The alternation between:
| sleep | with | activity |
| rest | with | activity |
| feeding | with | activity |
mirrors the sequential accumulation of a charge and its subsequent discharge. The retention of an adequate charge is one index of our capacitance. The smooth transition between states without undue perturbation is a prerequisite for feeling well most of the time.
All processes of life are energy dependent. The drives attached to the circadian system may sequester energy. Although we may not know the precise location of our Will, or whether there is such a thing, these drives may ignore constraints imposed by internal states. This stretching of our resources is largely accommodated by changes in hepatic function (especially in the maintenance of normoglycaemia). The motive and drive of this risky business comes, at least proximally, from the overriding capabilities of our frontal cortex, aided and abetted by the autocoid hormones, notably dopamine. Other autocoid hormones, particularly histamine, may produce counteractive symptoms. Such discomforting symptoms may encourage us to reduce our activity long before homeostatic mechanisms need to be invoked.
Food might seem to be an obvious way to manage any loss in energy, yet eating may reduce our capacitance because of the metabolic and neurohormonal demands that digestion makes upon us. What, how and when we eat will influence our ability to respond to immediate demands; lack of digestive capacity will always result in malaise.
So, while illness may seem like an obstacle to overcome, it may provide a necessary slowing and integrating device so that our terrain can catch up with the surf of Time. The first sign of illness—a subjective unease—manifests as some perturbation, an interruption of our Circadian System; or do we interrupt ourselves? (If we are unable to utilise these catch–up manoeuvres, a deeper disturbance may be at work in which case the illness might be an omen of impending disease.)
A number of second order symmetries match the alternation between rest, feeding, sleep (accumulation of a charge), and activity: its subsequent discharge impelled by the beta-sympathetic stimulus to the musculature. Freedom from illness depends upon smooth gradients between these contrasting states and they in turn flow ultimately from alternation in the physical world: between darkness and the light of the sun. Symmetry between impulse and resolution—broken briefly, restored promptly—will convey us towards an adaptive state.
As all living systems depend upon the light/dark cycle from which the pulsatile nature of life derives, “we”—this nexus of physiological cycles—can expect freedom from illness to the extent that we are able to match the impositions made on us by the sun on its daily excursion. As we are pushed and pulled about on our trajectory, to the extent that we maintain a hold on events without exhaustion and to the extent that our shadowing remains stable, we might justify calling such a capacity health. Phasic and cyclical, our Circadian System manages our daily, monthly and seasonal lives. Any delay in reaching congruence between our internal model and the external world will manifest as some disrupted function. Such disruption will vary a great deal in character and severity depending upon the capacitance of the individual.
Fatigue and lightheadedness are early warnings that we need to pause, rest or otherwise change the rate of discharge. The experience of thermic stress without an obvious external source may be a message of a deeper strain on capacitance. (These and other symptoms are well known and found everywhere; the commoner forms are listed at the end of this Appendix, graded according to the incapacity invoked.)
The delay imposed by such conditions permits a temporary resolution, but they have been always a major source of human unhappiness and ill health. If a more permanent resolution can be achieved, however, by improving the capacitance of the terrain by the application of medicinal plants, perhaps in conjunction with other means, a lasting state of health will be the happy outcome.
Some examples of accumulation and discharge
• Pulsatility is inherent in biological systems. Charge separation provides potential energy.
• The concomitant Charge and Discharge is highly patterned in Living Beings while, by contrast, randomly distributed in the physical world (e.g., lightning).
• Reserve from such Discharge (in other words storage of charge) leads to the notion of Capacitance.
• While the opposites of day and night are most notably built into sleeping and the exercise needed to obtain food, they must intermingle during each phase, as we all experience. So, while the basic plan is binary as is the movement of heart and lungs, there are rhythmic alternations set by the circadian system as well as our capacity both to create and respond to variance.
The constant cycle of accumulation and discharge
It will be crucial to assess the autonomic functionality of each patient and to try to ascertain whether they exhibit a net anabolic or a net catabolic tendency, or an oscillatory tendency, that is, one of constant unstable fluctuation.
| an inability to | will tend to result in |
| discharge | congestive states |
| complete the transition | states of spasm, blockage and hyper–vigilance, hyper–reactive states and eventual exhaustion |
| recharge | exhausted states; (one of the more complex) always tends to illness |
| discharge fully | hypertensive states |
| This is very crudely put: the individual case has to be evaluated; the relative states of each segment and the rate of change configure the overall tendencies |
The transition between night and day and between winter and summer contains the fastest rate of variation, and places us at the greatest risk for maladaptation. Many of our patients’ problems involve difficulty with transition of all kinds. Aside from stumbling, running in a relay race is not the difficult part: the time for fumbling comes when the baton must pass between the runners.
The adaptive capacity
Most symptoms of illness show as a disturbance in the functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System. This is not surprising as the ANS mirrors the cyclic, phasic architecture of the day itself. Accordingly, failures of charge, discharge or transitions will manifest as disordered states.
In an attempt to right these imbalances, the autocoid hormones—especially serotonin and histamine—will amplify them and cause further symptoms. These hormone–like neurotransmitters are like emergency doctors: very useful in the short term but poorly adapted for chronic states.
The settings of the ANS are pegged to that invisible matrix within ourselves: the neuroendocrine system. Although in solution and not palpable, it is as robustly and coherently manifest as is our skeleton. The constitutional setting of this deeper organisational structure is known as the terrain. It is first acquired in embryogenesis, during gastrulation and modified at major transitional stages. Cortisol is a crucial pivot: as Hans Selye was able to demonstrate: we need an adequate Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal capacity to deal with fluctuations in the external world. Our memory of it can also haunt our particular lives, creating cross-currents which we must also manage. Cortisol not only notifies the start of the day and other cycles, it sets the limits for the other three vertical hormonal axes: reproductive, thyroid and somatotrophic (both prolactin and growth hormone). The Adrenal axis, coupled with the two hormones of the Posterior Pituitary initiates the horizontal pulse between all four of them, as Drs Lapraz and Duraffourd have been able to demonstrate. The state of this axis, in its internal relations (and within the adrenal gland) alerts and stabilises the whole system, contributing to poise or, in maladaptive conditions, destabilises the system through hyper-vigilance and other drains on capacitance.
If illness is a failure of adaptation, we must restore the patient to a previous adaptive state. The illness is not an entity to be treated, except lightly and briefly. Otherwise the illness may deteriorate to an entrenched pathological state (a