Pediatric Dysautonomia-Adolescent Dysautonomia-Adult Dysautonomia
Majid Ali, M.D.
Autonomic nervous system regulates heart rate, vascular tone, digestive-absorptive functions, sphincter activities, skin circulation, and many other body functions. Autonomic dysfunction is pervasive now and often goes unrecognized. In the past it was extremely uncommon to see children suffer from full-blown disruptions of the autonomic system. That has changed.
Clinical Feature of Pediatric Dysautonomia
* Chest discomfort
* Episodes of rapid heart beat
* Shortness of breath
* Lighthededness
* Stomach and bowel functions
* Mood swings
Neglected Autonomic Functions
There are few areas in medicine in which the beginnings of the problem are so widely neglected as in the case of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Also there are is hardly any organ-system in the body in which Nature’s preoccupation with webs and kaleidoscopes of complementarity and contrariety is as transparent as in the working of the ANS. There are few parallels to this system in the body as far as molecular and cellular self-regulation is concerned. Also, there are few areas in clinical medicine where the need for clinical integration is as clear as in the management of disorders of the ANS (dysautonomias).
Common Types of Dysautonomia
The subject of dysautonomia is vast. I devote several articles to on in thei website. Below are some common forms of dysautonomic dysfunctions:
* Vaso-vagal Dysautonomia (simple fainting)
* Stress-Adrenergic Dysuatonomia (heart palpitations, chest discomfort)
* Sugar-Insulin Spike Dysautonomia
* Environmental Dysautonomia (including mold toxicosis, indiustrial
pollutants
* Anxiety Dysautonomia
* Hyperventialation Dysautonomia
* Postural Episodic Tachycardia
* Pediatric Dysautonomia and Adolescent Dysautonomia*
Pediatric Dysautonomia
I introduced the tersm pediatric dysautonomia and adolescent dysautonomias to draw attention to autonomic dysfunctions in children and adolescents, clinical entities which are associated with symptom-complexes largely related to the cardiovascular, and often go unrecognized and un-addressed.
Brief Overview of Personal Observations
Below I briefly describe how I came to recognized the problem and the need for a new diagnostic term to help parents of such children to address the problem with natural remedies.
In 1998, in an article published in American Journal of Integrative Medicine (which I edited), I described a pattern of cardiovascular symptom-complexes which I attributed to nutritional, stress, and environmental factors which were related to dysfunctional autonomic nervous system. I recognized oxidative injury and oxygen dysfunction as the common denominators among all the elements which set the stage for these symptom-complexes. I designated it as “oxidative dysautonomia.” In Integrative Cardiology and Chelation Therapies (2002), I devoted a large chapter entitled “oxidative dysurtonomia” to a comprehensive review of the physiology and pathology of this clinic-pathologic entity.
Adolescent Dysautonomia
