Feeling tired, tattered and tested [www.fastcompany.com] by the seemingly never ending task of "connecting" via voice mail, electronic mail, cellular phones and back to back meetings? Ode to a single physiological enzyme that puts our connecting capacity to shame as it springs into action up to 36 million times a minute [www.sciam.com]. Looking closer at this issue's theme of enzymes sparked an analogy for characterizing personal styles of approaching to new ideas [www.thinksmart.com]. Less talk, more action.

An enzyme's widely recognized function as a "catalyst" offers a glowing take for optimizing deliberate interaction [www.looksmart.com]. Catalysts do not become consumed by their course of action. "I can't" would dare not be uttered in the imaginary happening of enzyme turned human. The mere presence of a catalyst speeds up connections ultimately producing desired results in a timely fashion.

Dr. Benjamin Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, offered a powerful illustration of this catalyst function [www.creativenet.com] to a recent college graduating class [www.nytimesdirect.com 5/29/00].

EXCERPT: "How many of you remember your birthday?…what did your brain have to do for you to respond to that question? The sound waves had to leave my lips, enter your auditory meatus, travel down to the tympanic membrane, set up a vibratory force, which traveled across the ossicles of your middle ear to the oval and round windows, setting up a vibratory force in the endolymph, which mechanically distorted the microcilia, converting mechanical energy to electrical energy, which traveled across the cochlear nerve to the cochlear nucleus to the pons-to-medullary juncture, from there to the superior olivary nucleus ascending bilaterally up the brain stem to the lateral lemniscus and the anterior colliculus and the medical geniculate nuclei across the thalamic radiations to the posterior temporal lobes, going through the frontal lobes, coming down the……Anyway! You get the point. And that's the simplified version of what your brain had to do. It can do much more complex things than that and you barely have time to think about it. So with a brain like that, why would anybody ever utter the words, "I can't?"

Obviously, the motivation of that speech was more of interest to the class of 2000, but also hidden was caution for simplifying health to sound bytes isolated out of context from the "big" picture. For instance, the enzyme function to connect and conduct [www.healthy.net] may be the most understated "link" to maintaining good health, given numerous and surprising effects. Hundreds of enzymes making connections [www.chem.qmw.ac.uk/iubmb/enzyme] are accountable for Herculean tasks that, like the example brought forth by Dr. Carson, are so common they are forgotten or so complicated they remain nameless. From the physiological task of breaking down food into absorbable compounds for energy to massive industrial uses-paper, leather, detergents [www.detergents-enzymes.com] and food [www.foodingredientsonline.com]-enzymes [www.enzymedevelopment.com] are grabbing headlines.

One such reason, according to industry experts [www.enzymebio.com], is that biotechnology advancement over the past several years has had an indisputable impact on the enzyme industry. Genentech [www.genes.com] recently announced FDA approval of TNKase, a "clot-buster" that holds the potential to simplify heart attack treatment. Heart attacks [www.aha.org] strike more than 1.1 million people each year in the U.S., causing nearly 500,000 deaths. This is just one of many examples where researchers are utilizing enzyme technology to help support a most ambitious mission [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed] of searching for cures for devastating diseases [www.oncology.com]. Newfound genes have been discovered to affect longevity of animals by encoding antioxidant enzymes that disarm harmful "free radicals" that continually emerge from turning food [www.ift.org] and oxygen into energy.

The application of enzyme function in healthcare product development is not new. Industrial enzyme producers manufacture and market a number of pharmaceutical preparations including insulin [www.diabetes.org], human growth hormone and many others. Novo Nordisk scientists [www.novo.dk] stake claim to pioneering virtually all of the improvements to insulin treatment since the discovery of its effect. With advancing age or in cases of disease, the body loses its ability to replace the dwindling amount of enzymes that are the catalyst for the myriad reactions in the body. Pharmaceutical companies have developed treatments for individuals who have abnormalities in enzyme systems caused by insufficient production. Lactose intolerance, for instance, is an inability to digest lactose found in dairy foods caused by a deficiency of the natural enzyme called lactase [www.lactaid.com].

Persons seeking alternative options for several hundred medical conditions commonly seen in clinical practice [http//cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept.cme] are exploring enzymes and related therapies. This behavior is one component of the estimated $30.7 billion that will be spent by U.S. consumers on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in 2000 [www.lohas.com]. The growth of CAM and other factors has spurred hundreds of health-focused companies to formulate enzyme supplements [www.loomisenzymes.com]. Digestive enzymes [www.prevail.com] sold as dietary supplements are among the top 20 ingredients sold in food, drug and mass channels. Block Drug Company controls over a 50% share of the digestive enzyme market with the product offerings "Phazyme" and "Beano" gas treatments [www.blockdrug.com]. The enzyme contained in Beano breaks down complex sugars (that would otherwise cause gas) into simple sugars that can be easily digested. Other major digestive enzyme category participants include McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Solgar and Twinlab.

The Enzyme Technical Association (ETA) has created guidelines [www.enzymetechnicalassoc.org] to assist the dietary supplement industry in safely producing high quality enzyme-containing dietary supplement products. The ETA recognizes that the growth of the use of dietary supplements may result in wider consumer use and exposure to enzymes in forms and concentrations not previously experienced. This wider exposure is a critical issue for leaders in the industry, but particularly for health professionals [www.askdrweil.com] coming face to face with questions from their patients about the many choices of "enhanced" products available to purchase. Whether it is consuming enzymes, herbs, a special diet or any other isolated ingredient, the unfortunate consequence may be missing the significant philosophical points that may mean the difference between success and failure of the intended outcome [www.about.com].

Furthermore, some enzymes are more effective if taken with food, whereas the same enzyme may have a very different effect if taken on an empty stomach. Also, more continues to be uncovered about the natural components in food. It was not too long ago that the "grapefruit juice effect" [www.avmax.com] was highlighted on national headline news. Drinking one glass of grapefruit juice or eating half of a grapefruit was shown to significantly increase the absorption as well as inactivate many commonly used oral medications-antihistamines, calcium channel blockers, cholesterol lowering statins, oral contraceptives and others. Research reported that bioflavonoids and other natural compounds found in grapefruit juice inactivated a specific family of enzymes found in the intestinal wall and liver thought to metabolize or inactivate approximately 60% of all drugs. If this enzyme system is inactivated or the amount decreased, the amount of the drug entering the bloodstream is increased, therefore increasing the therapeutic activity and possibly toxicity of the drug. In February, similar reports of interaction were discovered for some herbs such as St. John's Wort [www.thelancet.com]. For these reasons, familiarity with the holistic intention cannot be ignored behind the commendable goal to help consumers maintain overall health.

Sparking innovation [www.ideacafe. com] requires understanding the perils of connecting years of scientific discovery with measurable consumer benefits -without a blueprint [www.workingsolo.com]. As we strive to optimize the connections in our separate paradigms, may we remember an important lesson from the enzyme-isolated connections jeopardize wholeness.

NW