Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[nidan7500]

dadofmarcmax:

Complicated disorders cannot simply fit into simplistic models – made just so that people can understand them better. The genetic component of all complex traits, such as hypertension, arthritis, and cognitive function, is influenced by a broad range of effects spread across many single nucleotide polymorphisms in many genes (Cooper RS. 2003. "Disease as Multifactorial" Ann Intern Med 139:437-40). Thinking of chronic diseases as being related to multifactorial etiologies makes much more sense than thinking from the simplistic paradigm that diseases are caused by only one specific and isolated pathophysiological process. Complicated neurological disorders must be viewed as a whole – a systems problem, a network biological problem. Network biology theory predicts that modulating multiple nodes simultaneously is often required for modifying phenotypes. When thinking about pathophysiology affecting networks, the usual mathematical techniques of linear approximation-linear regression, normal coordinates, mean field approaches, and the like - make little progress in the analysis of complex adaptive systems. This seems to be why simplistic approaches to “solve” neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers disease (through the clearance of beta-amyloid plaques) have only led to failures. Perhaps, taking this “big picture” approach to neurological disorders is the paradigm that scientists must now think within as it will then help to understand that complicated network problems may actually be related to more simplistic overall dysfunction of a common connected system. It becomes clearer now to see health dysfunction as being related to dysregulation of homeostatic mechanisms and seemingly unrelated disorders now seem related when you think of these disorders from this perspective.


The allowance of the body to “heal itself” has been the antithesis of what allopathic medicine is. Allopathic medicine teaches us that there is a pharmaceutical and/or surgical fix to a problem and therapeutics have always developed from this basic “rule.” Now the concept of “restoring cellular homeostasis” is allowing for more insight into thinking about diseases from the systems biology standpoint and new pharmaceutical approaches can now be made to enhance the body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Great thoughts, thanks.