
A better description, several practitioners are finding, is a malfunction in the body's master regulating system (homeostasis). Many of you may know this as the autonomic nervous system or HPA axis. The HPA axis (composed of the hypothalamus, pituitary glands, and adrenal glands) controls millions of involuntary actions such as: breathing, releasing endocrine hormones, blood flow, maintains smooth muscle tone, immune response, heartbeat, detoxification, and elimination. This whole system envelopes all of the basic survival functions we know such as breathing and our heart pumping.
Normally all the systems in the body communicate and work together. This is the true meaning of homeostasis. But when one takes out a loan on her savings account of stress-coping chemicals, her HPA axis begins to self-destruct. This is dysautonomia. Each body part begins conversing in a different language and no one knows what the other is saying!
You can do a simple test to check for dysautonomia. You don't need that doctor's tilt-table to do a formal reading. With new information on your side, you can ask your health practitioner to check for adrenal dysfunction. True adrenal dysfunction takes years to reboot with solid nutrition and supplements.
The Test
- Take your blood pressure while lying down.
- Stand up and wait 30 seconds
- Take blood pressure again while standing
A normal person's pressure will go up 10 or more points. Those that suffer from dysautonomia will decrease instead by usually 10 or more points.