Experiment for the Qi-denouncers lurking in the YMAA forum:
Without using the word Qi at all in this thread, lets discuss human health as it pertains to the circulation of blood and energy throughout the body (even though this is a QiGong forum).
I'll start!
Ion channels regulate the flow of ions across the membrane in all human cells. An ion is a molecule with an uneven number of protons and electrons, thereby giving it a positive or negative charge.
"While some channels permit the passage of ions based solely on charge, the archetypal channel pore is just one or two atoms wide at its narrowest point. It conducts a specific species of ion, such as sodium or potassium, and conveys them through the membrane single file--nearly as quickly as the ions move through free fluid. In some ion channels, passage through the pore is governed by a "gate," which may be opened or closed by chemical or electrical signals, temperature, or mechanical force, depending on the variety of channel."
"Voltage-activated" channels underlie the nerve impulses and "transmitter-activated" channels mediate conduction across the synapses. Therefore these channels are a prominent component of the nervous system. There are MANY different types of ion channel throughout the body.
Our blood circulation also brings various ions throughout the body, providing energy to every living cell.
Each of the 100 trillion cells that the human body is constructed of has an individual life span - living for hours, or days, months. Eventually, these cells die, and they need to be discarded from the body to make space for the growth of new cells. 60 or 70% of the cell replacement process takes place through breathing. 10 or 20% takes place through sweating. So if you don't breathe deeply and break a sweat regularly, the cell replacement process is reduced and stagnant. This results in impaired immune response and feelings of sluggishness and weakness.
There is a growing understanding in modern Western medical science of the link between the immune system and nervous systems, otherwise known as the neuroimmune system. This research is often referred to in the popular media as mind/body science. It has become clear that there is extensive bi-directional communication between the brain/nervous system and the immune system. The health of one affects the other.
The field of neuroimmunology has started to discover how and why people get sick due their thinking. Sufferers of psychosomatic illness experience pain, nausea, or other physically felt symptoms but with no physical cause that can be diagnosed. The keyword in this is "feeling". They feel symptoms, though no physical cause is readily apparent. Feeling is the language between body and mind.
It will be interesting to see how this important field of medicine develops.
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