Thursday, August 07, 2003

Seeking a Definition of Disease Timothy Wilken, MD writes: Since the beginning of medicine, physicians have sought an understanding of the cause and definition of disease. They have not been very successful in finding either. My personal search led to examine stress. Dr. Hans Selye discusses the definition of Stress at length in many writings. His simplest and most generally accepted definition is: “The non-specific response of the body to any demand.” Selye further defines stressor as: “that which produces stress.” ... My search eventually led me to develop the Unified Stress Concept,  a scientific model which seeks to explain the relationship of all disease, both physiological and psychological, to a single cause. ... Disease results within a living system whenever the system’s stressor adaptability (the total ability of the living system to adapt to stressors) is exceeded by the sum of the stressors acting upon the system. Disease —> when (sa - s) < 0  (where sa represents stressor adaptability and s represents stressors). ... This corroborates the mind-body unification and sets a clear direction for future medicine. It could further lead to a new understanding of life, health, and wellness that would result in the eventual control and elimination most diseases and illnesses that currently afflict humankind. (08/07/03) Troubled Times Ahead Terence R. Wilken writes: What is happening in the markets could impact all of us.  It could even impact the two biggest sources of money that fueled the housing boom.  These two sources are Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.  I have been asked several times why I am so interested in these two institutions.  Well now I will answer that question.  In their own way they were following the policies of Enron before Enron thought it was the right thing to do.  They were given the task of making housing affordable to everyone, even those who did not have a sound financial footing.  This meant that they took big risks with their money.  Of course they did not worry as they were backed and supported by the faith and credit of the federal government.  They did however hedge their risk in several ways.  Not only to protect themselves in the case of default, but also in the situation of rising long term interest rates.  The method of hedging took the form of establishing derivative positions in the markets.  Where have we heard that word before?  The only problem is that it is hard to protect yourself in the case of a rapidly falling bond market.    The situation occurring now could bode ill for them and for all of us. (08/07/03) 8:46:37 AM

© TrustMark 2003 Timothy Wilken. Last update: 9/1/2003; 1:44:56 AM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.