Abstract
The so-called functional somatic syndromes comprise a group of disorders that are primarily symptom-based, multisystemic in presentation and probably involve alterations in mind-brain-body interactions. The emerging neurobiological models of allostasis/allostatic load and of the emotional motor system show striking similarities with concepts used by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to understand the functional somatic disorders and their underlying pathogenesis. These models incorporate a macroscopic perspective, accounting for the toll of acute and chronic traumas, physical and emotional stressors and the complex interactions between the mind, brain and body. The convergence of these biomedical models with the ancient paradigm of TCM may provide a new insight into scientifically verifiable diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for these common disorders.
Highlights
The functional somatic syndromes comprise a large group of symptom-based disorders that are poorly understood and inadequately treated
Two emerging biomedical models with the potential to further our understanding of the functional somatic syndromes are allostasis/allostatic load and the emotional motor system (EMS) [14,15,16,17,18]
Given sustained stressors or an acute, severe stressor in a weakened system, these adaptive processes may be severely compromised or permanently disabled. This results in an exhaustion of homeostatic reserves manifesting as persistent, unresponsive and chronic symptoms commonly encountered in functional somatic syndromes
Summary
The functional somatic syndromes comprise a large group of symptom-based disorders that are poorly understood and inadequately treated They have a major impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of affected patients. Certain syndromes have presentations with symptoms predominant in one organ system (e.g., bowel symptoms in IBS), patients almost universally present with significant symptomatology across multiple organ systems [2,4,6,10] Another feature that is common to these disorders is a strong history of physical and/or emotional stressors and concurrent mood disturbances [1,7,11]. Two emerging biomedical models with the potential to further our understanding of the functional somatic syndromes are allostasis/allostatic load and the emotional motor system (EMS) [14,15,16,17,18] These models explore the complicated interactions of physical and emotional stressors in the genesis of symptoms and diseases. We discuss how the convergence of these biomedical models with the ancient healing tradition of TCM may provide novel perspectives in understanding these challenging and elusive disorders
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