Our Marvelous Bodies: An Introduction to the Physiology of Human Health

PREFACE

I attended an international conference for biomedical scientists in San Diego, California, in the spring of . The deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terry Schiavo made the headlines during that week. Life support had been terminated for Terry Schiavo two weeks before her death. She had suffered a major heart attack and slipped into a coma in . Terry’s husband Michael and her parents were bitterly divided over the prolongation of her life support. The Supreme Court was asked to intervene and revealed its division by voting  to  in favor of not reinstating life support. Many years before the heart attack that eventually took the life of Terry Schiavo, I knew a family who faced a similar crisis in New Jersey. The mother in this family had gone to a local hospital for a cardiac procedure, lapsed into a coma, and was being sustained on life support. Her three children were adults and had families of their own. She had been married twice, and her current husband was not the father of her children. Two of the children and their families lived in distant states. I empathized as this group of distraught adults kept twenty-four-hour vigils wondering if their loved one would regain consciousness . They were receiving no guidance from attending physicians, did not know what questions to ask, and seemed completely ignored by the medical establishment . It was a lamentable scene of helplessness and confusion. In private I mentioned to the husband that as a physiologist I had the medical background required to read and interpret medical records. I explained what physiology is and told him I could read his wife’s records and apprise him of the status of her kidneys, GI tract, liver, heart, and lungs. He thought about my offer for a couple days and discussed it with her children. As a group they accepted my invitation, and he was given access to the records that he handed over to me. It was clear that my friend had been in multiple-organ failure from the outset of her hospitalization. She was on a mechanical ventilator, had a balloon-pump device implanted in her aorta to assist cardiac output, was on hyperalimentation (nutritional support), and was showing no signs of response to her family or the medical staff. After discussing her records, the family asked what I would do if this was my wife, my mother, my daughter, or my sister. My response was, “I would make PREFACE xiii the same decision in each case. I would terminate life support now and would have done so earlier had I seen the records then.” The family thought about my input for about twenty-four hours and made a united decision to terminate life support. I sensed immediately the relief they felt. There was no bitterness or regret then or during the months I kept in touch with the family after. I was able to help that family when physicians and others would not—and could not— because of my empathy for them and my background in physiology, the basis of human medicine. When addressing the American Physiological Society in  as its newest president, Arthur C. Guyton (–), a medical doctor, said, “What other person whether he be a theologian, a jurist, a doctor of medicine, a physicist, or whatever, knows more than you, a physiologist, about life? For physiology is indeed an explanation of life. What other subject matter is more fascinating, more exciting , more beautiful than the subject of life?” In  Guyton was named one of the ten outstanding men in the nation. In his commemoration to Dr. Guyton, John E. Hall, PhD, wrote, “Arthur Guyton’s research contributions, which include more than  papers and  books, are legendary and place him among the greatest physiologists in history.” As a physiologist, I write this book to help, among others, students in advanced high school biology courses and in introductory college courses such as fundamentals of physiology as well as those in the allied health sciences, for example, respiratory therapists, x-ray technicians, occupational/physical/recreational health therapists, nurses-to-be, and physician’s assistants. I write also for those who have recently entered professional fields of health and medicine and are beginning to care for patients. What I have to say about physiology as the basis of medicine and as a prerequisite to understanding one’s health should help the student and practitioner gain a clearer understanding of our marvelous bodies and how they work. If...