Fooled by the body
A recent study (1) shows that Metformin (a popular treatment for Type 2 Diabetes) and exercise (a popular prescription to lower glucose levels) in combination can have unexpected effects – i.e. less effective in lowering blood sugar levels. This points to a general issue with improving health through a variety of agents and activities, specifically applied to different parts of the body. Each agent is focused on some aspect of the system – such as cholesterol control, hypertension, blood-glucose reduction and other aspects. Treating a highly non-linear system such as the human body with focused and prescriptive regimens has been somewhat ineffective for improving overall health.
A more holistic approach to medicine is needed if the goal is improving health and not treating disease. Just as many other complex systems that show non-linear interactions, where precise analysis, prediction and intervention have failed to extract the expected outcomes, the human body has been obstinate against attempts to influence it, part by part. The only reasonable conclusion that can be reached is that the human body cannot be aggregated upward, component by component, system by system and organ by organ. These approaches have worked well in Engineering where a complex system can be modeled from its parts – each driven by a predictable effect to local stimuli. Contemporary scientists, steeped in such determinism, are taking similar approaches to biological systems, with less interesting results.
The human body, an electromagnetic and chemical system, with complex interactions, may require a different approach than what is currently practiced. The rush to incrementally improve and focus existing therapies to less understood disease states, is not a good path to improving health. A better definition of the human body and disease states that encompass the whole system are necessary, even before attempting any solutions.
(1) Metformin and Exercise in Type 2 Diabetes: Examining treatment modality interactions
Normand G. Boulé, PHD1⇓, Cheri Robert, MSC1, Gordon J. Bell, PHD1, Steven T. Johnson, PHD2, Rhonda C. Bell, PHD3, Richard Z. Lewanczuk, MD, PHD4, Raniah Q. Gabr, MSC5 and Dion R. Brocks, PHD5
