The Amazing Human Body

The Amazing Human Body

Hearing that an ER physician in New York who had been caring for COVID patients took her own life cut me to the quick Recently.  My heart ached for her and her family.  When someone reaches the point that the only escape they can imagine from the pain that they are experiencing is to take their life, that person has truly descended into a dark place.  I’m not immune to dark somber moods at times but thankfully, I have never had to battle those kinds of thoughts.  I have always had the hope that things will get better.  

For the most part, the human body is too resilient not to have faith in its healing properties.  Just tonight, while doing the dishes I opened up a gash on my finger.  It bled pretty well, but I know that clotting factors were already at work, starting a clot.  Other cells will be recruited to the area that will form scar tissue.  The edges of the wound will grow towards each other, especially if I help them out by getting the edges of the wound close to each other.  I placed a small popsicle stick under the finger and taped it so that I wouldn’t inadvertently bend the knuckle and open up the wound again. White blood cells will course through the area looking to interact with infection causing bacteria.  Cleansing the wound and applying antibacterial ointment will help lessen the load that needs to be cleared.

We do the same with COVID-19 patients.  We don’t have a treatment yet that will definitively treat it.  We do everything we can to support the body until it recovers on its own. Most patients do.  I am seeing an increasing number of patients who have had it or likely have had it.  At least four of the people I spoke to today fall in that category.  One progressed to having inflammation of the eyes.  Several had the typical cough and fever. Some also have diarrhea.  Thankfully, none of my patients have become so sick as to require mechanical ventilation.  Almost all of them have been able to simply stay home and ride it out, allowing their own immune system to fight off the virus.  We can administer extra oxygen for those that need it, give Tylenol for aches, pains and fever, and recommend cough and cold medicine as needed. That is about all that we have to offer.

A vaccine would be great. Hopes of having one any time soon are, as of now, just that, hope.  Such a development would be the ultimate aid to our immune system.  Vaccines prime our immune response so that when the actual disease causing organism is encountered, it is ready to act immediately and clear it from our bodies.  Nothing we have done in medicine to improve the world’s health can compare to vaccinations and cleaning up the world’s water supply.

The best help we can give our body is to never be exposed to it in the first place. One ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure.  From a societal standpoint there are really only two mechanisms for this to happen.  We can either shut down everyone so that none of us are exposed to those who are ill as we are doing now or we can shut down those that are ill.  For that to happen effectively, early diagnosis is the key.  When a case is detected, if that person’s known contacts can be traced quickly and notified, they can be shut down as well.  This approach allows for society to “cut out” the problem areas while continuing to keep the rest of society operational. The enormity of the pandemic quickly overwhelmed our capacity to do this well.  This is our necessary next step to come out of these depressing days.  I do have hope that we will get there.  Brighter days are ahead.  Standing together, we will give ourselves the best chance to allow the amazing human body to do what it does best, recover and survive.