Listen now (20 mins) | Listen Now Human physiology or biological functioning exhibits fractal or irregular patterns. When heart rate, (or respiration rate, blood pressure, brain waves and even walking stride length) begins to lose its fractal dimension or there is a loss of heartbeat variability, this is an indication of illness. In order to respond best to environmental circumstances, adaptative variability (not homeostasis) is what organisms strive toward. Measuring therefore the decline in heart rate variability over time can serve as a clinically effective biomarker for the onset of disease, for example, the onset of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of