To understand what the scientists believe is the nature of the problem affecting fibromyalgia patients, let’s think about a problem that most of us have experienced at one time or another with our cars. You wake up in the morning. It’s cold and damp. You go out to start your car, turn the key and the engine sputters and runs a bit rough. You back out of your driveway and the engines stalls, and then again at a stop sign. It finally warms up and starts running more smoothly. As you go about your errands , you smell coolant fluid and notice that the engine temperature warning light is on. The engine is now overheating. What’s wrong with your car? You take it to a mechanic who tells you that you need a new THERMOSTAT? What’s a thermostat? Here’s the problem. Your car has a cooling system with hoses that run between the engine and a large, flat honey-combed part called the radiator that is located at the front of the engine compartment. The coolant circulates between the engine, which gets hot, and the radiator which spreads the coolant out into thin tubes where the air flowing over the radiator carries away the heat. The coolant system has a pump to circulate the coolant between the engine and the radiator. The radiator also has a fan, so if the coolant gets very hot, it increases the air flow to facilitate the cooling process. However, when you start your engine, it won’t run properly until it warms up, so you don’t want the coolant to go to the radiator. The thermostat is a valve that regulates the flow of coolant between the engine and the radiator so everything functions properly. When the engine is cold, the thermostat keeps the coolant in the engine until it warms up. Then the thermostat allows the coolant to go to the radiator so the engine doesn’t become too hot. Finally, the thermostat balances the flow between the engine and the radiator to maintain just the right operating temperature whether you are going downhill when the engine doesn’t have to work very hard or uphill when the engine is straining.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 11:22:50 +0000