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Hygienists have long developed the idea that disease is a process not a condition, it is an action, not a state.

I would like to elaborate on this point. In Volume 6 of “The Hygienic System” Dr. Herbert M. Shelton coined the term “biogony” which is derived from two Greek roots, bios, meaning life and egon, meaning a gathering, especially for a struggle or contest. Biogony then refers to a large struggle that clearly indicates that disease is a struggle, a defensive struggle, a remedial or adaptive struggle.

People speak of resistance to disease implying an external force or entity. Disease is resistance, it is the process of resistance, resistance against the causes of disease. If we fight disease we ignore the causes and aim our attention at the body’s remedial processes. We work against the self-repairing actions of the organism. If I may quote from Dr. Shelton: “We get sick and we either live or die, the doctors of all schools can help us to die but the doctor of no school can help us to live. The sick man, woman or child fights a lone battle in disease and succeeds or fails without aid but usually with much interference.” Certainly, there is much we can do to provide the most favourable conditions for the organism to be successful in its struggle; but we cannot usurp the process.

Survival is a problem for the organism. At the physiological level it represents adjustments and modifications to processes as the conditions imposed upon the body demand. Exercise demands more oxygen, the cardio vascular respiratory systems undergo functional modifications relative to the duration and intensity of the activity. This increase or accelerated function is normal for the conditions of exercise. If there is cardio vascular and respiratory acceleration without exercise we would suspect that this was abnormal, symptomatic, an indication of disease. It may be due to anxiety which may be legitimate and temporary or it may be accompanied by fever suggesting a typical acute disease.

One of these situations associated with exercise I have classified as normal, the other as abnormal. Both are lawful and orderly responses to specific internal and/or external conditions. Obviously the closer we look at the terms health and disease, normal and abnormal, the more difficult it is to make clear distinctions. It is normal to vomit if you swallow a poison, it is normal to bruise if you are beaten but disease is more subtle, more insidious. Causal relationships between the actions are not obvious.

In the strict hygienic sense disease is quite normal for the conditions. The body is modifying its processes correctly, it is accelerating, diminishing or suspending functions purposefully. I do not wish to imply purpose to non-conscious levels of organic activity but essentially goal directedness of the actions of the organism at a physiological or biochemical level are constantly generated towards survival. To proceed against these actions is to proceed against survival, to interfere with self-preserving actions.

It is however, convenient for us to view disease as abnormal, to view the acutely sick as fighting for their life. The struggle being between the body and the factors tending to disturb its internal stability. The struggle is the disease, our attention should be directed towards the causes threatening the internal stability and providing favourable conditions for the organism to normalise its functions. Disease then is the process of recovery, the process of defence and adaptation.

Let us examine some of the symptoms common in disease. Fever represents an elevated bodily temperature. Certain daily fluctuations of temperature are arbitrarily considered normal. Outside this range, which is 37 degrees celsius plus or minus .6 degrees celsius, fever is considered to exist or hypothermia unless peculiar circumstances obtain. Violent exercise may produce so much heat that the rectal temperature rises to 40 degrees Celsius. Emotional states may temporarily elevate the temperature to 38.5 degrees celsius. In the early morning and in cold weather the temperature may be 35.5 degrees celsius. From this it should be apparent that wide variations are possible and some subjective factors should accompany fever. Does the patient feel ill, an isolated apparent symptom should not be considered a positive indication of disease, all the available factors involved must be appraised. essay writing service

Fever represents a number of specific bodily changes. It is a complex involving increased function, heat production and decreased function, reduction in heat loss through vaso constriction and heat conservation. The point is however that the same functions and processes produce fever that produce and maintain normal bodily temperature. When examining any symptom, we discover as a basic tissue level that many changes are occurring.

This is especially significant in the complex that we call “inflammation”. Whole textbooks have been written on the subject with widely different views, observations and interpretations. From our standpoint, inflammation represents a defensive and reparative process. In principle, however, if causes are not removed and the process is unsuccessful, consequences develop which so complicate the picture that it is easy, though fallacious to argue, that is it destructive. As Moore states in his textbook of pathology: “If the inflammatory action is adequate it minimises the effect of the injurious agent, destroys the injurious agent and restores the part to as near normal structure and function as possible. If it is not adequate there is extensive destruction of tissue, invasion of the body and somatic death.”

Dr. P. Weight in his “Introduction to Pathology” says: “Inflammation is the process by means of which cells exudate accumulate in irritated tissues and usually tend to protect them from further injury.”

In his “Mechanisms of Disease”, Dr. Perez-Tomayo states: “The concept of inflammation as a local defence mechanism is implied by most authors. This is only natural since the apparent final results of the process is the accumulation of exudate in the injured area and both fluid and cellular elements of the exudate play a very important role in the defence of the organism.”

All signs and symptoms of disease can be seen to be associated with some increase in the intensity of activity of some tissue or organ or conversely some decrease in activity.

I have listed below some of the common signs and symptoms, signs being objective, symptoms being subjective, of disease indicating their relationship to expensive action or conservative action:

Increase in Function

1. Fever
2. Rapid pulse and heart action
3. Inflammation
4. Vomiting
5. Coughing, sneezing
6. Skin eruptions
7. Discharges, excessive mucous secretions
8. Diahorrea
9. Anxiety and pain

Decrease in Function

1. Anorexia, loss of appetite
2. Suspension of secretions, dry mouth, stomach etc.
3. Constipation
4. Prostration
5. Coma

I have listed pain in the category of increased function but I consider it of special interest. Its nature and complexity imply so much that I intend to devote time to its discussion in a more detailed manner later in this series.