Made in His Image: Balancing Body Temperature (all these complexities must work together!)

ICR ^ | April 2009 | Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D.*

[GodGunsGuts]

Made in His Image: Balancing Body Temperature

by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D.*

A major achievement for design engineers is building precise control mechanisms for active processes. Lives depend on the precision in which certain processes are maintained, such as the manufacture of drugs.

Even more vital to survival is the human body's complex, integrated system that maintains precise control over the body's temperature even when it generates tremendous quantities of internal heat through strenuous activity or is exposed to wide-ranging external temperatures...

[GodGunsGuts]

Good article...Ping!

[wastedyears]

Yeah, it’s called not wearing jeans and a heavy black T-shirt when riding your bike, going into a small, well air-conditioned space and subsequently blacking out from heat exhaustion.

I’m a much smarter rider now.

[WVKayaker]

But...but...but... it just happened! Can't you see how easy evolution explains the simplicity of life!

Mark 14: 32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."

35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,[e] Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

39Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

41Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!

[editor-surveyor]

It wasn’t the heat that got you; you failed to consume enough sea salt. You’re lucky to be alive.

[wastedyears]

I could have died at the age of 17? That’s around 6 years ago.

There was the one day I fell off a stage and knocked myself out, probably negating a mastoidectomy; another time some kid knocked me out freshman year of high school.

For somebody that’s never broken a bone, I’ve put some pretty bad trauma on my brain, which is the worst.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[editor-surveyor]

Sounds like you live dangerously!

Seriously, the electrolyte imbalance from not getting enough salt can stop your heart just as effectively as a lack of C0-Q10 can.

[Nathan Zachary]

"It wasn’t the heat that got you; you failed to consume enough sea salt. You’re lucky to be alive."

No, He just wasn't just not hydrated enough. He failed to drink enough fluids, and probably was dehydrated before he even started out.

Everyone has enough salt in their system, they don't need more just because they sweat. In fact most people these days have far too much salt in their system which is what causes them to retain to much fluids, have high blood pressure, bloating, and other nasty stuff.

We all need a small amount of salt in our system, but too much is also a deadly poison. We get more than we need from the food we eat, and no amount of sweating requires us to take more.

There was a time when the army thought we needed a salt tablet to help us retain water. But that was proven false ages ago.

If dehydrated people needed salt, why do you think people lost at sea die when they drink sea water?

[wastedyears]

No, I don’t live dangerously. My body just has a knack for failing at inconvenient times. Like blacking out after drinking a beer, and one and a half glasses of sangria while eating Spanish food. It certainly was not the alcohol that did that; I’m guessing the sugar. I chewed the crystals when drinking it.

I would guess I should consume some amount of Gatorade daily. Or maybe something with a good electrolyte count, without the sugar.

Did you take classes for this stuff?

[Nathan Zachary]

Oh for cryin’ out loud.

Electrolyte imbalance ???

He probably has 100 times as much salt stored up in his body fat than he needs.

[Nathan Zachary]

What’s your glucose level? if you are blacking out, it isn’t from “sugar in beer or alcohol, because there is none.

[Nathan Zachary]

There are no carbohydrates in beer or alcohol, there are empty calories, yes. but NOT carbs.

You may have very very low glucose levles in your blood, ehich would cause you to black out even after drinking a half a beer. That’s because your body needs glucose to break down the alcohol. If you are hypo hypoglycemic, (Low sugar) you will pass out, and could even go into a coma!

[wastedyears]

No, the bartender put sugar in the sangria I was drinking.

Unfortunately it will probably be a few months until I can afford a blood test.

[wastedyears]

An endocrinologist said I was pretty close to a coma after looking at the results of a blood test, which showed TSH and T3 or T4 at the complete opposite levels of what are considered normal.

[Nathan Zachary]

Many people think that diabetics shouldn’t have alcohol because it has “sugar”. That’s not true. Diabetics shouldn’t have alcohol because it causes them (me) to “crash”. A crash is when your blood sugar levels drop dangerously low.

A hypoglycemic, ( a sort of reverse diabetic, someone who has to constantly eat carbs) goes into a diabetic coma when their blood sugar drops below 4.0 mol. The same thing can happen to a diabetic who takes too much insulin.

Normally, a persons pancreas produces enough insulin to regulate he amount of glucose in your blood. If your diet doesn’t include enough carbs, then your body will produce glucose by burning fat surrounding your liver and intestines. That isn’t a healthy thing to do however. it causes your body to store even more fat in that area if you regularly deprive your body of carbs.

[wastedyears]

I’d like to see the face of those on “low-carb” diets upon learning that information.

I don’t have hypoglycemia or diabetes. I have hypothyroid and primary hyperparathyroid disease. My body is pretty off, but thankfully no insulin pen for me. Mostly just constant fatigue as well as brain fog sometimes.

[kruss3]

Sorry Bro....there are lots of carbs in beer and wine. Your notion of “empty calories” must refer to the relative absence of proteins, fatty acids, minerals and trace metals.

[Nathan Zachary]

"No, the bartender put sugar in the sangria I was drinking. Unfortunately it will probably be a few months until I can afford a blood test."

What? That's ridiculous. Find a diabetic and ask him/her to test your glucose. Or, just spend 50 bucks and buy a glucose monitor. If he said you were close to a coma, that means your sugar was dangerously low. 4 mol and under (3 mol is pass out time for most) When your sugar levels are that low all the time, your body starts producing glucose from your liver, which is a really bad thing. That's what causes fat to build up in your abdomen around your liver and intestines.

[kruss3]

Hypoglycemia is a low blood glucose state caused by insulin levels persisting at elevated levels. No human has the ability to convert fatty acids into glucose. The liver does convert fatty acids into ketones when insufficient glucose is available from the gut.