Preventative Medicine

It seems that eating well and exercising might not be enough to thwart some health issues. Just like Sergio Valenti and Gloria Vanderbilt, some people just have bad genes (bad pun). I just read a story of a family where a hereditary stomach cancer has taken many of their elders. To prevent such a fate, 11 cousins have voluntarily had their stomachs removed.

This certainly seems drastic but beats the alternative. It seems you can live without a stomach by eating many small meals as your small intestines still continue to digest your food normally. A big side-effect seems to be weight loss which seems like an understatement.

I have heard about similar steps people have taken avoid breast cancer and uterine cancer. I suppose living with the dread of wondering when you will be diagnosed would be very depressing, if not paralyzing.

Having relinquished myself of my own gallbladder not too long ago, I often wonder just how many “extra parts” we have that we could actually live without and still maintain quality of life. Hundreds of years ago, many misunderstood “Vestigial Organs” were considered useless. I think all of our parts have a purpose, certainly the stomach does, but it appears we can do without it.

I suppose any one of a pair (kidney, lung, eye, etc.) might be considered an extra and perhaps part of nature’s design. So here is a partial list of what might be considered “optional equipment”:

• Gallbladder
• Tonsils
• Appendix
• Spleen

It seems the stomach can now be added to the list.

Are you living happily along without some other part?

Add comment June 19th, 2006