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The Henderson-Hasselbalch (H-H) equation, as described in
greater detail on the “acid-base balance” page on this site, says that pH in
extracellular fluids is regulated by the relationship between the presence of
carbon dioxide, PCO2, regulated
by breathing, and bicarbonate
concentration, [HCO3‾], regulated by the kidneys: pH
= [HCO3‾]
÷ PCO2. Medical practitioners are interested in the organic factors
that disturb the numerator of H-H equation, the bicarbonate
concentration. Breathing, the denominator,
is considered to be a reflexive chemo-physiological compensatory mechanism
that contributes to the restoration of acid-base balance. Integrating behavioural
science with the H-H equation, however, means examining behavioural
and psychological variables that may disturb the denominator of the
equation. Thus, the equation might be
rewritten as follows: acid-base balance (pH) = physiology ÷ behaviour (breathing). It could even be written: acid-base
regulation = physiology ÷ psychology, where
psychology makes its entry through its effects on breathing behaviour. The
practical implications are indeed impressive. In revisiting this equation, it is important to take note that
pH not only has a profound effect on behaviour, but
that behaviour has an immense effect on pH. Why isn’t this common knowledge? Why is the content of this website new to
most readers? Why aren’t practitioners
everywhere implementing this knowledge?
The answers are really very simple:
(1) Medical practitioners practice what they’ve learned, and
provide services for which they are licensed.
They are generally not behavioural
scientists, psychologists, counsellors, therapists,
teachers, consultants, or breathing practitioners. Even with the skills, and the time, traditional
healthcare does adequately provide, either financially or philosophically,
for patient education services. (2) Behavioural
practitioners have never heard of the H-H equation. Many of them effectively ignore physiology,
and consider anything that references physiology as being beyond the scope of
their practice and license. Thus,
otherwise obvious applications, become hidden and remote, lost in the
divisions of cultural thinking. A good example of the disconnection between medical and behavioural practices is the “overbreathing coaching”
that was, for a long time, a part of “natural child birth” assistance, where
women “panted” as a behavioural tool for overcoming
pain and other kinds of discomfort.
The disorientation, loss of focus, dizziness, dissociation,
disconnection from self and environment, and a state of semi-consciousness,
all due to oxygen and glucose deprivation through overbreathing, contributed
to these behavioural objectives. Physiologically, however, not only was the
mother suffering from significant oxygen deprivation and its potentially
harmful effects, but the infant/fetus as well. Copyrighted by Behavioral
Physiology Institute, |