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The Role of Biosemiosis and Dysfunctional Signaling Processes in Human Pathology

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Food and Medicine

Part of the book series: Biosemiotics ((BSEM,volume 22))

Abstract

Why does the human body sometimes defend against harmless stimuli, even foods—the very source of the body’s basic requirements? These reactions are errors and can even be fatal. A dramatic increase in food allergies in recent decades has prompted a global research effort. However, even with advances in research, data are conflicting and have not brought medical researchers any closer to a consensus nor explained why many cases occur without immune-mediated processes. While the field of immunology has established that allergies are an inappropriate defense reaction of the immune system, this chapter argues that errant defense is a universal physiological phenomenon that can occur with any system in the body; it is not exclusive to the immune system and, significantly, may be contributing to a vast number of conditions. Errant defense results from dysfunctional signaling processes which alter stimulus interpretation, leading to erroneous perception of threat. The pervasive role of errant defense in pathology can be explained through a biosemiotic framework.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Biosemiotics uses terms such as “perception”, “meaning” and “interpretation” to describe the unconscious biological processes within organisms, and even within cells or organs, which are also considered to be semiotic systems. As Sharov et al. clarify: “Biosemiotics … is an evolutionary science because it explores the gradual emergence of each single quality, including broad phenomena such as life and mind. The mind-like properties found elsewhere in nature can be very different from the human mind. Biosemiotics does not promote anthropomorphism but acknowledges the diversity of semiosis across and within the various levels of biological organization. It also differs from radical monistic theories (e.g., physiosemiotics or pansemiotics), which overemphasize the transitional nature of changes to the extent that qualitative differences in effect disappear” (Sharov et al. 2015:2).

  2. 2.

    Mistakes are possible because biological systems do not respond to food or threats per se, but to signs of food or threat, that is, things or situations that are associated with the positive effects of getting food or avoiding threats (see Alexander 2013).

  3. 3.

    The term “hypersensitivity” is used interchangeably with “allergy” and the term “sensitivity” has been used for both immune and non-immune-mediated symptoms.

  4. 4.

    Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is produced by the immune system to defend against a specific food protein. The IgE binds to mast cells which then bind to the protein. When this occurs, inflammatory mediators are released causing the various symptoms associated with allergies.

  5. 5.

    Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) is a blood test used to detect specific IgE antibodies for allergens.

  6. 6.

    Mast cells are located throughout the body and play an important role in inflammation by releasing mediators such as histamine into the local environment.

  7. 7.

    These conditions are not caused by excessive exposure or extreme levels of the stimuli but what is considered to be normal thresholds.

  8. 8.

    While some stimuli may have intrinsic properties that are noxious depending on thresholds, thus affecting individuals differently, this is not relevant to the point being stated, which is that any form of stimulus appears to be amenable to aversive conditioning.

  9. 9.

    The immune system has been conceptualized as a diffuse sensory system providing a “sixth sense” to detect antigens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and tumor cells as well as non-living agents such as toxins, chemicals and drugs (Blalock and Smith 2007).

  10. 10.

    Bykov’s claim regarding the universality of conditioning in visceral organs had still not been fully proven over the course of 70 years of visceral conditioning research (Ádám 1998).

  11. 11.

    Bykov’s assertion of “chance conditioning” has been validated more recently from Hadamitzky et al. (2020) with their work on behaviorally conditioned endocrine functions resulting from “incidental conditioning.”

  12. 12.

    The sympathetic nervous system is now understood to act as an interface between the brain and the immune system, confirming Metchnikoff’s assertion of a relationship between internal and external defense (Elenkov et al. 2000).

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  1. University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    D. M. Nowlin

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  1. Erasmus School of Philosophy, Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity Initiative, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Yogi Hale Hendlin

  2. Département d’études littéraires, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Jonathan Hope

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Nowlin, D.M. (2021). The Role of Biosemiosis and Dysfunctional Signaling Processes in Human Pathology. In: Hendlin, Y.H., Hope, J. (eds) Food and Medicine . Biosemiotics, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67115-0_9

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