Your Health Is Your Responsibility, Not Your Doctor's

Ever wondered how a wound gets healed? Have you ever sat down to think about what is happening at a microcellular level? How a tear in the skin, maybe a paper cut or a big laceration from a tree branch gets to disappear and almost look like nothing happened there?

Well, it is something that surgeons think about every time for the very obvious reason, surgeons are the kind of doctors that need to cut you to help you heal. Surgeons think about how a wound forms, what kind of wound it is, what makes it heal quickly, what delays the healing. Basically, a surgeon needs to be very much aware of how a wound heals and the best way to cut into the body to minimize blood loss and long term complications.

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Through understanding wound healing, one can easily see that the human body is designed to repair itself. It is an intelligent design that is made to withstand a great deal of stress and repair itself. Here is what I mean.

When you get a paper cut, the first thing that happens is that you feel pain. The reason for the pain is so that you can withdraw from the source of the trauma. That is why you would instinctively withdraw from a hot kettle. The pain helps you pull away from continuous insult to your body.

The next thing that happens is that blood rushes to the site of the injury. Blood is the lifeline of the human body.,, it is how nutrients and repair raw materials are transported to various parts of the body. The blood gets there to cover the defect that has been created by the injury. This is what is called haemostasis

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The blood gets to the open wound and forms a plug that prevents germs from getting into the body through that opening. It also prevents more blood and water from being lost from that opening.

Then the body begins a very complex process of recruiting different kind of cells to the site of injury to begin the repair process. There are cells that help to clean up the wound, some other cells help to increase the blood supply to the area to bring more nutrients for the healing process. Some other cells are there to ensure that any germs that may have entered are promptly dealt with.

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Getting to understand this process shows us that the body is designed to repair itself, that is the natural design. As doctor worth his salt understands this and actually takes advantage of this in helping people who fall sick. The aim of medical science is to help the body with the natural healing process, not to replace it. Medications are not meant to replace natural protocols for healing.

Taking medications will never eliminate the need for sleep, healthy eating and exercise in other for the body to heal itself. There is a mindset that some folks get, they think that once they have taken a pill, then there is no more responsibility on their part... the pill should do its work and they do not have to do anything.

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I see this trend among people who are taking medications to help them loose weight. The truth is that there are people who would benefit greatly from these medications to help them loose weight no doubt... although there are people who do not need to go on the medications but still do-- we will talk about that another day.

People who genuinely need to be on medications to help them loose weight exist, but a lot of people seem to just take the pill or injection and expect the weight to fall off while they sleep. They don't change their diet, they still sit in front of the couch all day watching TV with 5 bags of chips around them. That is a misuse. It should not be.

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The medications are meant to help you get up, to clean up your act, eat healthy and move more. taking medications and expecting magic to happen automatically without any changes is problematic. Another example will be someone who comes to the doctor looking for pain killers for his back ache. He gets a prescription of pain killers but still engages bad posture, still lifting weights the wrong way, still sleeping 2 hrs daily... yet he says the medications are not working..

No! he is not working the medication. The medications are to help him get his act together and ensure that he gives his body the necessary conditions to heal itself. It is this understanding that makes a doctor a good doctor. A doctor knows when to prescribe medications, a good doctor knows when not to prescribe.