During World War II, a marine lieutenant on
Okinawa received four shell fragments that ripped through the whole left side
of his brain, leaving him paralyzed on one side of his body, unable to read,
write, talk, or even understand what was said to him. Two years later, he was
in college, his paralysis largely overcome, and his ability to read, write, and
talk restored. If necessary, the stomach can be removed completely-and has been
to save the lives of cancer patients-with part of the large intestine
transposed to become a kind of new stomach.
Eighty percent or more of the small
intestine-the organ that normally does most of the work of digesting food-can
be dispensed with. More than three quarters of the liver can be removed. One
kidney, if necessary, can support life. So can one lung. Virtually every organ
can be removed from the pelvic area, and life can go on. In fact, a
super-radical operation has prolonged life in otherwise hopeless cases when
cancer of the vulva, uterus, ovaries, vagina, bladder, or rectum has spread to
adjacent organs. The operation involves removal of all organs, nerves, and
blood vessels in the pelvic region; nothing is left there. The body has been
known to survive extremes of hunger, thirst, temperature.
A South Barre, Massachusetts, seaman lived
after floating on a raft at sea for 83 days without food and, during the last
12 days, without water. At Memorial Hospital, New York, a 100-pound woman survived
a fever of 114 degrees, possibly the highest on record. At the other extreme, a
young Chicago woman survived a body temperature of 60.8 degrees. On a November
day some years ago, a young woman in Newcastle, England, gave birth to a child.
The previous May she had been struck on the head by a log falling from a truck
and had lost consciousness. She had remained unconscious for 169 days. For
seven days, too, she had been in a state approaching hibernation when, as part
of treatment, cooling had brought her temperature down to well below normal.
She recovered in time to give birth without complications to a husky 8-pound
son. But capable as the body is of demonstrating remarkable powers in
emergencies, it is obviously the better part of wisdom to avoid the need. The
purpose of this section is to consider the various systems of the body, to
provide what we hope will be practical, useful insights into how they are
organized and their functioning, how nature has provided for their protection,
and what you can do to add to the protection. Total health represents the
summation of the health and efficient functioning of the individual parts of
the body. If lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, skin, and other organs and tissues
work at maximum efficiency-and if, to this, is added a healthy mind free of
excess nervous tension, anxiety, or depression-then the basis for full
enjoyment of the body and of life is complete. The complex and wonderful human
mind will be covered in the next section. The body, as you will see in this
section, is no less complex and wonderful.
