Myths, Facts, and Fascination: 7 Books Exploring Human Biology
How much do you really know about how your body functions? About what happens when you fall asleep? Can you really believe what you see with your own eyes?
The sad fact is that most of us are woefully ill-informed about the packaging we walk around in or about how our hard drive functions. Sure, we might have retained the Cliff’s Notes version of Biology 101 in our memory, but it is also saddled with a lot of garbage. The kind of well intended but completely misguided information passed down throughout our lifetimes such as “Vitamin C cures the common cold” or “drink cranberry juice to ease symptoms of urinary tract infections”.
In my lifetime, our understanding of the human body has improved significantly.
Take CPR as an example. What we are advised to do today is different than how I was first taught. We’ve learned that most major medical studies based their findings on a specific subset of white men which means discarding ideas about who should take low dose aspirin following a heart attack. Even heart attacks themselves are not experienced the same between men and women, which was not commonly understood when I first was taught how to spot the signs. Perhaps my favourite reflection on how our understanding of biology has evolved is this:
When I was grade 6, at which point I was 11 or 12 years old, my male teacher, who was also the track and field coach, stopped permitting female students participating in the triple jump. It was not allowed because of the risk it placed on our developing internal organs (see, female reproductive system). Listen, as kids, we would not have known any different. Except, at the time, I was not a typical student. I was a competitive gymnast. The force exerted from vaulting, tumbling or on the uneven bars - in the ‘80s we were still wrapping the bars with our hips – was far greater than anything experienced doing the motions for the triple jump. And we were just fine.
Besides wanting to learn more about the physical experience of being human, I find exploring how we acquired this knowledge, the unbelievably large gaps in our knowledge and the idiosyncrasies in how our bodies operate, to be a fascinating subject.
I’ve raided my library to present you recommendations on the topic of human beings.
The Body, A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
This is a primer for everyone to read.
Bryson is at his best: his inexhaustible curiosity opens every door, he gives us the stories, and personalities behind some of histories greatest medical discoveries (which were usually accidents) and introduces us to the people who are at the forefront of today’s biological understanding. And he does all of this with a healthy side of humour.
This tome addresses the entirety of the human body: from viruses and cells to senses and sensations, and the strength and weakness of our physical form.
It covers birth, life and death. How our bodies turn on us with cancer, the common cold or maddening diagnosis such as phantom limb sensation or an itch that quite literally, never stops.
It answers some of life’s odder mysteries including why our noses run when it’s cold outside, why we are the only mammal who sends food and air down the same passageway or why bones, despite living and growing, never scar.
Then there are the dizzying statistics.
Since you started reading this paragraph, your body created one million red blood cells.
The epithelium (the internal and external tissue) of your lungs, when spread out, covers the space of a tennis court.
The average human heart beats 3.5 billion times in a lifespan
Fun fact: each time I read or reread a Bill Bryson book, the number of times I start a sentence with “did you know…” rises markedly.
Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
As the saying goes, ‘seeing is believing’. What happens when we cannot trust what we see, and hear, to be real?
Scientifically, most of us understand that we do not actually see reality. The way our eyes and ears work involve our brain’s interpretation of waves and vibrations. The fact is our reality is shaped by our perception of it. And that includes visuals and sounds inserted into our reality, even though they do not actually exist.
Unless you walk into your living room and see a giant, silverback gorilla reading a book, something obviously out of place, the odds are high that you begin to incorporate these hallucinations into your everyday life.
Oliver Sacks dives into the world of perception; of people who can tell if the lights are on or off, despite being fully blind for decades and people with failing eyesight who are immersed in a hallucinatory visual world. Hallucinations are more likely to be induced by injury, illness, sleep deprivation and intoxication than they with what we misguidedly attribute them to: mental illness. He uncovers why people tend to hallucinate friendly visits by loved ones in the months following their death. Full of empathy, curiosity and insight, this is an intriguing peek into what life looks like for people who genuinely live in a world different than ours.
The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stone
If you are wondering why the heck I’m including a celebrity memoir in a post about understanding the human body, the answer is this: she was given a 1% chance of surviving her massive stroke and shares that experience as both a cautionary tale and a peek into recovery from major brain trauma.
In her usual candor, Ms. Stone recounts navigating the healthcare system when your very brain, the thing that makes you sound and sane, is under attack. She takes us inside the experience of waking up, able only to see the patient directly across from her, in a room where unresponsive patients are placed in a circle, lying on beds that continuously measure the smallest of changes in overall body weight. Never one to play the victim in real life, this story is filled with kindness, resilience and humour.
I opened my eyes, and there he was standing over me, just inches from my face. A stranger looking at me with so much kindness that I was sure I was going to die. He was stroking my head, my hair: God, he was handsome. I wished he were someone who loved me instead of someone whose next words were “You’re bleeding into your brain.”
Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek (with Scott Friedman)
Why on earth would anyone run for 24 hours straight if not being chased by zombies?
That was the thought I had going into this book. I mean, running a 10K was agonizing for me. And boring. Actual marathons I can understand, though I’m still not signing up for one. But running hundreds of miles? What kind of body and mind does a person have to engage in such madness?
Scott Jurek gives us a peek into the world of ultramarathons in this short, lighthearted story. He walks us through his typical upbringing, AKA not-a-runner, and the unlikely journey and friendship that introduced him to a world where the human body is pushed beyond what seems possible.
The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter
Men and younger female readers – do not skip this section!
I know, I know – women, aging, reproductive stuff and all that goes with it are subjects you’ve been taught to avoid, ignore or feel repulsed by. Get over it because this is important. You either will experience menopause or someone you love will, and there are serious medical concerns you should be aware of. In fact, you need to be aware of them, since a good deal of the medical community is ill informed.
Let’s talk about hip fractures. If a woman aged 65+ breaks her hip, within one year of the incident:
There is a 50% chance she can no longer live independently
She has a 40% chance of not being able to walk independently
A 30% chance of not being able to bathe independently
And a 17% chance of dying before the year is out
Hip fractures are just one of the many risks associated with menopause, a natural phase of the human experience, which starts as early as aged 30 for some women. Heart disease and cancer risks also increase. Why it is important for you to understand this experience? Because medicine hasn’t been paying attention. An entire generation of women were denied much needed hormone therapy due to the miscommunication of results from a single study. Unfortunately, the rush to fill this knowledge gap means a lot of opportunities to be sold snake oil supplements or unproven hormone replacements to vulnerable – and suffering – women.
Dr. Gunter is effective at dealing with the facts, explaining the wide range of experiences and pointing readers to trusted sources of medical information. She is exceptional at also providing the moments when you should “run, don’t walk” away from an ill-informed medical professional.
Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
We spend a third of our life asleep, yet the study of sleep and dreams is still one that is discouraged for ‘real’ scientists. So it is that we accompany David Randall in his pursuit to cure, or at least understand, the cause of his dangerous sleepwalking episodes.
He brings us along, meeting with sleep specialists, neurologists and historians, to uncover what we really know about the science of sleep.
We learn how waking up for an hour or more at night is part of the natural sleep cycle, at least it was until the combination of electric lights and big pharma made it appear to be a problem. Discover why we experience hynagogic paralysis – a state that prevents our bodies from acting out our dreams – and the implications for us when it misfires.
Go behind the scenes in a sleep study lab (why do we even need sleep?) and dive into taboo subjects like sleeping as a couple (to share a bed, separate beds/same room or separate rooms entirely?). Nothing is off limits, including the realization that we don’t know much about what happens when we drift off to sleep.
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success & Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom and Wonder by Arianna Huffington
This book is the one that forever bound Arianna Huffington to the concept of putting your phone in its own little bed at night. Move past that to discover this memoir-style narrative serves up a tremendous amount of insight into the very human cost of overworking oneself.
I left this till the end, because what this book does best, is examine our end.
In the section titled ‘Wonder’ she explores the western world’s inability to recognize that death is part of life. Death is removed from our sight, we are discouraged from speaking about it, even as kids. Here, she recounts the scene of her mother’s passing, and the surprise discovery that her mother did not want anyone to call 9-1-1. Arianna and her sister hold their mother’s hand and sing, laugh and cry together, on the kitchen floor as she passes away. It is a beautiful memory.
While I benefit from the reminders to take better care of myself, for me, the best part of Thrive is the exploration of death in different cultures and throughout time. Mortality binds all of us together (even those crazy tech bros who think they can cheat it).
Strangely, I believe that making peace with death gives us a better opportunity to make life worth living.
