A Little on Our Incredible Design

It's pretty amazing. Our bodies are designed with the incredible ability to adapt to the challenges and invasions of living in a dangerous world. While many of the assaults on our bodies come from outside, there are dangers that come from within.

We can often (knowingly and unknowingly) aid these internal attacks through the lifestyle choices we make and chemicals that we add to our bodies through diet and exposure. Sometimes, our bodies can turn on ourselves through auto-immune diseases or some other form of self-destructive attack from within.

Sometimes the dangers lie silently in wait, striking without warning. Such can be the case in the event of a stroke.

I've listened to this ad several times on the radio. After listening to a friend that experienced a stroke on Wednesday night, it sounds as if the ad is right on target. She knew that she was having a stroke, but was unable to communicate that to the person in front of her.

The night of the stroke was pretty freaky. It was obvious that she could hear and understand us. It was equally obvious that she was growing frustrated with herself for not being able to respond to us or accomplish some of the simple tasks that were given to her. After finding and removing an offending clot in her blood stream, the recovery began immediately.

Each passing hour demonstrated how her brain was re-growing or re-establishing the neuro-pathways for physical activity and speech. Today she is walking well, speaking better and progressing better than expected.

As adaptable as our bodies are, they are also extremely fragile.

I recently posted (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook) this little bit of info:

Did you know...while only 2% in weight, the human brain requires 15% of the body's heart work, 20% of oxygen and 25% of all glucose?

If our brains are deprived of any of these critical elements, affected areas begin to shut down. After only moments, it can cause permanent damage or even death. Such is the case with stroke.

It would appear that my friend will make a good recovery. I don't know if there will be any permanent damage or not. We are thankful for a design that many would attribute to mere chance. I give God full credit for our miraculous design.

John <><