Log-normal distribution of physiological parameters and the coherence of biological systems.

The well-known fact that biological parameters, randomly selected, are distributed according to log-normal frequency curves instead of normal ones, has been traced back to a 'multiplicative Gestaltungs-principle of nature'. A further analysis shows that the basis of this principle can be assigned to the optimization of connections in a network of circuit elements, or, even more profoundly, to the formation of coherent states in living systems. The diagnosis of patients based on physiological frequency distributions provides a new powerful tool of understanding sickness in terms of deviations from a basic regulation principle.