Chaotic dynamic systems are subject to feedback. Virtually all medical and psychological research is based on linear models involving simple cause and effect relationships, usually reflected in correlations which are analyzed and interpreted statistically. Even in research utilizing multivariate analysis, the underlying mathematical models are still linear. Chaos theory is based on non-linear mathematical models which are better suited to pattern analysis of dynamic natural systems operating over time. TMA data and the profiles generated from them reflect one such dynamic natural system, namely the psycho-physiological system whose primary mechanism is the stress response.
Nutrient minerals play a major role in the stress response.
Minerals contribute to the regulation of the stress response and they are also affected by this response mechanism. The unique characteristic of TMA is that the measured nutrient minerals, when reported in a certain organized manner, reflect psycho-physiological patterns showing the interrelationships between these minerals and the metabolic functions which they regulate. The pioneering TMA work of Drs. David Watts and Paul Eck resulted in their discovery of distinct nutrient mineral patterns which are parallel to the pattern discoveries of Mandelbrot in his research on natural phenomena that have chaos within the pattern. One of Mandelbrot's discoveries was that natural patterns are the same regardless of the magnitude of the particular scale used to measure the phenomenon.