I woke up this morning and felt a tickle in my throat. I spent some time coughing - to the point where my daughter asked me if I was all right - and after a while all seemed to be well. I got to thinking later, how miraculous the human body is - the design so intricate, the parts so inter-related. The immune system in itself is full of miraculous, amazingly designed components. For the world inside the skin, then, I am grateful for these specific gifts.
Erythrocytes - or red blood cells. These amazing concave cells "load up" with oxygen and other important nutrients and chemicals, and the oxygen is squeezed out of them when they pass through our capillaries, and pick up some of the carbon dioxide (waste product of muscular energy) to carry to the lungs for release. The body makes 2.4 million of these amazing cells per SECOND. Wow.
Leukocytes - also known as white blood cells. These are the disease-fighters. The number of them varies depending on the presence of a virus in the body - somewhere between four and eleven million leukocytes in a milliliter of blood. They only live three or four days. Yet without them, we would be susceptible to disease.
Thrombocytes - or platelets. These are cell fragments which are formed in the marrow, where red blood cells form, and that live about 9 to 15 days and are responsible for blood's clotting capacity. Too many of them and a person can have a thrombosis - an inner blood clot which can be fatal - and too few of them and clotting can't occur, which (if you cut yourself) can also be fatal. The blood therefore exists in a delicate balance EVERY DAY that keeps us alive and healthy. What a tremendous and complex gift.
I could go on and on about each internal organ. Suffice to say that they make the insides function, push or carry fuel around the body in conjunction with the blood cells, and extrude the leftovers. The digestive system alone is a marvel of biological machinery, of efficient and masterful design.
The epiglottis. This little flap of cartilage, normally pointing upward for breathing, slides into a horizontal position and guards the windpipe from getting food or liquid into the lungs when we swallow. It forms part of the gag reflex. We use this little thing hundreds of times a day - and we don't even think about it. If we didn't have it, we'd either starve, choke or drown. Hello.
The liver. This is probably the least-thought-of and most amazing piece of inside technology invented. Not only does it purify the blood and send toxins to the kidneys and bladder to be eliminated, and produce chemicals necessary for digestion, but if part of it is damaged, even removed, it has the capacity to regenerate. That in itself has to make it thank-worthy.
One nearly-forgotten and highly underappreciated area is the thyroid gland. This is the largest gland in the body and is located in the neck, just below the Adam's apple. It is responsible for regulating the entire body's metabolism through the release of hormones in conjunction with the pituitary gland in the brain. Too many hormones and the metabolism is too high - it burns fuel too quickly and weight melts off the body; one can't eat enough to maintain weight, it seems. Too little, and the body is sluggish, gains weight, and is tired and logey all the time.
I've come to appreciate the simple yet multi-faceted function of the joints lately, whether shoulder, back, hip, or knee. Bone covered with cartilage, cushioned by discs or bursa (self-contained pouches of fluid), held together by ligaments and/or tendons to protect the bones from grating on each other and causing pain. Designed for mobility and aiding in transportation, the true worth of these body parts can be appreciated most - unfortunately - by those who have lost the full function of their joints.
Pain itself is a gift, a signal to alert the mind to the existence of a problem that requires attention and/or rest. In spite of the unpleasant nature of pain, the ability of the body to protect and heal itself is a real marvel to me.
The body's capacity for pain is equaled (possibly even surpassed) only by its capacity for pleasure. Those nerve endings are able to distinguish nuances of warmth, cold, and intensity of touch, multiplying how good something can feel. Pleasure applied to the site of pain can intensify the pleasure - strangely enough. Case in point - my heating / vibrating chair pad. I have blessed that little invention so many times of late!
Erythrocytes - or red blood cells. These amazing concave cells "load up" with oxygen and other important nutrients and chemicals, and the oxygen is squeezed out of them when they pass through our capillaries, and pick up some of the carbon dioxide (waste product of muscular energy) to carry to the lungs for release. The body makes 2.4 million of these amazing cells per SECOND. Wow.
Thrombocytes - or platelets. These are cell fragments which are formed in the marrow, where red blood cells form, and that live about 9 to 15 days and are responsible for blood's clotting capacity. Too many of them and a person can have a thrombosis - an inner blood clot which can be fatal - and too few of them and clotting can't occur, which (if you cut yourself) can also be fatal. The blood therefore exists in a delicate balance EVERY DAY that keeps us alive and healthy. What a tremendous and complex gift.
I could go on and on about each internal organ. Suffice to say that they make the insides function, push or carry fuel around the body in conjunction with the blood cells, and extrude the leftovers. The digestive system alone is a marvel of biological machinery, of efficient and masterful design.
The epiglottis. This little flap of cartilage, normally pointing upward for breathing, slides into a horizontal position and guards the windpipe from getting food or liquid into the lungs when we swallow. It forms part of the gag reflex. We use this little thing hundreds of times a day - and we don't even think about it. If we didn't have it, we'd either starve, choke or drown. Hello.
The liver. This is probably the least-thought-of and most amazing piece of inside technology invented. Not only does it purify the blood and send toxins to the kidneys and bladder to be eliminated, and produce chemicals necessary for digestion, but if part of it is damaged, even removed, it has the capacity to regenerate. That in itself has to make it thank-worthy.
One nearly-forgotten and highly underappreciated area is the thyroid gland. This is the largest gland in the body and is located in the neck, just below the Adam's apple. It is responsible for regulating the entire body's metabolism through the release of hormones in conjunction with the pituitary gland in the brain. Too many hormones and the metabolism is too high - it burns fuel too quickly and weight melts off the body; one can't eat enough to maintain weight, it seems. Too little, and the body is sluggish, gains weight, and is tired and logey all the time.
I've come to appreciate the simple yet multi-faceted function of the joints lately, whether shoulder, back, hip, or knee. Bone covered with cartilage, cushioned by discs or bursa (self-contained pouches of fluid), held together by ligaments and/or tendons to protect the bones from grating on each other and causing pain. Designed for mobility and aiding in transportation, the true worth of these body parts can be appreciated most - unfortunately - by those who have lost the full function of their joints.
Pain itself is a gift, a signal to alert the mind to the existence of a problem that requires attention and/or rest. In spite of the unpleasant nature of pain, the ability of the body to protect and heal itself is a real marvel to me.
The body's capacity for pain is equaled (possibly even surpassed) only by its capacity for pleasure. Those nerve endings are able to distinguish nuances of warmth, cold, and intensity of touch, multiplying how good something can feel. Pleasure applied to the site of pain can intensify the pleasure - strangely enough. Case in point - my heating / vibrating chair pad. I have blessed that little invention so many times of late!
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