THE
BASIC STRENGTHS OF THE HUMAN BODY
A FASCINATING case in medical records is that
of an 80-year-old man who some years ago stepped off a curb in Boston, was hit
by a truck and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where, within an hour,
he died. Upon autopsy, even the physicians were astonished by what they found.
The man had had almost every known major disease, including several that,
individually, might have been potentially deadly.
His blood pressure had been
grossly elevated, so much so that his heart had almost doubled in size under
the burden. He had generalized arteriosclerosis, or hardening of arteries.
Tuberculosis had left marks on both lungs. Chronic kidney disease had destroyed
large portions of both kidneys. He had had severe cirrhosis of the liver. Even
more astonishing was the report of the man's wife: He had been no invalid;
instead, he had been active until the day he was killed and had complained of
nothing.
His is an extreme and encouraging example
of the reserve powers and adaptability of the body. There are many other
examples: The 7-year-old boy who survived a plunge over the 160-foot-high
Horseshoe Falls at Niagara after the boat in which he was a passenger capsized
in the river above the cataract. The workman who fell 150 feet from a chimney
scaffold, landing on his left side near the base of the chimney, creating an
impression 8 inches deep in the earth, bouncing over a 30-degree slope toward a
concrete retaining wall, then dropping another 10 feet to a lower level. He
fractured his jaw, both ankles, complained of chest pain for less than 36
hours, re- covered rapidly-surviving an impact that might well have crushed an
airplane.
There was also the hammer
thrower, a world record holder, who while warming up to compete for a place on
the U.S. Olympic team pulled a back muscle. Desperate, he persuaded a physician
to give him an injection of novocaine and let him compete; he whirled out a
foot throw to finish second and get his place on the team.
In
Olympic team trials, too, a swimmer won a place by qualifying in the 800-meter
relay while still sore and still bandaged six days after an appendicitis
operation. It is also reassuring to view the spare capacity of the body-what
one can live without if necessary and, in some instances, even live without
comfortably. Half the brain is a spare. This has been shown in cases of serious
brain damage caused by strokes and head injuries, with loss of memory,
language, speech, even understanding. Although damaged areas remain damaged,
other areas can be trained to take over their function.
