ABSTRACT
This chapter concludes with the proposal of a new model of medicine: the physiological fitness landscape (PFL). The significance of control and order parameters and the function of the PFL in creating a map to the restoration of health are discussed in detail. Obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance can each catalyze one another and form an interdependent, self-amplifying cascade. Obesity can lead to the dissemination of pro-inflammatory cytokines making it often an inflammatory state. While the obese body may provide a fertile soil for the development and growth of cancer, tumors actively hijack their local and systemic environments to further promote their own growth and survival. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells have a unique ability to switch to different metabolic pathways and can use a broad range of substrates to derive energy and biomass. Cholesterol is an important component of lipid rafts, which moderate cell membrane fluidity, protein organization, and signal transduction.
