New aspects in the pathomechanism of diseases of civilization, particularly psychosomatic disorders. Part 2. Chronic hypocapnia and hypercapnia in the medical practice.

The authors seek to find new connections between recent results of biology and older theories. This paper aims to assemble the jigsaw puzzle. The theoretical background of the hypothesis was described in the previous issue of the journal (Sikter et al.

New aspects in the pathomechanism of diseases of civilization, particularly psychosomatic disorders. Part 1. Theoretical background of a hypothesis.

The stress defence-cascade is mostly not biphasic as Cannon thought, the sympathicotonic stress response is preceded by a vagotonic phase called freeze response. Alteration of the carbon dioxide level plays an important role during defence-cascade as its changes interfere with stress hormones, e.g.