Innate Health Dictionary

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Innate: From 1 Different Sources

adj. describing a condition or characteristic that is present in an individual at birth and is inherited from his parents. See also congenital.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Immunity

The ability to resist infection and to heal. The process may involve acquired immunity, (the ability to learn and remember a specific infectious agent), or innate immunity (the genetically programmed system of responses that attack, digest, remove, and initiate inflammation and tissue healing).... immunity

Instinct

An innate primitive urge.

The need for warmth, food, love, and sex are all forms of instinct, but the instinct for survival is probably the most powerful.... instinct

Gender Identity Disorders

Gender identity is the inner sense of masculinity or femininity, and gender role is an individual’s public expression of being male, female, or a ‘mix’ (androgynous). Most people have no di?culty because their gender identity and role are congruous. A person with a gender identity disorder, however, has a con?ict between anatomical sex and gender identity.

Gender is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, in which the in?uence of family upbringing is an important factor. When physical sexual characteristics are ambiguous, the child’s gender identity can usually be established if the child is reared as being clearly male or female. Should, however, the child be confused about its sexual identity, the uncertainty may continue into adult life. Transsexuals generally experience con?icts of identity in childhood, and such problems usually occur by the age of two years. In this type of identity disorder, which occurs in one in 30,000 male births and one in 100,000 female births, the person believes that he or she is the victim of a biological accident, trapped in a body different from what is felt to be his or her true sex.

Treatment is di?cult: psychotherapy and hormone treatment may help, but some affected individuals want surgery to change their body’s sexual organs to match their innately felt sexual gender. The decision to seek a physical sex change raises major social problems for individuals, and ethical problems for their doctors. Surgery, which is not always successful in the long term, requires careful assessment, discussion and planning. It is important to preclude mental illness; results in homosexual men who have undergone surgery are not usually satisfactory. Advice and information may be obtained from Gender Identity Consultancy Services.... gender identity disorders

Immunostimulant

An agent that stimulates either innate or acquired immunity. In the U.S., immunotherapy is relegated to experimental medicine, but a number of plant substances are used in Europe as immunostimulants. The presumption of immunostimulation is that you increase native resistance and let it run its course. American Standard Practice, with all good intentions, tends to aggressive procedures, and feels empowered only when intervening against, not with, physiologic responses. Medicine is the only approach to many problems, but in the U.S. we all tend to forget that our brand of standard practice is uniquely aggressive and invasive amongst the industrialized nations. There are other ways...which is presumably why you are using this glossary in the first place.... immunostimulant

Ldl

Low Density Lipids. The levels are usually indicative of liver function and metabolic tendencies, and the relative proportions of LDL, VLDL and HDL show relationships between caloric intake, anabolic energy, skeletal muscle metabolism and adipose tissue health. They are not innately wrong, anymore than is cholesterol; both are ABSOLUTELY necessary for health. It’s all a matter of proportion, and the relationship between consumption and tissue needs.... ldl

Macrophage

This is a mature form of what is released from the marrow as a monocyte. A macrophage lives long, can digest much detritus, and is able to wear particles of odd food on its outer membrane. This allows T-cell and B-cell Iymphocytes to taste the particle (an epitope) and form an antibody response. Further, these macrophages, traveling as monocytes, will take up permanent residence in many tissues, providing them with immunity. They line the spleen, form the cleansing Kupffer cells in the liver, make up the “dust cells” that protect the lungs, protect the synovial fluids of the joints, and form the microglial cells that provide protection to the brain and nerve tissues. On and on, the macrophages clean up messes and acting as the intermediates between innate and acquired immunity.... macrophage

Menopause

The several years, in the late forties or early fifties, when the great birth reservoir of potential ovarian follicles has been reduced to only a few, many with innately poor hormone-sensitivities (which is perhaps why they are still remaining...they never heard the clarion call of FSH). As fewer follicles are capable of fully- programmed function, corpus luteal fragilities start to show as diminished progesterone levels...later, even the pre-ovulatory estrogens start to diminish. The pituitary, sensing first the progesterone wobbles, then, maybe a year later, the erratic estrogens, tries to jump start the ovaries, sending increasing levels of Luteinizing Hormone (LH)...with diminishing results. Since the brain (hypothalamus) is actually controlling things, it is sending out higher levels of pituitary stimulating hormones, which the pituitary matches with its blood-carried trophic or gonadotropic hormones...in this case, LH. What the pituitary hears from the hypothalamus is TYPE of brain chemical, MAGNITUDE, and, as much of this is being pulsed, FREQUENCY of chemical. At a certain point, the gonadotropic-releasing-hormone sent out by the hypothalamus is so loud and frequent that the pituitary starts sending out things like TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and somatotropins (growth hormone) as well ...hot flashes, changes in food cravings, sleep cycles...whatever. Like old partners in an ancient dance whose music is ending, the hormonal imbalances are the reverse of those experienced years ago in menarche. As above, so below. When the dust settles, the metabolic hormones have found a new interaction, anabolic functions have been transferred from the ovaries to the adrenal cortex, and that reservoir of stored estradiol present in the “Womanly Flesh” of the breasts, thighs, hips and Page 31buttocks, started many years ago, maintains a low blood level, diminishing over the following years, easing some of the estrogen-binding tissue into the change.... menopause

Wbc

White Blood Cells, including those of innate immunity, including basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes, macrophages (and others) and those of acquired immunity, the various types of lymphocytes. Also called leukocytes.... wbc

Tonic

A substance taken to strengthen and prevent disease, especially chronic disease. Formerly, tonics were widely available both as over-the-counter and prescription formulas. Unfortunately, the increased sophistication of medicine has led to the abandonment of preventative or strengthening approaches that utilize the innate abilities of an organism (like ourselves) to right itself with a little prodding in the correct direction. The last several decades have seen increased focus on disease-at-a-time medicine, with more and more patients receiving treatment at acute care facilities like hospitals and clinics, circumstances that delegate against preventative or tonic approaches. Tonics tend to stimulate deficient functions, therefore are best suited for functional disorders, not organic ones.... tonic

Adaptogen

A substance that helps the body to “adapt” to a new strain or stress by stimulating the body’s own defensive mechanism. Natural substances in the form of plant medicines offer a gentle alternative to fast-acting synthetic chemical medicine in releasing the body’s own source of energy to sustain the immune system.

It is when a particular stress is intense that the immune system may lack the vitality to mobilise the body’s resources against a threat to its safety and well-being.

Adaptogens are concerned with the therapeutic action of the whole plant which is regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. They may affect many different kinds of cells, whereas a chemical drug has a direct action upon a particular tissue or system.

Adaptogens are powerful supportive agents against stress and its effects, initiating processes of regeneration of tissues and fluids. They release innate resources of vitality in their efforts to reinvigorate and protect.

This important group includes: Siberian and Asiatic Ginseng, Borage, Don Quai, Gotu Kola, Lapacho tea, Pollen extracts, Royal Jelly, Sarsaparilla, Shiitake Mushroom, Suma. ... adaptogen

Immune System

A collection of cells and proteins that works to protect the body from harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. It also plays a role in the control of cancer and is responsible for the phenomena of allergy, hypersensitivity, and rejection after transplant surgery.

The term innate immunity is given to the protection that we are born with, such as the skin and the mucous membranes that line the mouth, nose, throat, intestines, and vagina. It also includes antibodies, or immunoglobulins (protective proteins), that have been passed to the child from the mother. If microorganisms penetrate these defences, they encounter “cell-devouring” white blood cells called phagocytes, and other types of white cells, such as natural cellkilling (cytotoxic) cells. Microorganisms may also meet naturally produced substances (such as interferon) or a group of blood proteins called the complement system, which act to destroy the invading microorganisms.The 2nd part of the immune system, adaptive immunity, comes into play when the body encounters organisms that overcome the innate defences. The adaptive immune system responds specifically to each type of invading organism, and retains a memory of the invader so that defences can be rallied instantly in the future.

The adaptive immune system first must recognize part of an invading organism or tumour cell as an antigen (a protein that is foreign to the body). One of 2 types of response – humoral or cellular – is then mounted against the antigen.

Humoral immunity is important in the defence against bacteria. After a complex recognition process, certain B-lymphocytes multiply and produce vast numbers of antibodies that bind to antigens. The organisms bearing the antigens are then engulfed by phagocytes. Binding of antibody and antigen may activate the complement system, which increases the efficiency of the phagocytes.

Cellular immunity is particularly important in the defence against viruses, some types of parasites that hide within cells, and, possibly, cancer cells. It involves 2 types of T-lymphocyte: helper cells, which play a role in the recognition of antigens and activate the killer cells (the 2nd type of T-lymphocyte), which destroy the cells that have been invaded.

Disorders of the immune system include immunodeficiency disorders and allergy, in which the immune system has an inappropriate response to usually innocuous antigens such as pollen.

In certain circumstances, such as after tissue transplants, immunosuppressant drugs are used to suppress the immune system and thus prevent rejection of the donor tissue as a foreign organism.... immune system

Natural Killer Cell

(NK cell) a type of *lymphocyte that is able to kill virus-infected cells and cancerous cells and mediates rejection of bone-marrow grafts. NK cells are a part of natural (or innate) *immunity. Their function is regulated by a balance between activating receptors, which recognize proteins on cancerous or virus-infected cells, and inhibitory receptors specific for certain molecules encoded by the *HLA system.... natural killer cell

Mutism

n. inability or refusal to speak. Innate speechlessness most commonly occurs in those who have been totally deaf since birth; this was formerly referred to as deaf-mutism but the term is now deprecated, as it implies wrongly that those affected are unable to make vocal sounds or to communicate effectively in other ways (sign language). Inability to speak may result from brain damage (see aphasia). It may also be caused by depression, psychosis, or psychological trauma, in which case the patient either does not speak at all or speaks only to particular persons or in particular situations. This latter condition is called selective mutism.

Treatment of mutism due to psychological causes is now increasingly by behavioural means, such as *prompting: people that the patient does not address are slowly introduced into the situation where the patient does speak. This may be done either alone or in combination with more traditional psychotherapy. Psychotic or depressive mutism or *catatonia are addressed by treating the underlying condition. —mute adj., n.... mutism


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