American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine

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FLASH Syndrome: Tapping into the Root of Chronic Illness

Received: 03 November 2020    Accepted: 13 November 2020    Published: 23 November 2020
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Abstract

It has now been established that persons with higher resting heart rates are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a plethora of mental and physical illnesses. However, the mechanism underlying the predictive value of this core vital sign remains obscure. This seminal report will integrate clinical, neuropsychological, physiological, and genetic evidence to assert that an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system is at the heart of the connection between resting heart rate and disease. Hypothetically, neuronal hyperexcitability can cause multiple circuits in the brain to overfire, including cognitive circuits, limbic circuits, and autonomic circuits, thereby dysregulating the associated systems of the body and allowing the aberration to be detected through standard vital signs and related measures of autonomic activity. Because the cognitive-emotional system is exquisitely sensitive to neuronal excitation, the aberration could also manifest as psychiatric symptomatology, thus suggesting that psychiatric symptoms may be the first subjective markers of the abnormality. Based on the well-recognized link between mental illness, autonomic dysregulation, and systemic disease together with mounting evidence that the related illnesses are associated with gene variants whose protein products fail to adequately regulate the firing of neurons, the vulnerability trait could aptly be called Familial Limbic Autonomic System Hyperexcitability or “FLASH.” Because the trait appears to be so common, its effects so pervasive, and its expression so modifiable, its identification is of critical importance to every medical specialty. FLASH could give clinicians the first comprehensive biological target through which to treat and prevent a plethora of mental, emotional, and physical illnesses.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11
Published in American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Volume 8, Issue 6, November 2020)
Page(s) 95-103
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Prognostic Indicators, Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Heart Rate Recovery, Respiratory Rate, Neuronal Hyperexcitability, Molecular Genetics, Ion Channelopathies

References
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  • North Shore University Health System, Highland Park Hospital, Highland Park, Illinois, USA

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  • APA Style

    Michael Raymond Binder. (2020). FLASH Syndrome: Tapping into the Root of Chronic Illness. American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 8(6), 95-103. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11

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    Michael Raymond Binder. FLASH Syndrome: Tapping into the Root of Chronic Illness. Am. J. Clin. Exp. Med. 2020, 8(6), 95-103. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11

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    Michael Raymond Binder. FLASH Syndrome: Tapping into the Root of Chronic Illness. Am J Clin Exp Med. 2020;8(6):95-103. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11,
      author = {Michael Raymond Binder},
      title = {FLASH Syndrome: Tapping into the Root of Chronic Illness},
      journal = {American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine},
      volume = {8},
      number = {6},
      pages = {95-103},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20200806.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajcem.20200806.11},
      abstract = {It has now been established that persons with higher resting heart rates are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a plethora of mental and physical illnesses. However, the mechanism underlying the predictive value of this core vital sign remains obscure. This seminal report will integrate clinical, neuropsychological, physiological, and genetic evidence to assert that an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system is at the heart of the connection between resting heart rate and disease. Hypothetically, neuronal hyperexcitability can cause multiple circuits in the brain to overfire, including cognitive circuits, limbic circuits, and autonomic circuits, thereby dysregulating the associated systems of the body and allowing the aberration to be detected through standard vital signs and related measures of autonomic activity. Because the cognitive-emotional system is exquisitely sensitive to neuronal excitation, the aberration could also manifest as psychiatric symptomatology, thus suggesting that psychiatric symptoms may be the first subjective markers of the abnormality. Based on the well-recognized link between mental illness, autonomic dysregulation, and systemic disease together with mounting evidence that the related illnesses are associated with gene variants whose protein products fail to adequately regulate the firing of neurons, the vulnerability trait could aptly be called Familial Limbic Autonomic System Hyperexcitability or “FLASH.” Because the trait appears to be so common, its effects so pervasive, and its expression so modifiable, its identification is of critical importance to every medical specialty. FLASH could give clinicians the first comprehensive biological target through which to treat and prevent a plethora of mental, emotional, and physical illnesses.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - It has now been established that persons with higher resting heart rates are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a plethora of mental and physical illnesses. However, the mechanism underlying the predictive value of this core vital sign remains obscure. This seminal report will integrate clinical, neuropsychological, physiological, and genetic evidence to assert that an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system is at the heart of the connection between resting heart rate and disease. Hypothetically, neuronal hyperexcitability can cause multiple circuits in the brain to overfire, including cognitive circuits, limbic circuits, and autonomic circuits, thereby dysregulating the associated systems of the body and allowing the aberration to be detected through standard vital signs and related measures of autonomic activity. Because the cognitive-emotional system is exquisitely sensitive to neuronal excitation, the aberration could also manifest as psychiatric symptomatology, thus suggesting that psychiatric symptoms may be the first subjective markers of the abnormality. Based on the well-recognized link between mental illness, autonomic dysregulation, and systemic disease together with mounting evidence that the related illnesses are associated with gene variants whose protein products fail to adequately regulate the firing of neurons, the vulnerability trait could aptly be called Familial Limbic Autonomic System Hyperexcitability or “FLASH.” Because the trait appears to be so common, its effects so pervasive, and its expression so modifiable, its identification is of critical importance to every medical specialty. FLASH could give clinicians the first comprehensive biological target through which to treat and prevent a plethora of mental, emotional, and physical illnesses.
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