to another.

Chronic conditions seldom occur overnight. First there is the body's response to a threat. The threat may be biological (infectious agent), response to toxicity (poisons which enter in and target susceptible systems....the weaker ones first), nutritional deficiencies or imbalances, maladaptive repair response (the 'over-correction' such as the uncontrolled inflammatory response), and response to stress. If the threat is recognized and corrected early, any symptoms, if present, may disappear. If not recognized early or corrected, the more likely the changes in the body will affect more organ systems as the body attempts to correct itself by its own internal feedback.

 

Some examples of how the feedback system works:
The air is contaminated by 'whatever' and the mucous membranes in the sinuses tries to rid itself of the irritants by swelling with fluid.....called an inflammatory response.....to produce more mucous to wash the irritants away. The symptoms may include a runny nose, trouble breathing through the nose, headache and pressure in the cheeks and above the eyes. The typical solution is to get a decongestant pill or spray and take something mild for pain. Unless an infection is involved, requiring another med, all one is doing is treating the symptoms. The decongestant spray drys the mucous and may or may not contain agents which reduce the swelling. A decongestant or antihistamine pill is drying to the body's fluids, not just the nose. The pain pill relieves temporary discomfort but does nothing to treat the condition. Because the decongestant or the antihistamine drys the sinus tissues, it interferes with the God created response to rid the tissues of irritants and to provide a trap for bacteria and contaminants in the air before it reaches the lungs and it interferes with the God created and intended humidification of air. Frequently the body rebells and overcomes the effectiveness of the drying agents and produces more mucous (a rebound effect) and the patient continues or increases his dependence on the meds for his relief. If the patient had understood what his body was saying by its own protective response, he might have chosen to work with his body by regular flushes of a normal saline solution (1/2 tsp sea salt in 8 ounces of water) such as 'Ocean Spray.

Another example which is simple, common, and can be easily understood is common 'heartburn' which follows overstuffing or eating too rich a meal (and maybe complicated by consumption of alcohol); For relief, the old timey remedy was to take Rolaids or Tums. This brought a temporary relief from the acidic gases escaping upward from the overstuffed tummy. However, the real problem was not the acid but failure to adjust the amount and/or the richness of the food, or even adjusting the mood and the atmosphere to pleasant and relaxed to promote digestion. The anti-acids give temporary relief but then they interfere with the incompleted digestion which needs the acid to make the chyme for the digestive enzymes from the pancreas and the gallbladder to act further for the breakdown of food to nutrients in solutions which can be absorbed through the walls of the gut. The God created feedback system in the body causes the body to recognize the reduced presence of acid so it makes a correction by producing more. People being what we are, creatures of habit and indulgences, if behavior continues, more food followed by anti-acids, eventually we've taught the body through its feedback system that it must produce more acid for digestion to make the nutrients available in the gut. (Actually, several chronic conditions may develop.... as well as deficiencies produced by the interference of the anti acids blocking some nutrients and/or changing the chemistry of the blood.) Modern living creates its on stresses..... rush to eat breakfast and lunches and little opportunity to work off tension and stress build-up energy, rushed suppers without much unwind time or relaxing, and incomplete digestion by the time one goes to bed: Then, a fitful rest in a postural position which isn't natural....... and ......uht-oh... gastric reflux disease. (This is overly simplified) The thing is, treatment relieves symptoms and may prevent some problems but it neither cures and may create conditions which interrupts normal digestive and nutrition absorption and lead to other chronic problems...... all because the original problem started first as a temporary symptom and was treated for convenience and relief without changes to effect a cure or a correction. Incidentally, many people are surprised to find that lemon water or an acidic juice in small quantity gives relief.

These are examples using over-the -counter 'medications' for common symptoms. Just imagine how potent are many prescription drugs. The side affects are often the body's talk back system which tells us the drug may be treating one symptom but is acting on other biological systems within. Sometimes the temporary nature of these side effects is a process of the body's adjustment..... but it may be that it is also the body's way of saying 'this is interrupting another normal process from taking place'. Eventually the body may suspend its talk-back of symptoms until its had enough with failure to do what it was designed to do and reacts with development of other chronic conditions.

Homostasis is the term used for the design of the body to work and balance itself to maintain a chemically and healthy balance. In the blood the body makes minute adjustments all the time by regulating such things as water, salt, oxygen and carbon-dioxide, calcium and potassium and bicarbonate..... for pH and electrolyte balance and the enzymes which act as catalyst for the transport across membranes of nutrients for energy, repair and replacement, and hormones which have similar regulatory effects. When the body sees there's a need or too much, it changes its functioning to try and bring everything back into balance. As long as it has the resources it needs in its supply, God has designed it to do what it can for healing and repair. As we age the many assaults upon our body takes their toll, and the feedback system starts slowing down. Yes, eventually death is inevitable if not raptured. But this does not mean we must accept every condition as incurable or every medication without thinking and becoming informed.