The problem with porridge
Mothers recall how their previously fit daughters were left virtually bed-bound after the cancer jab
Throughout our lives, we remain blissfully unaware of the physiological marvel of the workings of those internal organs, the heart and lungs, gut and bladder. Their seemingly effortless but very effective functioning is, as the great, 19th-century French scientist Claude Bernard put it, “the condition of a free and independent existence”.
That effortless functioning is orchestrated primarily through the complementary powers of the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic, running in a long chain down the spinal cord. Thus, depending on the circumstances or the need of the moment, they can either increase or decrease the heart rate, widen or narrow the blood vessels, relax or constrict the airways, speed up or slow down the movement of the bowel – and much else besides.
The corollary of the automatic control exerted by these two complementary divisions is that if, for any reason, they are out of balance, this can give rise to one or more of many puzzling symptoms: too fast or too slow a heart rate, too high or too low a blood pressure, too vigorous or too sluggish contractions of the bowel, excessive or insufficient sweating. The problems posed in diagnosing and treating these dysautonomias (as they are known) are among the most challenging in all of medicine, and for several reasons. First, there is no definitive test to diagnose what is amiss. There may be several possible explanations why a person’s heart rate might be too fast or too slow, or their bowel contractions too vigorous or too sluggish, so he or she may undergo numerous investigations, angiograms and endoscopies, etc. When these all prove to be normal, it is then not unusual for the poor patient to be told their distressing symptoms must be “psychological”.
Then the cause of these dysautonomias may be obscure. They may be part of a generalised neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s, or, for those in their 70s and beyond, due to the “normal” process of ageing. Several mothers have written to describe how their previously fit young daughters, following the cervical cancer jab, developed a particularly severe range of dysautonomic symptoms that have left them virtually bed-bound.
Nor, most regrettably, is there any specific treatment – though immunosuppressant drugs may be of value in those with antibodies to one or other of the components of the autonomic nerves.
The prospects for those afflicted are therefore hardly encouraging, though the situation has improved considerably since the establishment, at the National Hospital for Neurology in London, of the first autonomic unit specialising in these disorders, to which GPS or consultants from any part of the country can refer patients.
Those who might wish to know more should read the brilliantly lucid Autonomic Aspects of Neurology by Professor Chris Mathias, available on the internet. Families whose daughters have been adversely affected by the cervical cancer jab should go to timetotalk.com
Porridge to go…
Finally, porridge is a wholesome food, being – as Samuel Johnson famously remarked – “a grain that in England is given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people”. It can, however, have an unusual sideeffect, as an airline pilot describes.
For many years, he had been troubled intermittently with urinary frequency for no apparent reason. Then last year, his rota changed, so rather than having to rise at dawn, he was able to share a leisurely breakfast, including porridge, with his wife before heading off to work.
“Naturally, I went to the loo before leaving the house,” he writes, “but found I had to pee again when I got to the airport.” And then, unless he went once more before take-off, he was “desperate before even reaching cruising altitude”.
The penny eventually dropped (as it were).
Since then, porridge has become a rare treat only to be enjoyed on his days off.