Think of a kitchen. This kitchen has a blender for blending, an oven for cooking, a fridge for cooling, utensils for eating, a dishwasher for cleaning, pans for frying, jars for storing, peelers for peeling, etc. It has a full line of tools, gadgets, and appliances for the sole purpose of helping us prepare a meal. However, they are all separate appliances that altogether fill up an entire room. The fridge is not connected with the oven, nor do the forks have anything to do with the blender. Now, think of such a kitchen in which all of these gadgets and appliances work together in perfect harmony. The fridge cools some strawberries and passes them to the blender, which blends them into a tasty juice. The blender then pours this juice into a glass and serves it to you. After you are done drinking, the dishwasher kindly asks for your glass and washes it before putting it back into your cupboard. Oh, by the way, this kitchen fits snugly into your backpack so you can have juice on the go. This sounds a bit too good to be true, doesn’t it? How could every appliance be in perfect sync with all the others? How would it keep itself clean? How could all of this equipment be so compact? There would be so many complications and barriers to building such a system.

Now, what if I told you that such a system has already been built? And it’s not just a kitchen; it’s an entire palace. Our body is a marvelous palace with millions of functions and features. Such a purposeful design must have certain principles, some of which are efficiency, cleanliness, ease-of-use, and unity. Everything within our body is interconnected and works in total sync. Each organ plays its own crucial part and together they perform amazing feats. In this article, I will try to write about one player on this team: our lungs.

Our lungs serve a very important purpose: to provide the energy our body needs. Our body is in a constant state of activity. Even when we sleep, our heart pumps, our kidneys filter, our liver detoxifies, and our brain computes. No organ really ever shuts off. Maintaining such a machine is no easy task and it requires a constant source of energy. Each cell has its own generator and is more than capable of producing its own energy. However, a few things are needed to keep these generators running, one of which is oxygen. Every cell in the body needs to be constantly served oxygen as their operations begin to get disrupted only within a few minutes of an oxygen shortage. We know that our blood is full of this miracle gas, but how does it get there in the first place? We all know that it gets there through our lungs, however it is not that simple! The air that reaches our lungs cannot be too much or too little, too hot or too cold, or too dry or too wet. It has to be just right! There are impeccable mechanisms in play to perfect the conditions for each and every breath. Now, take a deep breath and keep reading!

Let us begin with how we bring air into our bodies in the first place. When we take a deep breath we actually control our diaphragm, not our lungs. The diaphragm is a membrane-like muscle that separates our abdomen from our chest cavity. It is the muscle that we move downwards when we initiate a breath. The bases of our lungs are stuck onto our diaphragm; so when we move our diaphragm downwards our lungs are also pulled down and increase in volume. This sudden increase in volume generates a negative pressure inside of our lungs causing air from the atmosphere to pour in. In addition, our exhalation occurs on its own without using any energy! Our lungs are very elastic, meaning they “want” to return to their original form similar to that of a rubber band that will snap back to its original position after getting stretched. So, after we stop contracting our diaphragm our lungs shrink back to normal and exhale air in the process. Furthermore, since breathing is semi-automatic we contract our diaphragms without even thinking about it. Most of the time, our brainstem takes care of this process without even bothering our brain. Imagine if we had to willfully inhale and exhale every breath; we wouldn’t have much time or concentration to do anything else! As you can see, this life-or-death mechanism is extremely cost-efficient and uses very little energy and little to no brainpower.

Mouth and nose

Moving onward, the beginning of the journey of air, in relation to our bodies, begins with the mouth and nose. Air is dry and its temperature can vary greatly depending on where we live or which season it is. Our body’s core temperature must be kept at a certain level for it to function optimally. Even if we wear the thickest jacket during winter, the air we breathe finds its way into the center of our body. If it weren’t for our nose and mouth this air would quickly dry up and chill our lungs. Tiny blood vessels on the surface of our nasal mucosa provide the majority of the warmth for the air that enters our nose, and the amount of blood flowing through them is regulated based on the heat of the air we breathe: more blood for colder air and less for warmer. These blood vessels also provide the moisture that is picked up by inhaled air before it enters our lungs. In addition, since the air we exhale is already warm and moist part of that moisture condenses back onto the mucosa before leaving our body. Just like a mirror fogs up when we exhale onto it, our nose and mouth are moistened with every exhalation as well. This simple, yet efficient, system is able to warm and moisturize every single breath we take while making sure no drop is wasted!

Cilia

Now, let us venture a bit deeper into our respiratory system. Unfortunately, the air is not sterile and is full of billions of microorganisms floating around. Therefore, we inevitably take in hundreds of thousands of germs with each breath. Lucky for us, but not so lucky for these germs, our respiratory tract is covered with mucus and lined with thousands of “cilia.” Cilia are specialized tentacle-like extensions found on the cells all throughout our respiratory tract. These tentacles constantly grab germs from the air, just like a dust roller grabs dust from a rug. Not only do they grab germs, they push them back outside of our lower respiratory tract. This pushing motion is performed in the form of synchronous waves by all of these tentacles and brings our germ-filled mucus back to our throat. From there, it is typically swallowed into our stomach where the acid melts it away. If we are sick and have an increased load of mucus, emergency measures like coughing or sneezing assist to evacuate the excess. Only certain bacteria that are resistant to being captured by our cilia make it into our lungs and quite a few need to penetrate our defenses to lead to an infection. Our respiratory system greatly exposes itself to the environment by taking in thousands of liters of air every day, and each breath can be considered an attack wave of bacteria and viruses. Yet, it manages to keep itself sparkling clean and ever-vigilant for the next wave.

Lungs

We finally made it to our lungs! Our respiratory tract was able to draw in the dry, cold, germ-infested air from the atmosphere, warm it, humidify it, clean it, and carry it to our lungs. After this long journey (that lasts a few seconds), it is finally time to extract that valuable oxygen! For this extraction to occur air needs to come in contact with blood vessels. The larger the area of this contact is, the better. Our lungs are designed to maximize this contact by distributing the air to a large surface area. When we take a single breath, which is about 3 liters of air, it is distributed to a surface area of nearly 70 m². This is possible because our trachea (windpipe) branches out many many times to eventually form over 700 million tiny air sacs called alveoli. This masterful dispensation allows us to extract the maximum possible amount of oxygen from each breath and deposit it into our blood. By the way, as if it was known ahead in time that many people would adopt harmful habits like smoking, lungs are made to branch into many more alveoli than we need to live, to prepare for possible damage.

In addition, the amount of air taken in with each breath is also carefully regulated. Our lungs are very flexible and can accommodate twice as much air as the typical three liters we take in with each breath. Our brainstem has a respiratory control center that automatically adjusts the speed and volume of our breathing according to the amount of oxygen we need. Running a marathon? The settings are cranked up to high. Fast asleep? Well, then you don’t need so much, so they are set to low. Our brainstem is tasked to sense our need and nurture us accordingly each and every second, and we do not need to worry about it. Try to imagine if this process was left to our management!

Our lungs also keep a small amount of air that is left inside no matter how hard we try to exhale. This volume of air is called the “residual volume” and it keeps our lungs from collapsing, which would prevent air from entering the lungs. By keeping our lungs even a tiny bit inflated at all times, we drastically reduce the energy required to breathe in. The process is similar to how blowing the first mouthful of air into a balloon tends to be the hardest, and how the continual mouthfuls are easier and easier. Just like a balloon our lungs keep that first mouthful inside at all times so the rest is always easy to fill up. This is why a deflated lung is such a big problem, because it is nearly impossible for a person to re-inflate it by themself. It usually requires assistance from a medical ventilator to get the lung back to normal.

This article only covers a few of the hundreds of mechanisms taking place in our lungs all the time so we can survive. Each of these mechanisms performs many functions, and none of them contradict each other. On the contrary, they all work in perfect unison to provide us with a nice big breath of air. However, there are so many other micro and macro mechanisms at the atomic, cellular, organ, and system levels that constantly carry out millions of functions in our body. They all follow the same principles of efficiency, cleanliness, ease-of-use, unity, and so many more, and all come together as one living, breathing, thinking, and loving human being. Doesn’t that just take your breath away?

As I wheeled Chris off the elevator, he was quieter than the day before, definitely not in the mood for pranks. He didn’t complain—my husband never complained—yet he clearly wasn’t feeling as well.

Two steps forward, one step back: that still qualified as progress.

Rolling through the hospital hallways, following signs for Radiology, we passed several women wearing nasal cannulas and pulling oxygen-cylinder carts. The sight wasn’t remarkable in that the National Institutes of Health runs clinical trials on virtually every ailment—from the common to the rare, the treatable to the terminal. What was surprising was seeing a cohort of patients similarly afflicted, all female and relatively young.

At least they were ambulatory. When Chris’s doctor ordered a scan this morning, his nurse ordered a wheelchair.

During his first few days after readmission, Chris’s condition fell somewhere between depleted and God-awful depending on the degree of his sawtoothing fever. As his treatments—withdrawal of anti-rejection meds included—began to take effect, however, I’d sometimes arrive to find him sitting up in bed, looking comfortable and alert, like a patient soon to be released.

Towards the end of the week, his humor kicked in. After opening a colleague’s get-well card to find a droll reference to their firm’s new management—a buyout of the Rouse Company was but two weeks away—Chris reached for the bedside phone. When a recording advised him to leave a message, he deepened his voice and pretended to be the CEO. “This is John B—,” he said gruffly. “It’s come to my attention that you have a poor attitude about the merger.”

To me, the spoof was proof of recovery. To his friend, who didn’t recognize Chris in disguise, it was cause to call the head of security: Someone was impersonating the chief executive.

Come Friday, Chris remained frail despite signs of improvement. His nurse took me up on my offer to drive him to his appointment.

In the Radiology waiting room, we found two more women on oxygen therapy. After positioning Chris at the end of a row of seats, I took the one beside him. If silence had been a preference en route, now it was a prescription. No one spoke or made eye contact. No one leafed through magazines, for there were none. No one asked the time or glanced at their watch. It was as if chronic illness had instilled a monkish composure. Or torpor.

I was the only non-patient in the room, the Lucky One. As the others sat alone with their thoughts, I wondered what those might be. That three back-to-back tests followed? That with sick leave exhausted, the boss had to be told? That scrambled eggs might stay down? That last time the shadow had shrunk, so this time, well, don’t get too hopeful?

Or were they trying to avoid thinking, instead imagining doing something—anything—more agreeable? Strolling through the hill town of Assisi. Watching a Coen brothers film. Defending an IRS audit.

One of the women on oxygen finally had enough. Silence wasn’t a chance to grab a shot of mindfulness; silence was a looming endgame. By talking, she could ward off quietus. But she needed a partner.

“What brings you here?” she asked me, in a tone so warm and genuine that she might have been a greeter in a small-town visitors bureau.

She looked about forty, or a little older, but it was hard to tell; illness can age a person faster than a Broadway makeup artist. Although her appearance was middling in every respect—from her height and build to her facial features and shade of brown hair—her spirit was striking. Whether the vivacity was innate or cultivated for survival, she offered me what she desperately needed: a deep breath of fresh air.

“My husband needs an X-ray.” I glanced at Chris. He showed no sign of wanting to engage. Under the circumstances, it felt unfriendly, even hurtful, to not offer more. “He had a kidney transplant a few months ago,” I added. “Now he has mono.”

Immediately, another patient stood and left. Perhaps she went to the restroom, or realized she’d left her purse in the car. More likely, mononucleosis spooked her—even though it’s not an airborne infection.

I paused, realizing that my interlocutor might want to leave, too. She didn’t budge. “How about you?” I asked. In deference to patient privacy, I avoided the politeness of trading names.

“I need a double-lung transplant. There’s a group of us here who have the same disease. We get together every year.” She chuckled. “It’s like a reunion!”

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM, is a rare condition that primarily affects women ages twenty to forty. Abnormal cells invade the lungs, as well as lymph nodes and kidneys, leading to reduced pulmonary function and respiratory failure. Treatments, including transplantation, can enhance the quality and duration of life but the disease is incurable. After diagnosis, life expectancy is usually ten to twenty years.[1]

Her disclosure was stunning. Not long ago, I wouldn’t have grasped the challenges she faced, merely to delay the inevitable. No longer.

One day she would lie in an OR, as we recently had. But unlike Chris, whose kidneys were allowed to fail in place, with one of mine nested beneath them, she would have both lungs removed to accommodate her grafts. No matter how damaged and inadequate, those lungs were infusing her blood with oxygen, ridding it of carbon dioxide, maintaining life. Temporarily, she might require a heart-lung machine and a ventilator; ultimately, she’d either breathe though the new air sacs or wouldn’t . . . breathe. If her grafts failed, there was no recourse like dialysis to sustain her.

In short, she would perform a death-defying, net-free launch from a trapeze with no turning back once she let go of the fly bar. Her odds of surviving even five years after transplantation were not much better than one in two.[2]

And that was if she got lucky. With the chronic shortage of deceased-donor organs, lungs might not become available in time. Although living donation was possible, she’d need two Good Samaritans, each providing the lower lobe of a lung.^⁠ They’d face a riskier surgery and longer recovery than kidney donors, which meant friends and relatives were less likely to volunteer.

A radiology assistant called Chris’s name. Together, they disappeared through a door leading to the imaging machines. Moments later, the woman was called, as well.

She’d shared no details about her personal life. She’d only spoken of her illness, which, understandably, had come to define her—from what lung-healthy products she could buy to how she should dress, walk, or perform daily chores, such as unpacking groceries, to minimize exertion. If she seemed compelled to tell me she had LAM, it was not because she sought sympathy; she struck me as someone devoid of self-pity. What she wanted was to be heard. To be heard is to be remembered.

In no time, Chris was back and we were retracing our route through the cold fluorescence of the corridors. As we entered an empty elevator, he said, “You shouldn’t have mentioned I have mono.”

“Why?”

“You saw the woman leave.”

“But she had a right to know. I’d want to know.”

I hadn’t meant to embarrass him. For that I was sorry. But I was as disappointed in him as he was in me. Chris was still “chesting” his health cards, as if this were a hand of bridge, with nothing but his pride at stake.

No doubt a gender difference was at work, a primal XY-chromosome trait, which he’d exhibited many times before: Never show weakness lest a contender seize the advantage—be that your mate, your kill, or your year-end bonus. According to such logic, illness fell between failing and fatal flaw.

A strategy suitable for the savanna or a boardroom, however, is counterproductive in a medical setting where any debility you don’t reveal is one that isn’t treated. The woman I’d just met understood the importance of communication, on every front, regarding her health. I was sorry that my husband didn’t.

And hadn’t.

At the same time, I was grateful. As we made our way back to his room, my mind unspooled a skein of “at leasts.” At least he isn’t suffocating to death. At least he can fall back on dialysis. At least he isn’t alone while undergoing treatment. At least his graft shows no sign of rejection. At least I haven’t had to kiss him goodbye outside an OR and wonder if he would return. At least both of us were able to presume we would return.

Counting blessings was my luxury, not Chris’s. Sick as hell, he was entitled to feel however he felt, unthankful included, with no obligation to parse his advantages relative to others.

Later that night, Chris’s doctor called me at home. He’d had Chris moved to intensive care. He spoke so calmly and matter-of-factly that I didn’t panic. In fact, the thought never occurred to me that every “at least” would soon count for nothing.

[1] National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Health Topics: LAM,” http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/lam (accessed February 1, 2019).

[2] Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, “National Data: Lung Kaplan-Meier Patient Survival Rates For Transplants Performed, 2008 – 2015; Survival by Single vs. Double Lung (Lung Only),” https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/# (accessed February 2, 2019).

Aromatherapy involved inhaling pleasant smells and is a non-medicinal form of treatment for various psychological disorders. A nice smell triggers hormones of happiness (serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin) and helps overcome depression by stimulating the brain. A smell disorder is a malfunction that might even indicate neurological and psychological illnesses. One of the most crucial parts of the brain that is impacted by Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s is the region that specializes in sense of smell. We mostly fail to notice what a blessing it is to be able to smell until we lose it. Otherwise, we are exposed to thousands of different smells every day.

Even minor issues with the nose can cause major inconveniences. Nasal congestion lessens the quality of everyday life: it is hard to sleep with a congested nose; even if you manage to fall sleep, the quality of sleep drops significantly.

The magnificent functions of the nose are as follows:

1. Sense of smell enables us to identify beneficial and harmful things and keep away from harmful ones. The nose helps spread the feeling of peace and happiness produced by nice smells that influence the spirit through the brain (olfaction).
2. The nose helps protect the respiratory passage from diseases by moistening and heating the inhaled air as it is carried to the lungs and cleaning foreign objects from the lungs with the mucus it secretes (inspiration and regulation).
3. It regulates the resonance of sound vibrations formed in the vocal cords, thereby virtually acting as loudspeakers (phonation).

These functions are miraculous, and yet we never contemplate them or their perfect engineering.

The nose: our body’s air-conditioning device

Before inhaled air reaches our lungs, it passes a turbulent current through the nose, which is by all means a perfect air-conditioning device and air filter.

Air that enters the nasal cavities through the nostrils flows through inner nasal canals to the nasopharynx (upper-frontal pharynx). It then flows down the pharynx to the larynx and finally to the lungs. Inside the nostrils are hairs that trap and filter dust, sand, pollen, and little bugs. Cleaned of these particles, air then passes through canals (meatus), which are anatomical engineering wonders in each nostril, and over turbinal structures (conchae) (Figure 1).

The exterior of these scroll-shaped canals in the nasal cavity are lined with a moist layer that secretes the fluid called mucus. Thanks to the magnificent architecture of the air conditioning chimney made up of these canals and folds, particles of dust are retained by this mucosa membrane. On this membrane there are also thin hairs (cilia) which constantly wave to and fro. This movement carries particles of dust not toward the lungs but toward the nostrils, which are then expelled when the person sneezes or blows the nose. If it were not for this precisely built structure, the inhaled air would directly go to the lungs without undergoing cleaning.

The inner working of the nose also heat or cool air, as necessary. The mucosa that lines the inside of the nose is rich in capillaries and mucus secretion. As inhaled air travels through the nose, it both warms up by absorbing heat from the blood in the mucosa veins and gains moisture by absorbing it from the mucosa. For example, when a person inhales through air from a room where the temperature is 20-22°C (68-71°F), the air heats up to 32-35°C (89-95°F) and becomes 95-98% moist by the time it reaches the larynx. If the same person breathes in through the mouth in the same room, the inhaled air can warm only up to 28–30°C (82-86°F) and reach a moisture point of 80-85%.

Without the nose, air would not be heated, moistened, and purified. The dusty, dirty, or cold air we inhale would directly go to the lungs, which would cause frequent illnesses in them and the upper respiratory tract.

How do we smell?

The nose is created with the ability to distinguish about ten thousand different smells. Its magnificent architecture is a perfect means of transport that facilitates the sense of smell in our brain, which is the real center of smell in our body. As this sense of smell function in our body, we take pleasure out of it in our soul.

The “smell molecules” communicated through the air first reach the receptors in the “olfactory epithelium” in the upper region of the nose that is equipped with a multitude of nerve cells. The stimulus that is converted into an electrical signal in this epithelium is conveyed to the smell center in the brain through olfactory nerves (Figure 2). All this process the smell molecules go through in the nose and the brain interact and impact with our soul in such a subtle way that we take delight and even be healed.

The sense of smell in certain animals (especially in dogs, moths, and some fish species) is hundreds of times more sensitive than in humans. For these animals, it is crucial for finding food and their survival.

The inability to perceive smells, or “smell blindness” (also called “anomia” in medicine), can be temporary or permanent depending on the underlying factor. Anomia is usually temporary in cases of the flu, cold, bad sinus congestion, or allergies. A decrease in olfactory sensitivity (hyposmia) can also be caused by nasal congestion, enlarged adenoids, nasal polyps, nasal deviations, or concha bullosa, which prevent air currents from reaching the olfactory region. The sense of smell usually recovers when these anatomical abnormalities are corrected; only in cases when duration of sinusitis is prolonged, namely when it becomes chronic, does loss of smell become permanent.

The impact of the nose on our voice quality

We can feel the effect of our nose on our voice quality, such as when the voice changes due to congestion or closing the nostrils with our fingers. Experienced physicians can immediately diagnose nasal congestion from the way a patient talks. Life is indeed an ordeal for people who cannot breathe easily through their noses.

Air cleared of germs

Nasal mucus is a slightly acidic secretion that carries an antibody called “immune globulin A” (IgA). Its slight acidity as well as the antibody in it allows the mucus to eliminate various germs, and the respiratory tracts are thus protected against perilous sources of illness.

The tiny sweeping hairs that line the interior of the nose can break down or stop working altogether because of certain germs, particularly viruses that cause the flu, filthy and dry air, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and cigarette smoke. Because nasal cleaning is disrupted, disease-inducing microorganisms can easily cause upper respiratory tract inflammation and other serious infections.

 The nose’s role in taste

Smell is crucial for a better perception of taste. Indeed, when there is a problem with the function of smell, a person’s sense of taste suffers, too. Nice smells have a favorable impact on the sense of smell. If we could not detect the bad smell of a rotten, harmful food item, we would not be able to stop ourselves from eating it and harming our body.

The importance of smell is highlighted in religious traditions. It is reported that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, mentioned putting on pleasant perfumes among other things that were the traditions of the messengers of God. Clippings from mush, camphor, amber or aloeswood were also burnt in the Prophet’s home for their pleasant scents.

Humans rarely consider their sense of smell. In fact, we tend to take it for granted. But through the nose’s perfect design, we are to smell and taste so much of the world around us, which is surely an everyday miracle.

Figure 1: The magnificent design of the anatomy of the nose

Figure 2: The awe-inspiring structure of the olfactory region

We live in a magnificent world inhabited by approximately 8,700,000 species. This number includes only general species, not subspecies. Scientists discover around 2,500 new species every year, and the number is soon estimated to reach 10 million.

All living organisms are blessed with unique bodies, systems, and organs, defense and protection mechanisms to survive and protect themselves, and special features to help them forage for food.

When people get ill due to environmental effects or malnutrition they usually consult a doctor. They try to find a cure by using the medicine prescribed by doctors. However, animals living in the wild don’t have this option. When animals living in nature or on the street get ill what can they do if nobody takes them to a vet? How do millions of species get well and find cures for their ailments?

You might think that animals who become sick in the wild must simply live with their symptoms, but this is not the case. In fact, we have given a clue at the introduction: each organism is equipped with features to lead a self-sustaining life. Either their bodily functions perfectly enable them to live in their habitat or their unique metabolisms protect them from harmful external factors. Animals also can use some plants whose health benefits have only recently been discovered by humans.

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest for herbal products such as walnut leaf, cherry stalk tangerine rind, grenadine red, and celery root to find cure for diseases.

Animals perform amazing tasks with mind-blowing adroitness as if each were an expert chemist. Wondrous mechanisms are activated when a need arises to protect animals from harm.

Some plants with healing properties:

Lupine, quassia, bitter wood, hemlock, fishberry, roselle, henbane, giant fennel root, pistachio, resin, pine turpentine, mistletoe, cumin, hibiscus, hibiscus flower, alkanet, flos elaeagni, camphor, cardamom, St John’s wort, French lavender, Flaxseed, linseed oil, henna tree, quillaia, wall germander, cranberry, aspand, daffodil, water lily, common balm and eucalyptus.

Animals have been consuming and finding cures in these plants since the dawn of time. They are also equipped with many surviving capabilities under extremely severe conditions. Here are a few examples:

Antibiotics expert

With a height of up to five meters, the giraffe is the tallest land animal. Scientists who investigated the scent emitted by the giraffe found 11 separate chemical substances in its fur. The chemicals turned out to have antibiotic properties, having an increased efficiency when combined. Only after a series of experiments can these incredibly complex chemicals be extracted in the laboratory. The giraffe has been using these chemicals to prevent fungi and bacteria, repel ticks, and stop the growth of germs. Where did these tall creatures study chemistry to know how to produce antibiotics such as indole?

The stubborn doctor

The bezoar ibex is a type of mountain goat native to Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan and Pakistan. It has a motley coat of black, brown, grey, reddish-gold, and white. Both the male and female have horns and a goatee. The name means “cure” in Persian, and the locals must have noticed its habit of eating spurge whenever bitten by a snake. Scientists have identified the substance called euphorbone in the spurge plant. Amazingly, an analysis of this substance reveals that certain chemical reactions triggered by euphorbone neutralize the effects of venom. The poisoned creature looks for splurge from among the vegetation, self-medicates, and treats itself free of charge. It sure is no wonder when one realizes that the goat, the snake, and the plant are all created by the same hand.

The master of diving

Divers who ascend too quickly to the surface run the high risk of experiencing the bends, an intense pain that is likely to kill because of the gasses coming out of the bloodstream. But how do billions of creatures that lack oxygen tubes lead their entire lives in the sea without experiencing the bends?

Dolphins and whales, for example, descend to depths humans can’t reach on their own and then rise like it is no big deal. Human lungs cannot endure the pressure under such depths, but the bronchi and air sacs in the lungs of dolphins, however, are placed inside a protective cover of special cartilage. To avoid suffering the bends, dolphins release all the air in their lungs before diving deep. But how then do they breathe? The answer is hidden in their muscles, or rather in the myoglobin protein that is available in much higher amounts than in humans. These proteins have the ability to hold in high amounts of oxygen molecules. The much needed oxygen is provided from this source, enabling dolphins and whales to dive as deep as possible.

Poison for one, food for another

The macaw is an inhabitant of American tropical regions with an average wing span of 80 cm. It is known to be a tough creature that lives as long as 60 years. The macaw feeds on plants that produce a chemical called strychnine (C₂₁H₂₂N₂O₂), a powerful poison intended to ward off enemies. How can a substance that kills some living things nourish others? Immediately after eating the nutritious but poisonous seeds, the macaw flies to the rocky cliffs in a certain area. When they get there, they gnaw at and swallow some clay-based rock pieces. The fact that the bird ingests clay without any apparent reason is quite an interesting behavior. The reason was revealed only after research into the origins of the behavior. It turns out that the rocks that have clay in them include a substance called kaolinite (Al₂O₃.2SiO₂.2H₂O) that can absorb the poison in the seeds. The macaw can digest the normally poisonous seeds thanks to this absorption and live on with its life safely. There is no way the macaw can know about the substances present in the clay, so how does it know to eat the clay that can eliminate toxins?

The antifreeze expert

The arctic beetle survives against the inhospitable cold of the arctic thanks to a type of alcohol produced in its body that works as antifreeze. The glycerol (C₃H₈O₃), also called glycerin, produced by the insect prevents the blood and other fluid molecules from freezing and thus ice crystals from killing the cells and destroying cellular bonds. Furthermore, the shorter the days and the colder the weather, the more resistant the bodily mechanisms of the arctic beetle become. As the temperature drops, the volume of water in their body is reduced and antifreeze substances such as glycerol and sorbitol are produced in greater amounts. Research on this amazing creature has revealed that it can survive in temperatures as low as -87 degrees Celsius due to glycerol. It is beyond reason to expect an insect to know how to produce an organic compound with the complex formula of C₃H₈O₃ and thus protect itself from extreme cold.

The radiation expert

Scientists analyzed a surviving scorpion after an atomic bomb test, yet they couldn’t find a satisfying answer to how this animal survived the radiation shower that exterminated all other living organisms. Note that scorpions which came into existence millions of years ago are basically living fossils. Thanks to the protective system they are blessed with, in the past they have survived more powerful solar explosions and harmful radiation from outer space and the sun, and handed down these features to future generations.

The creature that never feels cold

The tardigrade, or water bear, is one of the most resistant organisms in nature.

The size of a pinhead, these microorganisms have pin-shaped hoses in their mouth.  These microorganisms have a brain, a pair of eyes, and a digestion system, but they do not have a heart or lungs.  600 different subspecies of the animal have been discovered so far. They feed mostly on moss and lichens and can survive in any environment including space.

They have been observed to survive a temperature of 120 ⁰C and a pressure of 1000 atm. In dry environments they contract, causing the water in their tissues to evaporate. During this process, the oxygen consumption of the tardigrade virtually stops. The wind carries the dried tardigrades to other places and when they find a suitable environment (wet moss or humid places) they can come back to life again.

According to Ingemar Jönsson from Kristianstadt University in Sweden who participated in studies on this organism, it is a mystery how these animals survive even when they are subjected to conditions in outer space.

Animals perform amazing tasks with mind-blowing adroitness as if each were an expert chemist. Wondrous mechanisms are activated when a need arises to protect animals from harm. It is wondrous to see how animals can carry out these complex chemical procedures as if they have been instructed at birth.

By examining the heart of a crocodile, researchers have discovered how it is that an air-breathing land animal can manage to glide through murky waters for several hours without the need to surface.

There is that one scene in documentaries that we often come across on television: Crocodiles gliding gracefully inside the water, waiting for hours for the perfect time to pounce and snatch their prey from their necks and into the water. But how do these animals manage to stay underwater for almost two hours without surfacing for air even though they, just like human beings and other land animals, live on pulmonary respiration and are in need of the free oxygen in the air?

A member of the reptiles class, crocodiles do not have gill nor can they have skin respiration since their skin is covered with a thick and airtight keratin armor. Just as every living organism are provided with a suitable anatomic and physiological character for their survival, crocodiles are also granted with a system that facilitates their long stay in the water.

Crocodiles are bestowed with a special heart anatomy different to other reptiles like lizards, tortoises, and snakes. The hearts of other reptiles are designed to contain three sections including two atriums and one ventricle. The right atrium, which collects the returned oxygen-deprived (deoxygenated) blood and the left atrium which collects the oxygen-rich (oxygenated) blood retrieved from pulmonary arteries of the lung, transports the blood to one common ventricle. Because there is only one ventricle to receive and combine oxygenated and deoxygenated blood, a mixture of less oxygenated blood is pumped to their body. Depending on outside temperature, the body temperature of a reptile increases or decreases. Their metabolism slows down, almost to a halt, while their body temperature decreases when outside temperature drops near or beyond freezing conditions. Hibernation begins as a result. Frogs and reptiles stop hibernating as soon as their body temperature increases depending on the outside temperature when the weather gets warm. These organisms are called cold blooded animals (with variable body temperatures) because of this feature.

The heart of a crocodile is different to other reptiles in that it has four chambers just like birds and mammals. Blood is sent to the lungs for gas exchange from the right, and from the left ventricle it is pumped to the body. Thus the two types of blood do not mix in the heart. However, what is interesting is that blood is mixed as soon as it leaves the heart via a valve (foramen of panizza) placed in between the right and left aorta.

What could be the purpose of blood, which does not normally mix in the heart, mixing through the medium of a hole? Does this opening in between two aortas indicate a flaw? It is understood after some research that this hole in fact is not a flaw or an anomaly; on the contrary, it is a necessity for a metabolism suited perfectly to the lifestyle of the crocodile.

Warm blooded vertebrates like birds and mammals with a four chamber heart have faster metabolic speeds and higher blood pressures. For these organisms can only supply the energy they consume during their daily activities via such a fast metabolism and a high level of oxygen provided with oxygenated blood.

If the metabolism of a crocodile was fast like mammals all throughout the year, it would have to continuously be nourished and use oxygen. Furthermore, because crocodiles do not have much predators, they could have also lead to the extinctions of some species by overpopulating if they featured a faster metabolism. The low ratio of heart-body mass in crocodiles (0.15%) compared to mammals and birds (0.40%-0.50%) cause the movements of crocodiles to be relatively slower. The Almighty, who creates everything with his wisdom, lowers the blood oxygen ratio and the metabolic speed of crocodiles by creating a valve that combines the two aortas. Thus eliminating the possibility of crocodile overpopulation.

Crocodiles have two aortic arches whereas mammals only have a left, and birds have one right aortic arch. The left aortic arch, despite some contact with the returned blood via foramen of panizza, delivers the oxygenated blood towards intestines, stomach, spleen and the liver after receiving it from the left ventricle of the heart. This is because the digestive system of a crocodile requires oxygen-rich blood. Deoxygenated blood while exiting the right ventricle goes towards the pulmonary arteries of the lung for exchange and mixes with oxygenated blood coming from the right aorta, feeding other organs that are instrumental for its slow metabolism.

Under the water, separated oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood mixes when exiting the heart and switches route, thus making oxygenated blood vessels start to carry oxygen poor blood. So what is the reason behind this switch in the direction of the bloodstream under the water? See at this point, the extraordinary features of the crocodile blood circulation system kick in. The two anatomical features belonging only to only crocodile hearts is what enables them to stay under water without breathing. Because of little or no lung use under the water, a big portion of the blood stream is diverted away from lungs; therefore oxygen poor blood is pumped back to the body. As one feature of the two, foramen of panizza restricts (does not close) upon signals coming from nostril sensors under the water but expands and remains open on land. The two aortic arches connects with each other via foramen of panizza as soon as they leave the heart but merge completely in the lower parts of the body away from the heart (anastomosis).

The second feature stems from a serrated valve. Refilling of pumped blood is stopped via a passive, thin leaf-shaped valve which is located at the tip of the pulmonary artery exiting the right ventricle. Thus, one-way direction of blood flow in the heart is maintained. These valves, which carry nodules made of connective tissue, constrict during the dive and blood flow to the lungs is reduced greatly. Therefore blood rejoins the systemic circulation from the right aortic arch.

The blood circulation of crocodiles is similar to birds, mammals, and humans while they are active on land. Oxygen-deprived blood is sent to lungs for gas exchange. The only difference is the turning of the right aorta to the left and the left aorta to the right. Oxygen rich blood not only flows through the left aorta but also through the right aorta via foramen of the panizza as well causing distribution via two channels into the body. However, the foramen of the panizza being open is not sufficient for these two channels to be used. At the same time, the pressure of the blood within the left ventricle needs to be higher as well. This way, high pressure oxygenated blood flows into the right aorta through the opening of the panizza, applying pressure to the valve at the tip of the right aorta to close it in order to prevent the mixing of the oxygen-poor blood into this route. As a result, oxygenated blood gets distributed quickly by each aortic arch without mixing with the used blood. Thus, oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood follows the following route on land

* Deoxygenated blood: Body – superior and inferior pulmonary veins – right atrium – right ventricle – lung pulmonary artery – lungs.

* Oxygenated blood: Lung pulmonary vein – left atrium – left ventricle – right aorta and left aorta via panizza valve (both aortas are active) and body.

The opening of the panizza narrows with the help of signals coming from the nostrils when crocodiles submerge. At the same time serrated valves at the tip of pulmonary artery that transports the blood to the lungs also constrict. While this serrated valve is at work, a majority of the blood returning from the body is not sent to the lungs because they are not functioning at the time. This serrated valve also increases the pressure of the right ventricle. This pressure, along with elevated resistance in pulmonary circulation and lowered pressure of systemic circulation, leads to the opening of normal valves at the tip of the left aorta. In the end, the left aorta which normally carries oxygenated blood on land starts carrying oxygen deprived blood, and there is a route switch.

The most beneficial part of this switch is to re-route the deprived blood back to the body via a different route, that is, the left aorta. This by-passes the lungs and prevents time loss. Despite the fact that blood of the left aorta mixes with the oxygenated blood of the right aorta to some degree via the panizza valve, the main function of this opening while submerged is to supply blood flow to the arteries feeding the heart and brain through the transfer of some poor blood from the left aorta into the right aorta; this way vital organs are not left without blood.

Blood returning from the body is not sent to the lungs for gas exchange when crocodiles are under the water. However, existing oxygen in the blood can be delivered to the tissues quickly by a route switch. The amount of bicarbonate ions that is important in the transport of CO2 in the blood increases when oxygen pressure in the tissues drop. Anaerobic respiration of tissues increases. This leads to an increase in lactic acid levels and reduces pH. Eventually, it facilitates the release of oxygen carried by hemoglobin. In the end, oxygen that is bonded with hemoglobin is used more efficiently. In the meantime, the body temperature of a crocodile submerged under water decreases and slows down its metabolism, reducing the need for oxygen. Oxygen stored in the blood can be sufficient up to two hours under the water. However when these reserves are consumed, crocodiles have to resurface to breathe even though it may cost a prey to escape.

Crocodiles can live on land and in the water and adapt to their environments with ease and efficiency thanks to the ponderous working of their mechanisms under water, the change in blood circulation, slow blood flow, reduced body temperature and metabolic speed bestowed upon them. Just like humans in sleep, crocodiles can remain submerged for long periods (4-6 minutes in usual dives; up to 2 hours when pressed) with this perfect system granted to them. Crocodiles use these mechanisms not only when under water, but also while resting or for periods after heavy feeding.

We have to breathe in order to live. The oxygen, which is essential for us, is cleansed and its heat and moisture are regulated as it passes turbulently down the narrow channels of the nose. Thus, the air we breathe is made ready for service to the alveolus in the lungs. In this way, approximately fifteen square meters of air, which is inhaled with 23,000 breaths daily, is processed in the nose.

The area behind the nostrils has been equipped with an acclimating system that is astonishingly sensitive and which scientists have difficulty explaining. This system not only regulates the heat and moisture of air, but at the same time, it possesses a mechanism that perceives harmful molecules in the contents of the air and gives an alarm. By stimulating the nose’s mucosa, this alarm mechanism shows activity by evacuating with the speed of a hurricane the air in the lungs via the nose and mouth-this is what we call sneezing. As a result of sneezing, the harmful matter that entered the body with the inhaled air is expelled from the body.

How and why do we sneeze?

It is a Divine blessing that we do not become ill frequently in spite of the millions of microorganisms that enter our body everyday mainly through the air we breathe. The microbes that enter our noses with the air we breathe are caught together with dust by tiny hairs here called cilia. Those that escape here are asked for a password by the anti-bacterial mucus secretion emitted by the epithelium tissues in our noses. In order for smells to be perceived by the nerve cells of molecules, the thickness of mucus must be around .06 mm. If the mucus layer were thicker, our sense of smell would be decreased, and if it were thinner, the defense system would weaken and cilia would be easily harmed. In addition, with its content and density, this secretion is responsible for filtering foreign particles in the air and for moisturizing the air to make it suitable. Because it is dangerous for things to pass this point, the body’s alarm that we call sneezing kicks in and microbes are expelled in this way. Sneezing is one of the most important defense mechanisms of the upper respiratory system. When the thresholds of the special nerve cells in the nose are stimulated, the signals reach the brain and the sneezing reflex kicks in. The mucus tissues are stimulated, mucus is secreted and the capillaries widen. Meanwhile an itching or tingling sensation is felt in the nose. As a result of the warning coming from the brain to the head, neck and stomach muscles, air is closed into the area where the vocal chords are and pressure is greatly increased in the lungs. Later, while the air is suddenly and loudly forced out, the foreign matter in the nose and respiratory path are thrown out. Because the nerves responsible for sneezing are also connected to the eyes, tears are usually secreted during sneezing and at this time the eyes involuntarily close.

In addition to the discomforts of the flu, the common cold, and bronchitis causing sneezing, external factors like nose polyps, flying pollen, dust, perfume, animal hairs and even suddenly looking at the light can also cause it. Because some people are sensitive to certain factors, they can be affected faster and they will sneeze. Some are more amenable to sneezing during certain periods. For example, it has been determined that pregnant women are more inclined to sneeze due to the hormonal change they are experiencing. It has also been established that the members of some families sneeze consecutively in certain numbers (3-5 times); this situation supports the idea that sneezing attacks can be hereditary. It is known that men sneeze more than women and that white people sneeze more than black people. One out of five people sneeze when they look at a bright light while walking in the dark. Due to the sudden reflection of light, the pupil of the eye contracts and the emission of tears increase. This emission reaches the upper division of the nose cavity by means of the tear ducts and, stimulating the mucus tissue in the nose, it triggers sneezing. In illnesses such as the common cold, the mucus in the nose quickly triggers sneezing because it is more sensitive.

Beware of cluster bombs

Sneezing is one of the rare moments when the body desires a situation different from its normal functioning. Sneezing and coughing lead to a movement of air strong enough to break the mucus bond, and as a result, droplets are formed. It has been established that the speed of air and the particles in it while being expelled from the mouth at this time is close to 100 miles per hour. Those who carry the viruses of illnesses like the flu scatter about close to one hundred million microorganisms during sneezing-like a cluster bomb. From 2,500–5,000 droplet seeds can remain in the air for hours in the cloudlet that has been formed. As the diameter of the droplet seeds decreases, their period of staying in the air increases. The diameter of droplet seeds that remain in the air for a long time and cause the spread of illnesses is between one and five microns.

Rather than food and drink, tuberculosis spreads by deep respiratory movements like sneezing and coughing via droplets loaded with bacillus. Dispersing in the air into smaller particles, the droplets are inhaled by healthy people by means of the respiratory path.

If necessary precautions are not taken in regard to a viral infection, it can spread throughout the world in one month, because the droplets carrying the virus can travel forty meters when you sneeze, six meters when you cough, and two meters when you talk. For this reason, illnesses like the flu which spread with droplets are frequently seen during the winter. For one person sneezing several times in places where there are crowds of people means that the virus spreads to hundreds of people within a few minutes.

Is sneezing beneficial?

The movement of cilia in the upper respiratory path is very important in regard to the health of the lungs. They hold the harmful matter coming with the air, trigger the sneezing reflex, and together with mucus, prevent them from entering the lungs, thus performing a very important protective duty. The expulsion from the body of matter that is probably harmful together with the air in the lungs is a blessing that provides a person with a great benefit. Consequently, formerly natural powders like black pepper known as snuff were breathed into the nose in order to sneeze. While sneezing, the brain and cardiovascular veins expand and tear and sinus ducts open; thus, the dead air we normally cannot exhale is forced from our lungs.

When sneezing, a high amount of pressure is generated in the body, especially in the stomach area and brain. Due to this pressure, a lot of blood goes to the cardiovascular veins, and in fact, serious situations like fainting can occur during sneezing attacks. However, sneezing is beneficial to a healthy heart. Fully closing the mouth and holding the breath while sneezing can bring about bursting and tearing in the lungs. The ribs can even break with an intense and unbalanced sneeze. If a person tries to stifle the sneeze after the sneeze reflex has occurred by closing his mouth and nose, he can harm the brain and bring on paralysis or when the pressure increases in the capillaries in the brain, bleeding can occur. In this situation, people, especially those who have undergone an operation, can be seriously harmed. In addition, veins in the eyes can expand and rupture. When sneezing is triggered, a person should relax and not prevent the sneeze.

In addition to providing protection against harmful things that have entered the respiratory system, sneezing is a reflex that is a means for relaxation, relief and invigoration of the body. If this reflex had not been put in the body, it would be difficult to escape many harmful things that would give discomfort. During sneezing, the rest period after diastole of the heart increases. This is probably the reason why we say, “Bless you” when someone sneezes. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “One of the six rights of a believer over another is to make a prayer when he or she sneezes,” and “One of the times when prayer is accepted is at the moment of sneezing.” It was related that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “covered his face with his hands or a cloth when he sneezed and he lowered his voice.”

We are being reminded of the value of our health which God bestows upon us anew each time we sneeze. Sneezing is a cloud of mercy not only for us, but also for those who witness this moment with prayer and with whom we share feelings of gratitude.

Adem Arikanli is a freelance writer from Turkey with an interest in health and biology.

I have been positioned in the center of your face so masterfully and delicately that even my slightest displacement would cause your face to become disfigured immediately. You would lose your good looks if I were wounded or spoiled. It seems to me that after creating your whole face and body, God placed me very accurately so that I can be in perfect harmony with them, and even with your soul. We noses appear in countless shapes-slender, long, narrow, wide, flat, Roman (convex), sharp and stubby noses. In the past, some wise men used to comment on people’s personality by looking at the posture and shape of their faces and bodies. The different shapes of noses would give them ideas about the intelligence and the will power of each person. It is true that there is a relationship between my shape and your personality. However, it would be wrong for someone to claim to know all about you just by looking at my shape, since your other organs affect one another too; some can neutralize the effects of others. Moreover, discipline and education can change many of the characteristics of a person. So, do not judge people just by looking at their nose.

Anyway, since these are subjective matters, they are not our focus now. What I would like to tell you about is the objective truth about the delicate art and meaning in my creation. My Creator has designed me as a projecting organ on the head-and not only on your face, but also all vertebrate animals, especially mammals. I am the organ that is used most by animals to hunt for food, to feed, and to look for their young or their mate. I am placed at the front of your body, and like a detector I sensitively recognize smells. When animals find something new, they first poke me into it to understand what it is. That is why the idiom “to poke your nose into something” is used commonly among humans, meaning to interfere with something that does not concern one. Most animals use the sense of smell more than humans do. Since they do not possess the intelligence and consciousness of humans, they acquire some of the necessary knowledge to survive through their sense of smell. However, humans are given intelligence and consciousness, and so they are not supposed to “poke their nose” into everything. Of course, that does not mean that I am useless. On the contrary, I have many functions and a complex and meaningful structure.

In the middle of your face is my external component, which is shaped like a pyramid. Because it is made of cartilage, this part is quite flexible. My tip is beaked and there are plates on my two sides. The cartilage in my tip is connected to a bone in my upper part between your eye sockets. This bone, called the nasal bone, is a part of the main bone of the forehead. A cartilaginous bridge that is lined in the middle divides my nasal cavity into two nostrils which lead to the outside. The hard palate at my base also makes up the roof of your mouth. The soft palate that is behind this extends to the nasal portion of the throat (nasopharynx). During the act of swallowing, it rises and closes off the upper pharynx to prevent food and saliva from escaping from your throat and being forced up into my back. If, when eating, you feel tickling in your throat and cough, this palate cannot close off, and the food can lodge in me and come out of my nostrils. Another benefit of this system can be seen in patients and those who are about to have surgery, when their pharynx is closed off. In such situations, patients are provided with food, liquids and air via a tube which runs through me.

The journey of the air you breathe, which you have to do in order to survive, starts with me and continues as far as your lungs. The air that enters through my nostrils is not always clean and of good enough quality to enter your lungs. If low-quality air reaches your lungs, you will get cold, infected, and sick. To protect you from that, our All-knowing God created everything carefully, taking measures to ensure your well being. He has placed air-filtering hairs at the front part of my cavity, and He has covered the inner surface of my rear with a mucous membrane (mucosa) that has a fluid form. The structure of my cavity is quite complex. Along with my two lateral walls, there are three horizontal bone shelves called the concha (or the turbinate), comprising the inferior, the middle and the superior turbinates. These narrow, shell-like structures increase the surface area of my cavity and thus help to warm and humidify the air easily before it reaches the lungs. That is, the air you inhale does not pass to your lungs until it is conditioned and filtered by me. This process is initiated by the hair in my front part, which prevents the entry of dust particles. Then, the air passes through the curled aperture formed by the concha. The concha is covered by a sticky mucous membrane which produces a secretion. This slippery secretion, along with the cilia, traps smaller foreign particles such as the dust of coal, soot, bacteria or pollen. In addition to that, since the pressure inside me is lower than the pressure outside, I can easily warm and humidify the air that passes through me.

The sides and the surface of my superior concha are lined with a very special epithelium which has a role in the sense of smell. The smell receptors, which are the cilia cells, and other supporting cells constitute the olfactory epithelium for smell. Everything that releases molecules into the air has a smell of its own. Perception of a smell occurs in the brain as a result of a very complex chain of reactions. Indeed, I have no idea about how this process happens but people talk about several theories. Since the vibration and the structure of every molecule which reaches me through the air currents differ from every other, each molecule causes different chemical reactions and electrical impulses. The molecules that come through the air dissolve in the moisture which lies on my epithelium and they chemically stimulate the cells for smell. If my mucosa dries out and loses all its moisture in dry air, it becomes more difficult for the molecules to dissolve and for you to breathe. My sense of smell also weakens or gets lost in the event of a lack of the element of zinc, which normally exists in small amounts in your body.

There is a reason why the color, taste and smell of garlic are different than that of a rose or jasmine flower: it is because each creature is created out of different compounds, as if in a laboratory of its own. Therefore, the molecules that spread into the air from those different compounds and the impact they cause will naturally be different. Indeed, what is interesting here is the wonderful system which perceives each of the molecules of so many different compositions as a different smell, categorizes it, and stores its information in memory. Whenever I experience a new smell, by its composition and vibrations, I instantly figure out its difference from other smells. Then, I help to store it in the brain’s memory related to the smell so that I can recognize that smell if I come across it again. All of those functions in their complexity remain an enigma which is still being studied by physiologists of smell. Another wonderful attribute of my smell-receptor cells is the fact that they sense the smell very strongly at first and after a while, they are not as strongly stimulated as before, resulting in a temporary paralysis of those cells. Thus, a situation called “habituation” occurs, and this is an indication of God’s mercy. If God had not created this “fading” of constantly existing smells, the sewage, garbage, tannery or butchery workers would not be able to do their work.

The mucosa that lines my cavity can easily become swollen with blood and tissue liquids. During viral or bacterial infection, or an allergy like hay fever, my cavity might become blocked completely, which makes it hard for you to breathe. Infection of your upper respiratory tract causes me to run and get blocked. You know how stagnant water gets smelly and swampy, whereas running water does not hold dirt. Similarly, when I get blocked, bacteria reproduce very fast and get transmitted to other respiratory organs. That is why, when you catch cold, you must do your best to prevent my getting blocked. Hot, aromatic or spiced teas might help you, but the best thing is to pour a weak solution of saline (salt water) into your nostrils, which will clear the congestion. As for nasal drops, do not use them unless you have to, since they will cause addiction and other side effects.

Your skull also contains four major pairs of air-filled cavities (sinuses) at my sides behind your cheeks and above me behind the forehead. In the event of infection of your sinuses, inflammation of your tonsils, or the growth of polyps, my discharge becomes constant and turns into flu or chronic rhinitis. Besides that, if I bleed it may be an important first symptom of many illnesses. Many conditions, including high blood pressure and several illnesses with fever cause bleeding inside me. Indeed, bleeding from me in patients with high blood pressure can be seen as a warning and protection against serious conditions. If, because of high blood pressure, my blood vessel did not split, bleed and decrease the pressure, a vessel in your brain would split, which would result in a much worse scenario.

Peter, from now on, do not ever forget to give thanks to God when you smell a flower or anything else with a beautiful scent. Inhale the air deeply with the pleasant impression the scent leaves on your soul. Our Lord God Almighty, who has given you the air as a blessing, bestowed you with me as a filter to clean the harmful particles from that air. If He had not done so, your lungs would fill with soot and dust and they would fail eventually. You would not be able to sense the taste of food because the experience of flavor cannot be achieved by the taste buds alone. It is me that helps them to do that. For instance, a person whose olfactory epithelium has been ruined cannot tell whether it is an apple or a radish that he or she is eating. If you cannot sense the odor of the foods you eat, you will not be able to get their flavor, either.

Dear Peter, I think I have described myself to you sufficiently. I even support your spectacles for you! I have given you brief information without too much detail about my microscopic intricacies. While even one hair inside me cannot be placed by itself, do you think it is possible for me to have formed myself when I am equipped with thousands of intricate elements, each with a reason? Which sculptor, do you think, can make the nose of a sculpture, without a hammer and chisel in his hands and without a model and will in his mind? Other than the belief in God, there is no way of explaining my creation, which is a thousand times more splendid than the making of the nose of a sculpture. So, whenever you wash your face and look into the mirror, examine me carefully again and remember our God Almighty who created us out of nothing.

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

I am placed inside your chest cavity as two air sacks-or bellows-surrounded by your muscles. I took my first breath right after birth and I still keep working non-stop. Even while you are sleeping, I fulfill my function with the automatic command I receive from the respiratory center at the back of your brain. My close friend Heart started working even before me while you were in the womb. I was resting then; actually I hadn’t even formed fully. As all your needs like food and oxygen were met in the body of your mother-whose heart you occasionally break-I didn’t have to make extra effort to get air, being filled and emptied. Even if I had attempted to do so, I would have had no chance of succeeding; since you were contained in the amniotic fluid, an attempt to breathe could have caused you to drown.

The first breath I take after birth is critical and rather difficult, since the windpipe is still much narrower than normal. On the other hand, the number of my alveoli where oxygen exchange with the capillaries is realized is so high in relation to body size that it balances the situation. When I make my first move and fill with air, I put pressure on the arteries and veins. Then the vessel directly connecting my artery to my mother’s aorta is dismissed, the curtain between the valves is closed and the blood circulations are separated. If this curtain is not properly closed and a gap remains in between, the oxygen-rich blood and the used-up blood mix and result in the disease known as cyanosis-or “blue baby” syndrome. As these two kinds of blood mix, the tissues are not supplied with sufficient oxygen and the white parts of the skin and eyes assume a bluish appearance.

Turning blue-purple due to lack of oxygen in the tissues is the same for smokers. Cigarettes-my archenemy-contain hundreds of toxic substances, such as carbon monoxide, which combine with the hemoglobin in blood and prevent oxygen transfer. Therefore, the lips of smokers turn slightly purple. You need to be careful with the air you inhale. The windpipe which brings air into me is covered with a ciliated epithelial tissue which catches the dust brought along and sweeps it outside. While you are asleep, the vibrating cilia of this sweeper work throughout the night and in the morning you get rid of the outcome of their propulsion by clearing your throat. However, every draw of a smoker kills 800–1,000 of our ciliated epithelial cells. After some time, they become unable to sweep the toxins (carbon, sulfur, lead, etc) inhaled with the air. I can’t stand it anymore! The increased air pollution is already putting enough strain on us… this habit is just too much for a lung to handle! It is just… an open invitation for cancer! Sorry, Peter, I didn’t mean to be rude. I appreciate that you don’t smoke, but I wish those who do would realize how splendid a mechanism they are destroying.

Now let me tell you about what a work of art I am. As you also know, art in a structure becomes more meaningful with functionality. As is the case with my other friends with which I work in your body, I am perfectly made to fulfill my duty. In other words, never mind forming an organ like me as a consequence of molecules and cells accidentally coming together, even a single protein molecule in my structure does not come to existence through unconscious causes.

With every breath you take, the pressure of the oxygen within the air inhaled rises, so it passes through my membranes by diffusion and into the adjacent capillaries; there it combines with hemoglobin molecules. At the same time, the carbon dioxide passes through the same membranes into me, and I dispose of it. Both of these are easier said than done! You breathe 13–14 times a minute and the whole thing is repeated over and over. As I keep expanding and contracting during breathing, which you are unaware of most of the time, first of all I need to be very flexible. Together with this flexibility, my most important quality is having the largest possible surface area within the smallest volume. My surface area of around 100m2 (as large as a tennis court) is made to fit into your chest cavity in the form of thin membranes so that my large surface allows gas diffusion. These membranes need to be kept wet; a special fluid is secreted as a precaution and respiration is realized smoothly. Without this fluid, my membranes would just stick together, unable to carry out their duty.

You can compare the course of the air inhaled to that of a car passing from a highway onto increasingly smaller roads and in the end reaching a dead end in the small sacks named alveoli. The air coming in through the mouth and nose unites at the expressway named the trachea, or the windpipe, which is 15cm long and 2–3cm in diameter. Incidentally, I have a couple of things to tell you about the way you breathe. As a matter of fact, inhaling is the duty of the nose. I’m sure it also has a lot to say as well, but let me just mention a simple fact about it. Now, you should inhale through your nose, so that the air you take in gets warm, wet, and is cleaned from dust. If you try to breathe this way, you do not trouble me much, and reduce the risk of catching a cold or an infection of upper respiratory system. Inhaling through the mouth helps dust and germs get into me and you might contract various illnesses from bronchitis to pneumonia. Now you know why kids who have adenoids who sleep with their mouth open get ill so easily. Sorry, I couldn’t help speaking on behalf on the nose.

Well, what were we talking about before that? Oh yes! The ways through which the inhaled air passes. As the name suggests, the windpipe which makes the air reach me is a cylindrical tube surrounded by 16–20 cartilaginous rings. As it is placed beside the esophagus, one side of the rings is made of soft cartilaginous tissue instead of hard, so that they don’t hinder swallowing. The muscular tissue near these rings helps them widen and narrow during respiration or coughing. I sometimes warn you by making you cough. Maybe it seems to be a disturbance, but if I don’t push out air by coughing through the contracted windpipe, contaminants can clog me up and cause you to suffocate. Therefore, the burst of air-what you call a cough-is a great blessing to you.

The sound system at the tip of the windpipe is another wonder. The used air I send out vibrates the cords in that voice-box and produces such melodies, gives voice to such speech! The air divides into the two lungs. My two sides are not symmetrical; the one on the right is divided into three, and the one on the left into two. I think this was meant to make room for the neighbor on the left, the heart. In addition, if there’s any cancer growth in me, the diseased part can be taken out by an operation and I can keep on functioning. God knows the wisdom behind this form. After that, these main bronchi separate into 8–10 thinner branches, like highways connecting to narrower roads. This branching resembles a tree turned upside down. At the tips of these thin branches are the respiratory bronchioles resembling clusters of grapes. The small spheres which make up the cluster are the end of the road and are the most vital parts. These spheres named alveoli are made of very thin membrane and they are surrounded by a net of capillaries (picture 5). These are the functional spots where gas exchange is realized.

I hang in the thorax with veins and arteries all around. There are two layers of protective membrane over me. One of them is stuck on me, whereas the other is stuck on the ribs which form the chest cavity. There is a fine and slippery fluid in between these two layers and it neutralizes the friction every time I inflate and deflate. If it hadn’t been placed there, I would wear out and be damaged. As I inflate during inhalation, the chest cavity should expand simultaneously to make space for me. If it weren’t given a flexible form, I would fail to breathe and you would eventually die. Fortunately, the protective set of ribs and their connection with the spine are flexible enough to make me work comfortably. In addition, the dome-shaped muscular partition (diaphragm) separating the thorax from the abdomen contracts and pushes down the organs in the abdomen. Thanks to the simultaneously programmed movement of both the ribs and the diaphragm I inflate with air and expand.

Being in constant contact with the outer environment makes me susceptible to various diseases. Coughing is among the foremost signals I give in the case of disease, and sometimes-excuse me-I produce a mixture of blood and phlegm. Also, I may have difficulty in breathing and warn you with chest pain. You should be alert to my signals. If bacteria and viruses infect me, they might reproduce inside my air sacs, and cause stiffening and suppuration.

I am particularly sensitive to allergic disorders. When the straight muscles on the walls of my bronchi contact an alien substance, pollens for instance, the consequent histamine secretion makes my muscles contract. In addition, allergic diseases, which can affect blood vessels, affect me a lot since I happen to be one of the major organs contributing to blood circulation. As a result of the contraction of my bronchial muscles and difficulty in disposing of the mucus I secrete to defend myself, I have trouble with breathing-you call it asthma.

In addition to this, we can mention diseases like emphysema, acute or chronic bronchitis as problems I frequently face. Even your anger has a great impact on me. Breathing becomes more difficult immediately.

Peter, I’m sorry, it is not possible to summarize a work of art like me within a few pages, but I need to stop now… but please, keep away from polluted areas and cigarette smoke! Send me as much fresh air as you can. And even though you mostly take me for granted, like my other teammates, please reflect upon what a blessing I am.

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.

Blood is a highly specialized tissue circulating throughout the body to carry out essential functions for an organism. Some of the basic functions of blood can be listed as: warming or cooling the body, protecting it against infectious disease, supplying essential ingredients to the cells, getting rid of harmful and unwanted waste from cells, and carrying messengers to initiate physiochemical events at the cellular level.¹ An average adult has approximately five liters of blood which completes its cycle in several minutes.² Blood can be regarded as a flawless servant to human beings with a perfect design to fulfill delicate needs and tasks to maintain their lives. If blood stopped performing just one of these tasks in some way, the survival of humans would not be possible.

Plasma is one of the main components of human blood in which the red and white blood cells are suspended.³ These two “living cells” are responsible for the crucial job of maintaining the balance of the body. Blood cells have a definite life cycle, just as all living organisms do. The most generous and all-compassionate owner, God, even knows the needs of the tiniest creatures and for Him to recreate these two cells is as easy as resurrecting hundreds of thousands of fruits, vegetables and animals every spring. Interestingly, bone marrow acts as a factory to reproduce new blood cells in place of continuously dying cells.³

In order to generate energy required for all cellular processes, oxygen has to be carried into the cell and the resulting carbon dioxide should be carried away immediately. Red blood cells, known also as erythrocytes, contain an iron-rich protein called hemoglobin which performs this duty in an excellent way. Each red blood cell contains approximately 250 million hemoglobin molecules.⁴

Hemoglobin transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and carries carbon dioxide away from the body to the lungs by consecutive chemical events in harmony. Hemoglobin can bind oxygen and/or carbon dioxide reversibly and the preference for binding to either oxygen or carbon dioxide depends solely on the environment. Upon inhaling the air, the amount of oxygen will increase in the lungs and oxygen will bind to hemoglobin’s iron unit preferentially. Later, the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood all over the body to deliver it to where it is required. As blood travels through the body in artery veins, oxygen will be exchanged with the carbon dioxide, since the amount of carbon dioxide inside cells is higher than oxygen. Then, the bound carbon dioxide will be sent back to the lungs and this process will be cycled over and over again during the course of life.⁵ During these processes a lot of complex chemical and biological changes occur in a systematic way to optimize the speed, effectiveness and quantity of oxygen transportation.

Surprisingly, one hemoglobin unit can carry four oxygen molecules at the same time. However binding of four oxygen molecules does not happen at the same time, they rather prefer binding one after another. One of the most striking discoveries about these processes is that when the oxygen attaches itself to the iron in the hemoglobin, the shape of the hemoglobin changes and this phenomenon facilitates binding other oxygen molecules.⁶

At higher altitudes air contains less oxygen as compared to lower altitudes. In people accustomed to living at higher altitudes the amount of a chemical known as 2,3-BPG in blood was found to be higher than in people living at lower altitudes.6 Researchers showed that this chemical actually binds to hemoglobin to result in easier oxygen delivery in lower oxygen atmospheres. Without this chemical, at high altitudes people would start suffering from oxygen deficiency and some of the vital organs would start dying slowly. It is obvious that this is a decisive and self-evident proof that there is an ultimate power in the universe and He is the one Who is the most Merciful.

Also the hemoglobin in the fetus has a greater affinity for oxygen than its counterpart in adults. Fetal hemoglobin uses maternal oxygen from the mother’s bloodstream and this ability gives the fetus more access to oxygen for better survival.⁷ Otherwise, no baby would be able to grow fully in its mother’s womb. Divine mercy is aware of the need of even an incapable baby in the mother’s womb and His wisdom and generosity provide appropriate tools, decorations and ornaments to whoever is in need of them.

The human body can be seen as a perfect machine equipped with state-of-art components that functions magnificently to sustain human life without any conflict. It is designed to such an extent that even its slightest needs are satisfied with an amazing design planned by great wisdom and engineering. This beauty, extreme skill, and utmost perfection testify to the existence of the All-Wise Maker and All-Knowing Inscriber. Claiming that this masterpiece is not the work of a purposeful artist is as foolish as claiming that a beautiful painting is not the art of a good painter. Even in one of the sub-structures of red blood cells (hemoglobin) the highest degree of mastery and the exquisiteness of administration for each process show an irrefutable wise Creator who has utmost knowledge and proficiency. His unique power for marvelous creation is even more visible on the surface of the earth.

“He Who has created seven heavens in harmony. You do not see any fault or incongruity in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look yet again: can you see any rifts?” (Mulk 67:3)

Mutations somehow alter the sequences of genes responsible for producing hemoglobin and as a result of inheriting these genes, some kinds of hereditary diseases may occur in future generations, such as thalassemia and sickle-cell.⁸ Since hemoglobin in these cases does not have the ability to carry oxygen properly, in some extreme cases blood transfusion is necessary to supply healthy hemoglobin for survival of patients. Instead of producing super quality hemoglobin, mutations lead to malfunctioning of the system. No observable mutation can generate meaningful and healthy changes in an organism. Trying to explain the formation of these beautiful, complex, harmonious, and utterly perfect cells by chance or coincidence and attributing the creation of these systems to unconscious nature as their creator is far beyond any reasonable scientific explanation.

“Was he not once a mere drop of semen poured forth? Then he became a clot clinging (to the womb wall), and He created and fashioned (him) in due proportions.” (Qiyama 75:37-38)

Ibrahim Yildiz is a graduate student of chemistry at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami.

Notes

1. Previte, J. J. Human Physiology McGraw-Hill, 1982.

2. Cecie, S., Taggart, R. Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life. California: Wadsworth, 1989.

3. Jones, B. D. Delmar’s Comprehensive Medical Terminology. Thomson Delmar Learning, 2000.

4. Roberts, M. B. V. Biology: A Functional Approach Cheltenham: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1986.

5. Mehler, R. E. How the Circulatory System Works Blackwell , 2000.

6. Ganong, W. F. Review of Medical Physiology McGraw-Hill, 2005.

7. Champe, P. C., Richard, A. H. Biochemistry Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005.

8. Steinberg, M. H. Disorders of Hemoglobin: Genetics, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Management. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

In a healthy body, all of the involuntarily functioning mechanisms seem to know what to do, at the right time and in the right amount. But are these systems really “autonomous,” doing what they will? Can it be coincidence that each time the perfect choice out of thousands of possibilities is made?

Regular controlling mechanisms are needed for our bodily activities to function properly. This duty has been given to the nervous system. The autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is in charge of controlling the vital functions of the body, is designed to function in an involuntary, reflexive manner. The operating systems of several machines that make our life easier are developed by being modeled on the ANS. Take an air-conditioned car with a thermostat for example. When the air is cold, a heat sensitive mechanism automatically starts and it provides the engine with more gas and it produces more energy. And when it is warm enough inside the car, this time the thermometer urges the system to reduce the gas-flow back to normal. Likewise, sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves placed in the autonomic system are given the duty of a regulator that restores the altered functioning of organs back to normal so that they do not upset the balance of our body.

If the light coming to our eyes is too bright, vision is blurred. When the retina is exposed to excessive stimuli this causes the parasympathetic nerves to send signals to the eyes to contract the pupils so that the sensitive layers of the eyes are protected and the vision is cleared. In darkness or under dim light, the sympathetic system is called to duty again and this time the pupils are enlarged. The sympathetic-parasympathetic (autonomic) nervous systems granted to human beings play a role in optimizing eyesight under differing intensities of light.

Parasympathetic nerves are created in a way to stimulate the saliva and tear glands, as well as the glands in organs like the nose, stomach, intestines, pancreas, etc. When the secretion in these glands is surplus to our requirements, the canals in connection with them are shrunk and the secretion is lessened. Without such a system, germs would boom, morsels would not soften in our mouth, food intake would not decompose in our stomachs, the gastric mucus which protects the inner stomach from acid would not be secreted, and the final stage of digestion, absorption of digested nutrition, would not happen. Likewise, if our tear glands did not function, sores would emerge on our eyes; if there were no nasal mucus, dust and germs suspending in the air would easily reach our lungs.

The physiological functioning of the lungs and their protection are also maintained through the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. When our tissues need more oxygen, the sympathetic system is activated. The air sacs are enlarged and more air is let in. If toxic gases, dust, cigarette smoke or other harmful elements enter the respiratory tract or the lungs are exposed to any destructive matter, the air sacs are narrowed by the immediate intervention of the parasympathetic system. In this way, the secretion in the air sacs increases and the harmful substance is prevented from going deeper into the lungs. Then the harmful substance is thrown out through secretion and the reflex of coughing.

When the blood pressure drops below 50mm Hg for any reason (due to hemorrhage, medication, body position, etc), the sympathetic system immediately works to send blood to the brain and the heart. As these are the most vital organs, they are given priority at receiving blood. Our blood circulation is carried out within a closed-circuit system and there is a constant amount of blood. Therefore, sending an organ more blood means lessening the blood sent to other organs. To maintain this, the sympathetic system again works to cause narrowing. When food intake reaches the stomach, the parasympathetic system is stimulated to enlarge the relative veins. More blood is pumped to the stomach.

Everything in both systems is designed to protect the organs, tissues, and systems; in other words, the entire body. When a person’s blood pressure goes up, the baro-receptors, which help regulate the pressure in the veins, are stimulated in order to ward off the danger and the narrowing effect of the sympathetic system on the veins is taken under control. In this way, the pressure applied by the blood to the walls of the veins is eliminated. During physical exercise or in a state of stress, anxiety, or worry, the tissues use more oxygen and the sympathetic alarm is switched on.

Blood is pumped faster to meet the need of the tissues. During sleep, the body needs less energy and the metabolism is slow. Therefore, a slower heartbeat is required. During a time of distress or fear, the sympathetic stimulators are under pressure due to hyperventilation. Then the parasympathetic system is put into service and the heartbeat and the blood flow to tissues slow down.

Sphincters are ring shaped muscles that maintain the constriction of a body passage or orifice. With sympathetic signals they constrict and block the passage, and the parasympathetic signals ease them to open the way. If it weren’t for the sympathetic system, the urine produced in the kidneys would not be under control and we would wet our trousers. However, what happens in practice is that when the kidneys produce a certain amount of urine, two sphincters controlled by the sympathetic system contract and they prevent an untimely emptying of the bladder.

Similarly, there are sphincters in the gastro-intestinal tract. If the sympathetic system had not been given the duty of controlling them, the food we eat would not stay with us until it was absorbed and it would be disposed of immediately. On the other hand, the malfunctioning of the parasympathetic system would cause obstructions and we would suffer greatly. Take the parasympathetic system working in our urinary tract for instance. It works without our control and if it did not work, the urine collected in the bladder would press back on the kidneys and cripple them.

In some functions, like the breaking down of fats, ejaculation, increase in brain activity, or the contraction of skeletal muscles, the parasympathetic system is not involved. Since its involvement might harm the body, it is not given a duty here, and the sympathetic system on its own suffices.

There are several other functions carried out by the autonomous nervous system. It works without our will or conscious control. As humans we tend to claim: “I did this, I did that.” When you eat something, your conscious control is limited to chewing the food and swallowing it. We cannot tell our stomach to digest or not to digest the food. In a healthy body, all of the involuntarily functioning mechanisms seem to know what to do, at the right time and in the right amount. But are these systems really “autonomous,” doing what they will? Can it be coincidence that each time the perfect choice out of thousands of possibilities is made? Is it at all possible for these fascinating systems to be a just a work of random causes?