Over the last 25 years, in westernized countries in particular, the prevalence of allergies in children and adults has soared. Challenge-diagnosed food allergy is as high as 10% in children. According to the AAFA, 50 million Americans experience some form of allergy.
While allergy is typically viewed as a dysfunction or a disease, evolutionary biologist Margie Profet brings a disruptive perspective to our understanding of the phenomenon.
A discussion of our specialized cell receptors begins with the cell membrane.
Although the Cell Theory was first formulated around 1839, the existence of the plasma membrane was not broadly accepted until later in the 20th century. The "fluid mosaic model” of the membrane developed in the 1970s offers an understanding of its sophisticated and complex mechanics.
In his article on “Scientific Acupuncture”, British acupuncturist Felix Mann (1931-2014) uses neurophysiology to partly explain that the mechanisms of the points/areas and meridians. Indeed, an explanation for ‘how’ acupuncture works has preoccupied practitioners. An early 1997 article in “Acupuncture in Medicine describes the mechanisms of acupuncture or acupressure at “local, regional (spinal cord) and general (brain) levels”: “The general reaction mainly activates the brain central mechanism of internal homeostasis.” [2]
This explanation, often called the “neural hypothesis” was discussed in a 2010 article ...
Our body has a set of complex thirst signals that include blood pressure, hormones – especially angiotensin II – and areas of the brain including the lamina terminalis. Some neurons of the lamina terminalis that are outside of the blood-brain barrier, monitor the fluid in the third ventricle “to determine its osmolality and the amount of sodium present” – which provides a snapshot of whole body hydration.
“Changes in blood osmolality correlate well with the subjective feeling of thirst in humans, and increased blood osmolality is probably the most important homeostatic signal for drinking in everyday life.”
Human brain waves are patterns of electrical activity, pulses that occur between masses of neurons in the brain.
Brain waves were first measured in hertz by Hans Berger in 1924 using an electroencephalogram (EEG).
They vary significantly throughout the day and in different states, depending on what one is doing and feeling. Higher frequencies dominate when one is alert or anxious, while lower ones are more active when we are relaxed, drowsy or asleep. At any given moment, areas of the brain will emit many waves with varying characteristics.
These frequencies have been likened to a symphony of musical notes and sounds representing “a continuous spectrum of consciousness.”[ There are five well recognized brain waves. These are labelled simply after the Greek letters ...
The early work in psychoneuroimmunology by American molecular biologist Candace Pert (1946-2013) brought specific attention to the role of neuropeptides, created by brain neurons, and their receptors throughout the body. As a graduate student, Pert discovered opiate receptors in the brain. She completed a PhD in Pharmacology in 1974.
In her 1997 book, Molecules of Emotion: Why you feel the way you feel, Pert posited that neuropeptides like endorphins actually connect emotions in a constant and flowing brain-mind-body bidirectional information network.