Inflammation - the two perspectives (Pasteur, Bechamp).

The inflammatory response is the body's second line of defense if the mechanical(skin) and chemical(sebum, mucus, hydrochloric acid) barriers of the immune system are broken or overcome. The four cardinal signs of inflammatory response are:

1. redness

2. heat

3. swelling

4.pain

There are however, two very different perspectives as to how and why the inflammatory response comes about, much of which are based on the works of two very different men, Louis Pasteur and Antoine Bechamp.

Allopathic perspective - Louis Pasteur:

First we will explore inflammation from the perspective of the allopathic school of thought who base much of their thinking on the work of Louis Pasteur (even though it later emerged that much of 'his' work was not in fact, his own). Pasteur formulated the famous Germ Theory. In this he stated that the causes of disease were: 1. Every disease has specific germs (bacteria) specific to that disease.

2. Health= the absence of disease-causing micro- organisms.

3. If the micro-organisms which cause disease were destroyed, then there would be no disease. According to Pasteur bacteria were introduced int the body and would cause disease which would then be 'fought' by the 'warriors' of the immune system, the white blood cells (leukocytes). This fits with the allopathic perspective of the inflammatory response, which is as follows:

1. Injury occurs (or pathogen is detected), there is a brief constriction of the surrounding blood vessels which then almost immediately dilate and blood flow increases.

2. Injured tissue releases chemicals like histamine, serotonin and kinins ( a group of chemically related compounds). These chemicals cause vasodilation and increased permeability in blood vessels which allows components, which would normally be retained in the blood, to leak out into the tissue spaces.

3.Diapedesis takes place, this is when white blood cells move to the area of infection or injury then migrate to the wall of the blood vessel and within minutes pass through into the interstitial spaces near the injury, a process known as chemotaxis, this happens because of the attractive force produced by the release of kinins and other chemicals.

4. Injured tissue also releases leukocytosis-promoting factor (LP). When leukocytes and tissue debris accumulate at the focal point of the infection, pus may be formed and an abscess or cavity formed by the disintegration of tissues may fill with pus and surgical drainage may be needed.

5. Increased blood vessel permeability, increased blood flow and the migration and accumulation of white blood cells all contribute to the formation of Inflammatory Exudate. This accumulates in the interstitial spaces of the area of injury and causes edema or swelling and pain.

Inflammatory exudate contains white blood cells, tissue debris and 'leaked' substances, one of which is a soluble protein which is converted into fibrin in the interstitial spaces. Fibrin formation results in a clot developing which helps to seal of the injured area and lessen the spread of bacteria or other infectious material.

It now becomes apparent that:

redness - caused by increased blood flow and pooling of blood after an injury.

heat - largely because of increased blood flow to area of injury.

swelling - because of edema and the accumulation of inflammatory exudate in the interstitial spaces.

pain - caused by the release of kinins (especially bradykinin) and other chemicals which are released following tissue injury and cellular death.

Pathogenic perspective - Antoine Bechamp:

The pathogenic perspective on the inflammatory response is mostly based on the work of Antoine Bechamp. Through years of work and experiments Bechamp came to the following conclusions:

1. Through his experiments re: fermentation he discovered 'little bodies', later renamed microzymes.

2. He deduced microzymes to be the smallest independent living organisms.

3. He demonstrated that microzymes naturally change into bacteria when given the right environment (when in a medium of alcohol, the waste product of cellular respiration), even after the death of an organic life-form.

4. Concluded that bacteria can only come alive if the pre-existing organic material had died.

5.Bechamps main conclusion was that bacteria is the result of disease, not the cause, thus directly opposing Pasteurs' Germ Theory.

According to the pathogenic perspective leukocytes (white blood cells) are in fact particles of pathogenic matter which have been condensed into globular bodies which resemble cells. This happens in the lymph nodes of the lymph glands and the trabeculae of the spleen (this explains why when we are ill our glands often become swollen).

The pathogenic perspective of the inflammatory response is as follows:

1. Lowered vitality and resistance or some kind of invasion or obstruction by foreign matter causes the accumulation of pathogen in the circulation which makes blood more thick and causes congestion of blood in the affected area.

2. Because of the obstruction caused by the build-up of pathogenic material in the blood vessel it prevents the blood from flowing freely, causing it to surge back and gradually distend the blood vessels from the capillaries onwards.(redness and heat)

3. This distension of blood vessels causes the leukocytes (pathogenic matter) to be 'pushed' through into the interstitial spaces (not migration and chemotaxis as in the allopathic perspective ). ( swelling and pain)

4. Here the leukocytes engage in 'battle' with the bacteria and under the proteolytic action of the bacteria they disintegrate into pus.

5. These decomposed leukocytes form the food for the development of microzymes into bacteria which in turn destruct the leukocytes and so forth.

Conclusion on the two perspectives on inflammation:

The two perspectives are mainly opposed as to the origin of bacteria and cause of disease. The allopathic perspective states that bacteria cause disease whereas the pathogenic perspective subscribes to the view that disease is the cause, thus bacteria is the result of disease, not the cause. I myself like to believe that we have a responsible stake in our own health and thus subscribe to the pathogenic perspective, according to which health can be achieved by creating the right environment on all levels, physical, emotional, environmental etc. as opposed to health being merely a result of outside influences.