How Human recovering with its own strengths - How to save the capacity?

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. 

Strenth Of Human Body and Medical records - Modern day health hazards succeeding

 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. 

What happens in Alcoholic drinking?

WHAT HAPPENS IN DRINKING?

There is still a widespread misconception that alcohol is a stimulant. Actually, it has exactly the opposite effect. The gay chatter of a cocktail party, for example, is not the result of drinking-induced stimulation but rather of the depressant effect alcohol has on the nervous system which, in terms of behavior, may remove inhibitions. Alcohol dulls the cerebral cortex, an area of the brain that is involved in judgment, motor coordination, and self-control.

As a result of the dulling-which, of course, will vary in degree depending upon the rate and quantity of alcohol consumption-judgment and self-control are reduced, and feelings and emotions may be expressed more freely. 

As muscular control decreases, reaction time becomes greater, so that a driver, for example, who has had several drinks, is unable to stop or swerve in an emergency as quickly as he would normally. With heavy drinking, speech becomes slurred, vision is affected, hearing is impaired, and equilibrium is lessened. Continued intake of alcohol slows the breathing rate and heart action and lowers blood pressure.

When concentration in the blood goes beyond 0.4 per cent, there may be coma and eventually death. Alcohol acts very quickly to affect thought, feeling, and behavior because it can enter the bloodstream and begin to circulate within two minutes. Unlike food, alcohol does not have to go through the process of digestion. 

Some of it is absorbed even by the stomach walls; the rest is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal walls. Alcohol taken on an empty stomach is especially fast-acting; when it is mixed with food, the absorption rate is less rapid. In whatever form it may be consumed-as beer, cider, whiskey, straight, mixed-alcohol's effects on the body are the same.