What moves viruses?

How fascinating...

I was reading about the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and how 'experts' fear it becoming a pandemic. Will it?

I find the topic of viruses and bacteria (micro organisms in general) so interesting. How is it that they infect some while not others? What makes someone prone to infection? What is the interaction between these and the cells in the body?

Adenovirus, from wikimedia commons

Sure, these questions can be answered from the medical perspective, but I want to go beyond these answers. For example, I was reading about the etymology of the word Influenza. Wikipedia says:

"The word Influenza comes from the Italian language and refers to the cause of the disease; initially, this ascribed illness to unfavorable astrological influences. Changes in medical thought led to its modification to influenza del freddo, meaning "influence of the cold". The word influenza was first used in English in 1743 when it was adopted, with an anglicized pronunciation, during an outbreak of the disease in Europe...."

This is where things start to become interesting. It says that the original word captured the cause of the disease as the result of 'unfavorable astrological influences'. Did I just read 'astrological influences'? [Smile.]

In the past I used to think that getting sick as a result of a viral influence was like having something parasitic come into my system and lodge there. Like a piece of dirt that can be removed with proper disinfectants. However my views have changed over the years. Sure, a virus is something that infects the body and, when it overpowers the balance systems in the body a person becomes sick. However I couldn't say that a virus is just an 'organism' [1] that comes and stays. Most viruses are highly contagious. The survival fight they launch is fierce. Their power is not necessarily individual but as a group. When they start to infect and replicate they can decimate large populations of people. There are forces behind these little buggers. And these forces are usually quite sharp and intense. In fact, if you have a close look at them, they are only made of information [2]. Look at some of their shapes... they carry something. Some even are extremely beautiful: geometrical forms so tiny and 'perfect', ever ready to attack and infect.

It has been my perception that outbreaks like the one in Mexico are often a sign of something else. Some sort of force (and here, please avoid interpreting my words with some tint of paranoia). I think there is much more to see about viruses and their 'power' than what has been explored so far. What moves these forces behind virus outbreaks? What makes certain people more prone to be infected than other people? Not all viruses infect everyone and maybe these predispositions can hint some answers as much as the fact that there could be astrological forces linked to these outbreaks. After all, despite scientific skepticism, astrology was considered an important influence in many, many ancient traditions - that have shaped what we are today. [3]

Virus are moved by forces that interact with our physical bodies. They can change and modify them through their infection, to the point that malformations and growths can occur. Have a look - if you have the belly for it - at this man's hands and feet infected with the human papilloma virus. Who needs genetic engineers when there are viruses to do the job?

Perhaps that is what Sri Aurobindo meant in the quote I last posted and as long as every cell in the body stops responding to 'whatever forces' except the One Force, then we are all prone to becoming sick.

The question remains, what force is behind this outbreak in Mexico? (Or any other outbreak for that matter...)

[1] The idea of viruses being organisms is still debated as they don't have the ability to metabolize food and lack their own cellular structure.
[2] Comparing the action of computer viruses to 'biological' viruses can be quite interesting from this perspective.
[3] I tend to believe that in the not so distant future astrology will be re-considered as an important source of information for some of these so called skeptics.

More on diets... and gaining weight.

One of the many things that call my fascination is the issue of weight loss/gain. There are many, many aspects to these. From the image related ones to the health related ones, going through psychological, cultural, etc. etc.

I am not an expert on the topic. However, it is interesting that the research I have done usually brings more information on suggestions and ideas for people wanting to loose weight, not gain it. Have you ever talked to someone that wants to actually gain weight? They would tell you that it is very, very difficult. Some have attempted to eat all day (in fact some do eat quite a lot) but they just cannot gain weight.

So this post has my total support for them, not the weight loosers. Must say, though, I wonder if the key for both is the same. By accident I found a comment on a you tube video that mentioned some system (they didn't talk about the specifics) that helped people loose weight through working directly with the hypothalamus.

This is totally new for me (although it is pretty obvious when you look at it closer). The hypothalamus is the one that regulates some functions related to metabolism and the Autonomic Nervous System. In relation to weight, it sets the 'program' that specifies the 'normal' weight for that person (whatever that may be, even if it does not seem 'normal' nor 'healthy').

I was reading wikipedia (which, yes I admit is the basic of basics, but can give a general idea on something). It says the following:

The hypothalamus is responsible for certain metabolic processes and other activities of the Autonomic Nervous System. It synthesizes and secretes neurohormones, often called hypothalamic-releasing hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, ^[1] fatigue, anger, and circadian cycles.

The hypothalamus is a complex region in the brain of humans, and even small nuclei within the hypothalamus are involved in many different functions. The paraventricular nucleus for instance contains oxytocin and vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) neurons which project to the posterior pituitary, but also contains neurons that regulate ACTH and TSH secretion (which project to the anterior pituitary), gastric reflexes, maternal behavior, blood pressure, feeding, immune responses, and temperature.


As I said before, I know very little about the topic, which seems immense, so I will post some open questions that perhaps will seem odd, but might bring some clarity in the future.

The questions come from thinking about a person I met recently, and linking this person's case to other people I have seen that cannot gain weight. They also arise from combining my interests in astrology and emotional issues and my general interest in people's issues. Some, however, are just questions to which I would have to write a whole treatise if I wanted to explain how I came up with them.

I'll call the person in this case 'FB'. FB is someone that cannot put on weight. FB is usually hungry and eats quite often, not limiting the diet, except for red meat, which only is included very rarely.
When talking to FB, a single woman in her 30s, other possible clues come to the surface. She mentions that she doesn't have a good relationship with her mother and that she has trouble sleeping at nights. She also says that she often has trouble digesting food and that she feels tired despite taking a nap in the afternoons.

From an astrology perspective, an astrological influence that seem to jump out is the moon. The moon has to do with nurturing (this includes food), the mother, and deep rest and letting go.

Now thinking about another couple of cases (one of them a man), they also had issues related with their mothers. In his case, his mother died when he was young, leading to deep grief and loss. In her case her mother was absent through her childhood due to work.

So, my questions:

- could there be a relationship between the hypothalamus and the moon astrological force?
- is it possible that by working out the mother issues these people carry, their weight would go up?
- what is really happening in the hypothalamus of these people or people like them?
- what could be done in the hypothalamus to change and influence a different 'normal' weight and a metabolic balance that will target their perfect weight?
- could genetics be the main factor here?

Suddenly I am fascinated with the hypothalamus.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge will read this one day and point to something that might be a key to solving the issue of weight gain or loss in this case.