The Perfect Machine: Part 2

??????Warning, if you didn't already know this, you might want to sit down...??????

If you're not a doctor, maybe you didn't know this: the reason your body exhibits flu-symptoms when you are infected with a flu virus are for your own protection, not just to annoy you. Let's explore three common symptoms.

Extensive mucous production: annoying, yes. BUT the reason your body does this is to catch illness-causing particles. Your immune system is sending white blood cells to the area, causing inflammation on purpose.

Fever: awful to experience BUT this is your immune system making your body a hot and hostile environment for the flu virus. This high heat also helps germ-killing proteins circulate through your body quicker via the bloodstream. This is your body helping rid itself of the unwanted pathogen.

Coughing: this can become so painful. BUT coughing is helping to rid your airways of mucus that carry harmful germs to the rest of your body.

Now ask yourself this: why would you take drugstore medication that alleviate these symptoms if they are just your body working hard to fight for you? Most people would say, "Because I want to feel better." Ah, now we're getting somewhere.

Feeling better vs. Getting better These are two very different things. I believe the difference is knowledge and self-care. If you want to feel better, maybe it's because you need to go to work so you can pay your bills on time. Maybe it's because you usually take care of someone else and getting them also sick would be dangerous. We often want to feel better because we don't know that our bodies, if given time, nutrition, and fluids, can fix most anything on its own. If we all knew this and had the time and resources for this self-care, I believe the BIG Pharma industry would see a major decline in sales.

So back to my Part 1: why I chose Biomedical Engineering. The human body can be viewed as a perfect machine. However, sometimes we as humans, get in the way of the very bodily-functions that make it perfect in the first place. This is why I was so inspired to learn about disease, anatomy, physiology, and immunology. BIG Pharma is a temporary solution. Time, nutrition, and fluids can cure the disease. But Medical Device Engineering is an entirely different animal.

To be continued...