Reflections on Our Humanity Jack W. Love jwlove@cardiomend.com http://yjhm.yaleedu/essays/jlove20081211.htm Man is a fragile animal, a life form unique among all the multitude of living things on Earth, perhaps in our entire universe. From a physicians perspective, the fragility is striking, and a cause for a combination of humility, some humor, and great awe. Our fragility has a few specific anatomical locations. The small arteries that supply oxygen and nutrition to the heart and brain are susceptible to blockage, typically from aging but occasionally from other causes. Sudden occlusion of one of those arteries that may be only a few millimeters in diameter can result in death or severe and lasting disability. Another narrow channel sub ject to occlusion with potentially fatal or disabling consequences is the Aqueduct of Sylvius the tiny tubular path in the midbrain through which cerebrospinal fluid flows from the third to the fourth ventricle. The author has had personal near-death experience with acute occlusion of that fluid pathway from which he recovered after a bypass procedure known as a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. Our fragility has other, non-anatomical aspects The conditions within which all men must live must make us humble on reflection. Consider that the conception and birth of each of us are programmed by hormones that dominate much of our lives. Consider that once born, we must be nurtured by others for a period that may amount to a quarter of our lives. Consider that we must shut down our senses and activities for a third of each day in sleep, that we are subject to diseases and injuries we may not always be able to cure or prevent, and that we are programmed for an inevitable death at a time we cannot kno We must eat and drink continually to stoke the metabolic fires. The food we eat requires, for most of us, that other living things must be killed and consumed. It seems to be a necessary condition of our existence of our staying alive. We kill to live, unless we are in the small number of people who are vegetarians. And the scientist who works in the animal laboratory knows that the extraction of know ledge from animal experimentation can have troubling aspects. But most of us feel that the end clearly justifies the means when it comes to treating and curing disease with knowledge gained from such experiment One thinks ofReflections on Our Humanity Jack W. Love jwlove@cardiomend.com http://yjhm.yale.edu/essays/jlove20081211.htm Man is a fragile animal, a life form unique among all the multitude of living things on Earth, perhaps in our entire universe. From a physician’s perspective, the fragility is striking, and a cause for a combination of humility, some humor, and great awe. Our fragility has a few specific anatomical locations. The small arteries that supply oxygen and nutrition to the heart and brain are susceptible to blockage, typically from aging but occasionally from other causes. Sudden occlusion of one of those arteries that may be only a few millimeters in diameter can result in death or severe and lasting disability. Another narrow channel subject to occlusion with potentially fatal or disabling consequences is the Aqueduct of Sylvius, the tiny tubular path in the midbrain through which cerebrospinal fluid flows from the third to the fourth ventricle. The author has had a personal near-death experience with acute occlusion of that fluid pathway, from which he recovered after a bypass procedure known as a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. Our fragility has other, non-anatomical aspects. The conditions within which all men must live must make us humble on reflection. Consider that the conception and birth of each of us are programmed by hormones that dominate much of our lives. Consider that once born, we must be nurtured by others for a period that may amount to a quarter of our lives. Consider that we must shut down our senses and activities for a third of each day in sleep, that we are subject to diseases and injuries we may not always be able to cure or prevent, and that we are programmed for an inevitable death at a time we cannot know. We must eat and drink continually to stoke the metabolic fires. The food we eat requires, for most of us, that other living things must be killed and consumed. It seems to be a necessary condition of our existence, of our staying alive. We kill to live, unless we are in the small number of people who are vegetarians. And the scientist who works in the animal laboratory knows that the extraction of knowledge from animal experimentation can have troubling aspects. But most of us feel that the end clearly justifies the means when it comes to treating and curing disease with knowledge gained from such experiments. One thinks of