Do I hear you muttering under your breath: "Who do you think you are to be questioning this most 'sacred' concept of 'disease'?" If so, the answer is: Nobody special. Just a person who can read, think, observe, and reason --- and who is willing to do so even when the facts lead to unpopular conclusions.

As discussed in Part 4. Is It Scientific? , "science" is NOT a "sacred body of knowledge". The word itself comes from an older-language root word that simply means "to know"; and was originally coined to describe a METHOD of learning or "coming to know" --- careful, deliberate, UNBIASED examination of observable facts. As acknowledged in the beginning, that's a "tall order" for human-nature-as-we-know-it, but it CAN be accomplished ---- at least, some of the time. And it is not an "exclusive club". You are legally and ethically free to participate. So, if you're willing to engage in a little "exercise", think carefully about the following ----

The human body is often compared to a machine. And it truly IS one of the greatest mechanical-and-more marvels in the natural world. But it's also a "structure" (like a bridge or a building). Like the body, both machines and structures require maintenance; but, UNLIKE the body, nothing humans make can fully repair and maintain itself. That is surely one of the greatest marvels of living things ---- second only to the miracle of life itself ---- and one we often take for granted, or even totally ignore. Yet, our body's continuous internal maintenance-and-repair functions and their associated needs closely resemble those of a building. Compare, for example, a very large industrial manufacturing laboratory/office complex. While some maintenance goes on even during business hours, such as patrolling lobbies and corridors for trash and spills as a matter of safety as well as appearance; the SERIOUS maintenance starts after the place closes for the day. Not just trash pickup, cleaning, polishing and restoration of vulnerable surfaces like floor finish. If it's a very large (or very old) complex, there will nearly always be some areas in the process of being completely "gutted" and restored, rebuilt or remodeled.

While this latter process greatly extends the usefulness (and, usually, structural soundness) of the building, it produces a great deal of debris ---IN ADDITION TO the trash the janitorial crew carries out every night from the regular day-to-day course of doing business. A process very similar to our body's metabolism and it's replacement and disposal of worn-out cells IN ADDITION TO the waste byproducts from digesting, assimilating and producing energy from the food we eat. And, yes; the bulk of our body's "repair" work also goes on after WE'RE "closed for the day" ---- while we're asleep. (See why sleep-deprivation and sleep quality are so serious?)

Now, what do you think would become of all this building maintenance in the event of a general sanitation strike? Business as usual? --- For a few days, perhaps --- until the enclosed pick-up area outside the back door got full. Then trash would start to accumulate INSIDE the back door, then along the back corridor, finally in ALL the corridors (the "arteries" of all the building's activity); until everyone is stepping over and around it and production slows to a crawl during the day (ever get that sluggish feeling?); while maintenance and repair are brought almost to a standstill at night. (We notice when "flesh wounds" heal slowly, but internal deterioration of our body may remain invisible for years.) Finally, it becomes almost impossible to accomplish ANYTHING in the building --- OR in our body; which by then may be "at death's door" while the doctor is trying to "pull us through". ("tongue-in-cheek" --- Sorry! I couldn't resist that one.)

Now, if both the day crew and the maintenance crew are under enough deadline pressure to "produce", and repeated attempts to resolve the waste problem are unsuccessful long enough, somebody will eventually give up in total frustration and start throwing it out the windows. ---Ever have boils, pimples, abscesses or a discharge of similar material from sinuses and bronchial tubes? Wherever and however it comes out, it's essentially the same "crud". The body HAS to get rid of its biologic/metabolic debris IN SOME WAY in order to function and stay alive --- just as ashes must be regularly removed from a fireplace to maintain sufficient space for fuel and air flow to sustain useful combustion.

That brings us to another building-maintenance / health-maintenance comparison: If the building's trash and other debris stays piled up in the corridors and outside holding areas long enough, it's almost certain to become infested with vermin --- from roaches to rats to who knows what else --- just as accumulations of biologic waste anywhere in the human body will nearly always contain "undesirable" (by "civilized" standards) micro-organisms. Now, does the VERMIN in the building CAUSE the trash to accumulate? Or does the mass of debris DRAW the vermin? Would not the same logical progression of events occur in our bodies? Why should we think this "cause and effect" relationship would be totally different just because it takes place inside a multi-celled living organism? Yes, life is a "miracle". But nothing "mystical" or "magical" goes on inside. The same laws of physics (and logic) apply there as in the "outside world". There's no biological "black magic".

Just because certain micro-organisms detect in our bodies (while we're still alive no less) the kind of dead and decaying organic material they were designed to "recycle" (and --- eager to go to work --- PRODUCE RESULTS WE WERE NOT DESIGNED TO LIVE WITH as they clean up a mess that SHOULD NOT EXIST in our bodies unless we're dead) does not make them our "natural enemies"; but MAY explain the effectiveness of antibiotics --- which interrupts their activity AND ITS RESULTS (but does not actually solve the debris problem) --- and of quarantine --- which apparently keeps us far enough away that the microscopic "recycling crew" does not "see" us --- as carrion --- and as their next work assignment.

Similarly, my father (the licensed non-medical health-care professional mentioned above) used to insist that AT LEAST 90% of all our ills in the "Western World" come about from two primary contributing factors: Failure to put INTO our bodies the proper biological cleaning and building materials (POOR NUTRITION that WE may believe is excellent) and the body's resulting FAILURE to properly repair itself and, in due course, ELIMINATE IT'S WASTE MATERIALS. (Remember the fireplace and the building's trash problem.)

In contrast, acceptance of the widely held ASSUMPTION mentioned at the beginning of this part requires belief either that an "all-wise and loving creator" DESIGNED certain micro-organisms to make us sick and shorten our life, OR that life IS merely an accidental eternal struggle for "survival of the fittest". But, neither view accounts for all the observable evidence. Scientific researchers tell us the soil is teeming with numerous varieties of micro-organisms WITHOUT WHICH no larger plant life could survive. Others find in our intestines a similar array of bacteria without which we could not digest our food to continue living. In spite of abundant SPECULATION to the contrary, the most carefully observed EVIDENCE indicates that all life is designed to SUPPORT other life in SOME way. So, if any living thing APPEARS to be an enemy, something is either out of balance, out of place, or grossly misunderstood.

And if it comes across as a "foreign" concept, as it very well may (even to traditionally religious people who CLAIM to believe in an "all-wise and loving creator"), please review this page carefully and really try to visualize the biological processes by their herein discussed similarities --- logically, rationally --- and calmly --- on the basis of actual observable evidence that you can examine for yourself --- not the supposedly scientific speculations we've heard all our lives and accepted as "fact" just because they came from unquestioningly-accepted "authorities" and the mythical "everybody" appeared to believe it. (And maybe we're either too mentally passive --- or scared too senseless of being different from the intimidating "majority" --- to exercise our human intelligence that we like to congratulate ourselves is "superior" to that of the "lower" forms of life.)