The Framework of a Mathematical Model of the Autonomic Nervous System and Physiological Systems: Using the Neuroregulation of Blood Glucose as an Example

Abstract

IntroductionOur sense perception enables us to eat the correct amounts of food and, under normal circumstances, we cease eating when we have eaten sufficient food, and we drink sufficient to sati sfy the body 's need for liquid. We breathe at the normal expected rate, our heart pumps at the expected rate and maintain the normal level of blood pressure, our body maintains the normal levels of acidity and temperature, we sleep for 7-8 hours per night, etc. This suggests that the body is being regulated by a biological control mechanism of enormous sophistication and complexity, which has an enormous processing capacity; however as we age, and particularly as we age beyond 50 years, the mechanism which maintains our function become increasingly less able to sustain the levels of oxygen, blood glucose, blood cell content and a myriad of other biological components which the brain requires to function [1]. The i nnate g enetic c apacity o f key o rgans d eclines a nd r esults in shortages of proteins, hormones, etc. This h as a k nock-on e ffect affecting one biological sequence after another.The cumulative effect of our lifetime of experiences, due to environmental and biological factors, influences the function and/ or stability of the autonomic nervous system and ultimately the function of our DNA and genes [2]. The level of genetic expression of the proteins (genotype) which we require to sustain our function declines and the rate at which these expressed proteins subsequently react (phenotype) also declines i.e. the ability of the body to cope with extreme events declines.There are two fundamentally significant biological issues at play: (i) the genetic ability to express proteins (ii) the body's physiological demand i.e. the phenotype or influence of the environment. In the case of diabetes, in particular type 2 diabetes, this is the regulation of Blood Glucose. The greater the level of hyperglycaemia the greater is the associated demand for insulin. The development of a medical condition occurs when the environmental demand exceeds the body's innate capacity [3] i.e. the prevailing supply and/or level of insulin is insufficient to metabolise the excess of blood glucose. By contrast, the lower the level of hypoglycaemia, which occurs in type 1 diabetes, the lower is the demand/need for insulin. If there is insufficient blood glucose the excess of highly reactive insulin will seek an alternative substrate and ultimately results in damage to the peripheral blood vessels e.g. in particular to the brain, eyes, legs and feet.The evidence suggests that this regulatory process is performed by the brain via the process of neuroregulation [4][5][6]. This is a best-fit process which takes into account the prevailing state of development or physiological damage to a part of the brain, degeneration or damage to an organ (or limb), and the prevailing inter-cellular environment i.e. the feedback of biochemical signals from the viscera. AbstractDespite the immense advances of medical research there remains a fundamental theo...