Cholesterinum
Anhängsel
‡ Folgendes hat anthroposofische Einschlüße ‡
Frei nach: Martin Errenst, M.D.
Concentration
of Chol. (in blood/food), is a recurrent topic in the scientific and the
popular press.
The image
presented is that of a harmful substance that causes disease and shortens life.
Yet others
will say that the Chol. discussion is the invention of an industrial lobby to
boost the sale of Chol.-free margarine and plasma Chol. level-reducing agents.
Chol. is at
the heart of the egotistical interests of industrialists on the one hand and
consumers on the other.
Chol. holds
a central position in the evolution of chemistry and the physiology that has
developed from it since the 18th century.
Chol. is
considered in relation to fats as polar opposites among the lipids (i.e.
fat-soluble substances). Fats and Chol. are related not only because they have lipid
character but also because of many physiological relationships; some of this
will be considered below. On the other hand it will be shown that they are also
polar opposites.
2. Triglycerides
Everyone
knows fats and oils, for instance in the kitchen, where vegetable fats play a
major role. A vast variety of fats and oils with different qualities may be
described. Even the widely used sunflower oil, olive oil and palm oil offer a
broad spectrum of qualities.
Palm oil is solid at room temperature, insensitive
to heat and therefore used for (deep) frying.
Olive oil has its own taste and odor; it is
liquid at room temperature but solidifies in the refrigerator or when the room
temperature is lower in winter.
Sunflower oil also has its own aroma and only solidifies
at temperatures below 0°C.
Linseed oil may be added to the range. It only
solidifies if the temperature is markedly below 0°C and is sensitive, easily
going rancid and needing protection from heat and light.
Fatty oils
have to be distinguished from the volatile oils (identified by the fact that
drops applied to filter paper evaporate completely, whilst fatty oils leave a
fat stain).
Volatile
oils are thus more inclined to evaporate, intensely addressing themselves to
the sense of smell. Combustibility, a characteristic also of fatty oils, has
here reached explosive and spontaneous combustion level. Volatile oils are not
nutrients, like fats, but have pharmaceutical actions.
At the
other end of the scale, waxes, also not nutrients, are solid lipids that only
melt at temperatures higher than fats do and are chemically more inert.
Volatile
oils tend towards the gaseous and waxes to the solid state, natural vegetable
fats are generally fluid.
Both waxes
and fats do not melt or solidify at a sharply defined temperature but in a
fusion interval. In the case of fats this covers a range from -15 to 40°C,
which is the temperature range in which higher organisms are able to live.
Some of the
many different qualities of fatty oils are evident in the different fatty acids
that can be liberated and isolated from fats by saponification. Every natural
fat contains a large number of different fatty acids. One is usually dominant
and this usually owes its name to the fat concerned - oleic acid from olive
oil, linolic and linolenic acid from linseed oil. Saponification also liberates
hygroscopic sweet-tasting glycerin, a constituent found in all fats, which
chemically distinguishes them from waxes.
The fatty
acid composition of fats is primarily determined by the plant species that
produced them. Environmental conditions (temperature) have a marked effect on
the fatty acid composition.
Vegetable
fatty oils are an important part of our diet, which means that we are all the
time taking in this rich variety of substance qualities with natural foods.
Two fatty
acids (linolic and linolenic acid) are only produced by plants and essential to
humans, for whilst the human organism is unable to produce them it does need
them. Fats of animal origin are clearly also important for nutrition. (Milk
fats have a great variety of fatty acids).
Apart from
carbohydrates fats are the main basis of energy metabolism. They go through
physiological "combustion" in the organism, so that their substance
quality is destroyed.
Fatty oils
are thus characterized as substances available in great variety in nature that
offer differentiated qualities perceptible to the senses. We have distinguished
them from the volatile oils and waxes, identifying them as nutrient lipids that
are nonvolatile, with their melting point in the -15 to 40°C range.
3. Chol.
Fats have
been known to man from early times. Fats and flour (cereals) are the staple
foods of settled people and part of their culture and religion. The
Mediterranean landscape is given its character by the olive tree which was
sacred to the Greeks. The founding of Athens involved the goddess Athena giving
the people an olive tree.
Chol. on
the other hand had to be discovered by scientific means in more recent times. The
history of its discovery begins in the second half of the 18th century
(1769-1789) when French chemists investigated and described the waxy
consistency of gall stones. This history of Chol. is essentially based on the
paper by Neuhausen. At the beginning of the 19th century (1815-1816) Chevreui
described the Chol. he had isolated from gall stones as a substance in its own
right. He distinguished it from waxes and fats because of its high melting
point (147.5°C) and because it could not be saponified by boiling in lye to
produce soap, a fatty acid salt. Chevreui gave Chol. its name from Greek chole
= bile and stereos = solid.
In 1932, a
century later, Windaus established the molecular structure; Woodward
synthesized it in 1951. Chol. thus followed the whole evolution of our modern
chemistry
in which
matter is weighed, a chemistry given its original foundation by Lavoisier at
the end of the 18th century, exactly at the time, therefore, when Chol. was
first discovered. The names of many renowned scientists are connected with
it,and few substances have seen so much eager effort as Chol. M. Brown and J.
Goldstein who received the Nobel Prize for physiological studies connected with
the substance in 1985, referred to the role of Chol. in the history of science
in their Nobel lecture, saying that Chol. was the most distinguished small
molecule. 13 Nobel Prizes were given to scientists who devoted a great part of
their life's work to Chol. The physiology of Chol. began to be studied in the
mid 19th century, when simple color reactions had been developed to detect
it/Chol. found in most human tissues/secretions/pathological growths.
Two opposing views:
B. On the other hand North American scientists
in particular draw a picture of Chol. where the emphasis is on its occurrence
in conjunction with pathological phenomena such as gall stones.
Flint referred to Chol. as a "sinful"
substance in 1862. Chol. promoted tumor growth in experiments on animals and
the fatty tissue of cancer patients was found to have elevated Chol.
levels. Experiments were also done from which
it was wrongly concluded that Chol. cannot be produced inhuman or animal
organisms but has to be taken in with the food.
The idea of
Chol. as a harmful substance had so been born. On the basis of it, attempts
were made to explore the connection between food Chol. and atherosclerotic
changes. It had been known for some time that atherosclerotic changes relate to
high Chol. levels. Rabbits were thus given Chol. suspended in oil in addition
to their vegetable diet which, of course, contained practically no Chol. After
4 - 8 weeks all tissues had been infiltrated with Chol. Rabbits, being
completely herbivorous, are not used to foods containing Chol. The same
experiment gave negative results with rats, naturally carnivorous and therefore
used to foods containing Chol. This raises the question how far the experiment
done with rabbits applies to humans who eat a mixed diet. In spite of this, the
concept of Chol. in foods being harmful dominated the discussion for a long
time. It was only in the 1970s that experiments on human subjects showed that
the Chol. level of foods has only a limited effect on Chol. levels.
On the
other hand Chol. was also considered and used medicinally as a general roborant
(= Kräftigungs-/Stärkungsmittel) for anemia and infectious diseases. These uses
never gained real significance, however.
It is
remarkable how long it took for the idea that Chol. is produced in the human
organism to be accepted. Systematic investigations of the Chol. balance in 1920
- 1923 showed that the body eliminates more Chol. than it takes in with the
food, so that Chol. is not really a food. With a purely vegetarian and
therefore practically Chol.-free diet, the organism is able to produce all the
Chol. it needs. On the other hand Chol. is continually eliminated as the
organism is not able to break it down. If the diet contains high levels of
Chol. (= high proportion of foods of animal origin) the body's own synthesis is
reduced, though it never ceases completely. The Chol. balance thus varies depending
on the diet.
Daily
dietary intake is 500 mg, but only 200 mg are absorbed, compared to more than
95% of fats. 700 - 900 mg are produced in the body, and in accord with this
about 1.000 mg = 1 g is eliminated as Chol. or bile salt in a ratio of approx. 1:1
and as steroid hormone (about 50 mg).
Chol. is
thus the complete opposite of the fats as characterized above. The latter are
needed as foods. They are taken up from the outside world and metabolized in
the organism. With Chol., the opposite is the case. It is mainly produced in
the organism itself and eliminated. In human metabolism, fats and Chol. are
polar opposites in one major aspect.
4. Polarity of Chol. and dietary fats.
Fats =
substances human beings have used as foods taken from the natural world around
them from early times.
Vegetable
fats have ripened in the light and in the heat of the sun; they have numerous
qualities that relate to the particular plant and reflect the conditions under
which the fat was produced in the plant.
They go through
a physiological combustion process in the human organism that destroys their
qualities.
Chol. on
the other hand is produced in the organism and does not immediately show
itself. It needed to be discovered. Compared to the qualitative variety of fats
which is reflected in the wide variety of fatty acids, Chol. is a single
substance. It does not go through combustion in the organism but is excreted
into the outside world, into the light.
Fats and
Chol. also differ in their qualities as substances. Both are completely
insoluble in water, but fats are saponifiable and may thus be converted to
fatty acids and glycerin, whereas Chol. is not saponifiable. The melting
temperatures of fats have been considered above; Chol. does not melt at
temperatures in the range of life, as they do, but only at a high temperature,
having a clearly defined melting point. The substances also differ in density.
Fats are lighter than water - "fat floats on top" - whereas Chol. has
a density of 1.046 g/ml (Beilstein), which makes it heavier than water.
Compared to
the wide variety of fats that are produced in the light and show a wide range
of qualities, Chol. is thus a heavy, monotonous substance produced in the dark.
Chol.
became the subject of research as a substance that has dropped out of life. This
determined its image for a long time, although it was noted that Chol. was a
necessary part of many organisms and was produced especially in the course of
growth processes. In the above-mentioned feeding experiments Chol. was added
artificially, thus teaching us nothing about the substance in a healthy
organism. People were blinded by the material substance, failing to see where
the activity really lay, in this case in themselves. In a living context, the
organism itself is active. Views on Chol. are now turning in this direction,
and people now concentrate less on influencing plasma Chol. levels by the
amount of Chol. in the diet, which is only possible to a limited extent. Instead,
attention focuses on the way the diet influences plasma Chol. levels, quite
apart from the Chol. it contains, and the effects of people's behavior and life
style. Chol. is seen as a substance that is really passive in itself.
What are fats, and what is Chol. to the human
being?
When the
human organism is given nourishment in form of fats, qualities from the outside
world enter into the human being. These qualities are "burned" to
destroy them. This generates heat and the potential for movement in the human
being, i.e. he brings his will impulses into the world. It is thus immediately
apparent that dietary fats relate to the human will pole.
Compared to this, what is the significance of a
substance the human being produces himself, and which he then makes into
something alien and eliminates?
In
Extending Practical Medicine, Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman describe substances
that are eliminated to the inside or the outside and provide the material basis
for conscious human experience in contrast to substances taken into the body
which are connected with unconscious processes. The examples given are uric
acid xxy for elimination and protein xxy as a substance taken in. Does
something like this also apply to Chol. and dietary fats in the sphere of
lipids?
5. Chol. in the natural world outside man and as the starting material for
substances with hormone-type actions
Chol. is
found in the membranes of all eukaryotic (nucleated = Keimbildende) cells in
animals. But whereas in humans only a few % of other sterols occur associated
with Chol., a large number of these occur with Chol., with the Chol. itself
going more into the background. So one substance is replaced by many.
Terrestrial vertebrates have almost only Chol., like humans. Marine fish have
up to a 1/3 of sterols other than Chol. Plants may also synthesize Chol. and
usually contain small amounts of it, but they mostly produce special
phytosterols. In evolutional terms, sterol production is thus progressively
simplified both as regard variety and method of synthesis.
Bacterial
membranes hold a special position, being sterol free. The anthropods, incl.
insects, are unable to synthesize new sterols themselves, though these are
found in their membranes. They take in sterols with their food or from
symbiotic micro-organisms and modify them. Sterols are thus essential food
constituents for arthropods, just as fatty acids (e.g.linolic acid) are for us,
with the organism able to modify but not produce them. Insects thus relate in
the opposite way to Chol. or to the sterols that take the place of Chol. than
humans do.
Conversion
of Chol. to substances with homone-like actions. As already mentioned, part of
Chol. is eliminated in form of bile salt, calciferol (vitamin D) or steroid
hormones. About 0.5 g of bile salts and 50 mg of steroid hormones on average are
produced daily and eliminated by the human organism. Bile salts emulsify Chol.
in the bile fluids and play an important role in breaking down dietary fats. This
is the point where Chol. and fat aspects come together.
Calciferol
production from Chol. is remarkable if one considers the character of Chol. as
it has been presented so far. 7-dehydroChol. is converted to cholecalciferol
under the influence of light in the skin. Calling cholecalciferol vitamin D is
therefore misleading. It is not an essential vitamin; the light is essential. Deficiency
of this can be corrected by giving cholecalciferol as "vitamin D". The
substances needed above all to regulate bone development and hence the human
form are produced from cholecalciferol in the liver and kidneys. Thus Chol.,
produced in the darkness of the organism, is under the influence of light
converted to a substance with hormone-like action.
Steroid
hormones are produced from Chol. in certain organs of the adrenal cortex and
gonads and regulate growth and metabolic processes. The effect is always on the
whole organism. The steroid hormones produced in the adrenal cortex or gonadal
cells are distributed throughout the organism by the blood. These processes
take hours at their shortest, more often days (reproductive cycle) and even
longer in growth processes.
Arachidonic
acid cascade results in active compounds such as prostaglandins being produced
from essential fatty acids. Unlike the steroid hormones, these compounds, collectively called
eikosanoids,
act within very short time span (seconds) and only locally. The mode and
direction of their action depends on the site in which they occur and may even
be the opposite for one and the same substance in another site.We note that
substances with hormone-like actions are produced from both fatty acids and
Chol. The steroid hormones produced from Chol. act for relatively long periods
and within the whole organism; eikosanoids produced from fatty acids act
locally and short term.
It is also
worth looking at the sulfuric acid compound of Chol. which is Chol. sulfate, a
substance found mainly in the epidermis. The two play a role in regulating
comification and the desquamation of corneal cells. A most illustrative example
is the horse's hoof (Keratinum equi w =
Pferdhuf Tierisches
Gewebe). Its
lipid part contains 27% of Chol. and 20% of Chol. sulfate. In this extreme case
the character of Chol. emerges as a substance that shows up where firmness,
structure and external pressure are found. No up-to-date literature could be
found on Chol-sulfate in human cornified matter.
6. Physiology of Chol.
Describing
the human physiology of Chol. we have to consider 3 aspects:
I. Inquiring into the genesis of
Chol. produced by all nucleate (= keimbildend in Phasenübergang) cells
(liver/intestine produce excess to serve other organs/pass it on to other
organs via the blood).
Elimination
of Chol. via the bile and intestine also starts from the liver. Chol. -
emulsified by phospholipids and bile salts produced from Chol. - gets into the
intestine in the bile and there encounters food substances, above all fats. Part
of this Chol. is eliminated through the intestine, another part is absorbed
together with dietary lipids and reaches the liver via the blood circulation;
it is therefore involved in the biliary cycle.
Three processes connected with Chol.
in the liver and intestinal tract
a. synthesis, b. elimination, c. biliary cycle.
The metabolic processes relating to fats go in
the opposite direction.
Chol.
synthesis has its opposite in fat degradation (Fatty acids = fats may also be
synthesized in the liver). With a balanced diet the amounts involved are
negligible. What both have in common is that substance - Chol. or fat - is
moved and transformed.(In the sphere of the metabolic organs, bile acids and
cholecalciferol are also produced in the liver and steroid hormones in the adrenal
cortex and gonads.
II. Bigger concentration - as a
substance in the brain = ¼ of the total Chol. in the body (about 140 mg) = up
to 10% of the dry matter.
The
question as to the site of major Chol. synthesis and conversion took us to the
metabolic sphere of intestine and liver. The highest concentrations of Chol.
may be found in the brain. If we consider that Chol. goes through the biliary
cycle several times a day (half life in the CNS is much longer/up to several
years) we can appreciate the opposite nature of the situation in the latter. In
the brain, Chol. is found above all in the myelin sheaths, extreme forms of
cell membranes with the emphasis on the insulating, separating function. Cell
membranes in the metabolic sphere, in liver cells, for instance, have the
emphasis on a mediating as well as a limiting function, permitting the
catalysis of processes and exchange of substances. The functional difference
correlates with the higher protein levels in liver cell membranes and higher
lipid levels in myelin sheaths. Myelin sheaths with their high lipids and Chol.
levels form an insulating layer around nerve cells; they are persistent
structures with closed-off surfaces.
The lipids
in all cell membranes in the human and mammalian organism are made up of Chol.
on the one hand and polar lipids that give mediation towards the watery element
on the other (e.g. phospholipids orsphingolipids). These derive from
triglycerides in so far as they are saponifiable and fatty acids are liberated
in the process. The polar lipid and Chol. composition results in the
liquid-crystalline state of the membranes as a new quality that cannot be
derived in a linear way from the properties of the individual components.
Thus the
melting point of the membrane is not a intersection (= Durchschnitt) of the
high melting point of Chol. (147.5°C) and the low melting point of the lipids.
The
liquid-crystalline state is a synthesis of the properties of liquid and solid
bodies. A higher proportion of Chol. gives the membrane greater solidity and
impermeability, a property seen above in all
myelin sheaths. Triglycerides are of no significance in the sphere of
the brain and nerves, not as a substrate for energy metabolism nor as a
structuring agent. Only the polar membrane lipids derived from them play a
role. Compared to the fat stored in fatty tissues, where the composition of
fats reflects that of the diet in a remarkable degree, the fatty acid
composition of these polar membrane lipids is largely controlled by the
organism. Brain lipids do, however, have particularly high essential fatty acid
levels. Again Chol. is the polar opposite. Chol. supply to the brain is
independent and does not depend on plasma Chol., whereas Chol. synthesis in the
liver balances the organism's needs against the dietary supply in a flexible
way. We thus see a tendency in the brain for processes to be determined by the
organism and not be open to the triglycerides, which are greatly influenced by
the environment; here the character of the organism's own Chol. production
emerges clearly.
Chol. is
tied in with opposing functional complexes in the neurosensory and metabolic
spheres. The two spheres interpenetrate in space, with Chol. synthesis taking
place throughout the organism and Chol. a membrane constituent in all tissues. Liver
and intestine are nevertheless major sites for Chol. synthesis; Chol.
elimination is via the bile only, and the role Chol. plays in the membranes is
at its highest level in the myelin sheaths with their high lipid levels.
3. From the
point of view of health and sickness, attention focuses on blood plasma Chol.
levels, as the body is particularly sensitive to Chol. - in this area, so that
there is considerable potential for pathology.
The three
aspects - Chol. in the metabolic sphere, in the nervous
system and
in the blood circulation - will be considered below.
3.
Circulation
The
dynamics in the metabolic sphere and the static state of matter in the neural
sphere are balanced out in the blood circulation. The movement of lipids in the
blood mediates between the two. Water-insoluble substances are kept in the
liquid, watery state in the blood by lipoproteins. How are these processes,
where changes of a high order are continually occurring, approached in
experimental research?
The first observations
were made on dogs in 1622. Their lymph vessels contain a milky white fluid
after feeding. Blood samples taken after a fatty meal are also milky and
turbid. This points to the presence of lipoproteins as vehicles for lipophilic
substances in the blood. They appear as spherical or drop-shaped structures
under the microscope, certainly comparable to fat droplets in milk, but should
not be thought of as static but in continuous motion and transformation.
A first
experimental differentiation of lipoprotein according to density gives the
generally used terms VLDL (very low density lipoprotein), LDL(low density
lipoprotein, and HDL (high density lipoprotein). These tell us nothing of their
physiological significance. Chemical analysis of the selipoproteins according
to fat, Chol. and protein content shows that VLDL have the highest fat content
(which correlates with their low density, fat being light), LDL the highest
Chol. and HDL the highest protein content.
What is
their physiological role? Lipoproteins with high fat content have nutrient
function, supplying organs (not brain) with triglycerides. Considering the site
of synthesis, distinction must be made between VLDL that are largely produced
in the liver and "chylomicrons" which are produced in the intestinal
wall. Dietary fats digested in the intestine and absorbed into the intestinal
wall are incorporated in the organism as chylomicrons. This is the reason for
the milky, turbid lymph. The chemical composition of chylomicrons shows that
they are nutrients by nature. The fat composition is the same as in the food,
and compared to VLDL, chylomicrons contain retinol (vitamin A = essential
nutrient element) and compared to the dietary Chol. level less of the
non-nutrient Chol. Chylomicrons convey the lipids taken in from outside via the
intestine into the organism; VLDL convey lipids produced or transformed by the
liver within the organism.
In the
organs, triglycerides are released from the lipoproteins whilst still within
the blood capillaries. Chol.-rich residues remain. If one considers that the
fats of lipoproteins also go through a physiological form of combustion, the
high-Chol. residues may also be called "ashes" to give us a picture. The
"ashes" of chylomicrons are taken up into the liver and digested;
those of VLDL partly remain in the blood and are converted into high-Chol. LDLs.
These may be taken up both into the liver and into other cells in the organism,
thus complementing tissue Chol. metabolism. (LDLs are taken up entire into the
cell (endocytosis) and digested within it. Triglycerideson the other hand are
released from lipoproteins with high fat concentrations in the plasma and only
then absorbed into the cells).
Compared to
the rest of the organism, Chol. exists largely - about 76% - as a fatty acid
ester combined with essential linolic acid in the blood. Here, in the middle,
rhythmic sphere of human physiology, the two sides which we have been
considering as polar opposites in this paper (essential fatty acid taken in
with the food and Chol.) combined in a kind of neutralized storage form of
Chol. (a small proportion of Chol. in cells is fatty acid ester, and in that
case mainly esterified with oleic acid; in the brain it exists only as
non-esterified Chol.). Binding of fatty acid to Chol. is possible because Chol.
has an "alcohol function". This reveals a side of Chol. that is not
immediately obvious. Though practically water-insoluble, it has an affinity to
the watery element. It therefore crystallizes with water and is used as an
emulsifier in ointments. The olending relates to this aspect, whilst the term
Chol., which was chosen by Chevreui, puts the emphasis on the waxy appearance
(as in paraffin, stearin).
Protein-rich
lipoproteins (HDL) play a major role in Chol. esterification in the blood
plasma, for they contain the enzyme which catalyzes the esterification (LCAT =
lecithin-cholesteryl-acyl-transferase).
These
high-protein lipoproteins are not uniform but changing. Even the appearance
under the microscope of lipoproteins newly produced by the liver or the
interstitium differs from that of others. They do not yet have the spherical
form shown by the others but are said to be discoidal.
They change
in the plasma, assuming the spherical form, growing larger, with a lower
specific weight, and have higher lipid and above all Chol. levels. They take up
Chol. from the organs and combine it with linolic acid, thus withdrawing it
from the organism, for this esterified Chol. is above all eliminated via the
liver and bile, with the lipoproteins taken up into the liver and digested. Chol.
esterification in the blood plasma is thus an important stage in "reverse
Chol. transport", i.e. its transport back to the liver for elimination.
Distinction
is therefore made today between LDL and HDL Chol. and high HDL Chol. levels are
rated positive, unlike high LDL Chol. levels.
Lipoproteins
with their nutrient function support metabolic and limb activity; the
eliminatory function, "reverse Chol. transport", relieves the
organism of Chol. Pathological changes threaten if the right balance is not
maintained.
The Chol.
discussion shows that the potential for disease is particularly great in the
circulation. In the region of the brain and nerves, the composition of the
membranes, Chol. levels, etc. are largely subject to laws and not greatly
variable. As a rule they cannot be changed to any major extent by nutrition
(except in cases of extreme malnutrition) nor by behavior, moods or stress
situations. This is different in the metabolic sphere. Digestive functions, the
secretion of digestive juices, production and composition of bile depend to a
considerable degree on psychological factors, though the deviations are
tolerable to a relatively high degree. Thus intestinal Chol. absorption differs
markedly between individuals. In the sphere of the circulation, the influence
of the psyche on physiological processes is again considerable, but the limits
are narrower and too great a deviation may lead to disease. A common example is
a high plasma triglyceride level, usually in conjunction with a high LDL Chol.
level. In that case nutrient processes are too powerful compared to activity in
limbs and metabolism, and there is a danger that processes which can only be
healthily dominant in the head region become too powerful here, resulting in
lipid and cell substance deposition (atheroslerotic plaques). Suggested
preventive measures in that case are physical movement and a diet rich in
ballast and fats with high oleic acid content (olive oil). This will increase
metabolic and limb activity.
Little
well-founded knowledge is available today on the significance of the reverse
situation, i.e. a low Chol. plasma level. Correlation between this and with
neoplasia, hemorrhagic cerebral accident and increased death rate involving
violence is controversial. Extremely low plasma Chol. levels are seen in
patients where the immune system is reduced to an extreme degree (advanced
AIDS). In that case the low Chol. level reflects a weakness in the powers to
maintain oneself against the outside world, with the organism flooded by that
outside world.
We have
characterized three functional spheres in the human organism that
interpenetrate in space but may be clearly differentiated by their functions. In
so far as food uptake is dominant in the intestine, the food must be broken
down, mixed up, made chaotic. At the other pole we have the neuro-sensory
sphere which is connected with the development of conscious awareness and
powers of memory. For this, we need stable structures in the brain where
substances come to rest. This only applies to substances that give structure,
the brain itself having a very high energy metabolism, of course.The opposite
pole to the homogenizing, chaos-creating, form-dissolving processes in the
intestine is the structure at rest and the generation of surfaces in the brain.
The circulation holds a middle position. There we have the spherical droplet
form of lipoproteins continually changing and in motion in a highly ordered
fashion.
The
function of Chol. may be seen most clearly in the neurosensory system, in the
brain's myelin sheaths with their high lipid and hence Chol. content,
persistence, with the brain always creating its own Chol.s and triglycerides of
no significance. In the middle sphere of the circulation there can be no
persistence; the processes that are dominant in the head have to be overcome
here, with Chol. brought to elimination in the intestine.There it meets the
nutrient stream (dietary fats).
7. Connection between processes relating to substance and those relating
to the psyche
Chol.
research is simply vast. In so far as it is not merely descriptive, defining
substance properties, molecular structures, occurrence in the organism and
biosynthesis, it has initially concentrated on the connection between plasma
Chol. levels and cardiovascular disease as well as the factors that influence
plasma Chol. levels. The focus has been on Chol. in relation to pathological
changes. Relatively little is known, however, about the actual significance of
Chol. in the organism. Apart from the role it plays as a precursor in steroid
hormone, cholecalciferol and bile acid synthesis, research has for a long time
concentrated mainly on physical membrane properties in relation to their Chol.
levels. To date, the influence of membrane Chol. on a number of biochemical
parameters has been investigated. From the above we may deduce Chol. to have a
function which is the opposite of that of lipophilic anesthetics. With the
latter one sees increased fluidity/with Chol. increased solidity and
impenetrability of membranes. This is in accord with the image we have evolved
from total Chol. metabolism of a substance that shows its character in the
neurosensory sphere. A connection exists between the substance character of
lipids in particular in the central nervous system and the potential for
conscious awareness. In the past, the power of anesthetics was estimated by
determining their solubility in olive oil. Today more detailed insight into the
connection is the subject of intense research.
The
phenomenon of human conscious awareness cannot be explained from substance
processes like these, nor the human will in terms of energy released in the
combustion of fats. Physiological processes do, however, go hand in hand with
every act of will, and the creation and condensation of matter in some form is
the precondition for human waking consciousness.The way the balance between
solidification and dissolution is found in the circulation ultimately depends
on how the human being relates to the world in his inner experience, thus
reflecting his feelings.
A similar
quality of gesture was described by Rudolf Steiner in his lectures on occult
physiology in 1911. He spoke of processes originating in the blood that
accompany thinking, feeling and acts of will with crystallization, flocculation
and warmth processes, and of processes in the development of the human body
where bone development, gelatin and physiological combustion provide the
physical basis for human thinking, feeling and doing.
As we have
seen, Chol. has significance in all spheres of the human organism. Considering
the characteristic role it plays in the physiology one sees it to be the polar
opposite to fats in every sphere. It is possible to establish, even at
substance level, that the synthesis and function of Chol. is above all under
the influence of forces dominant in the neurosensory sphere.
A signature
may also be seen at the social level if one considers the scientific and
cultural role of Chol. With pathological changes it drops out of the organism
as a whole, becomes a single substance, and is then easily detectable using
color reactions. Here it makes us aware of it as substance,becoming the object
of egotism and anxieties. The changing views on Chol. reflect a turning away
from focusing mainly on the substance.Gradual realization that the organism is
responsible for the control of matter, under the influence of soul and spirit,
is putting an end to fixation on matter,with growing awareness of personal
responsibility for the way one lives one's life. A stage in the evolution of
conscious awareness thus crystallizes out from the cultural history of Chol.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum