Studying Pathology and Hypochondria

Now that the summer semester is nearly over, our progress through Robbins is rapidly coming to an end. Even though I'm certain that we've learned a lot, for some reason it feels like there is always more that we don't know than we know.

One of the things that I've come to enjoy about studying pathology is that the things that I learn here can also be applied to improve my own personal health. Just as a mechanic usually knows what's wrong with their car when it is having problems, a person studying medicine (especially pathology) usually knows how their body works and what to do to avoid, diagnose or treat disease. However, studying about cancers and  fatal diseases day in and day out can really begin to have an impact on how you view your body and how you take care of it.

For the layperson, taking care of your body consists of eating healthy and getting regular exercise. But, for medical professionals and students who know every single cancer, syndrome, disease and infection that can afflict the human body, just eating healthy and getting exercise isn't going to be enough to allay your troubled mind.

I've always been conscientious in taking care of my body. I don't smoke, I don't eat or drink in excess and I try to go for a jog as often as possible. But now, I've noticed that perhaps I am taking too many unneeded precautions while I go about my day.

1) Lately, whenever I've gone outside on a sunny day I always either wear a long-sleeved loose shirt or I apply sunscreen to my face, ears, neck and arms. Wouldn't want to get skin cancer.

 2) Whenever I walk by a person with a cigarette or a car that has a lot of bad exhaust I hold my breath. Wouldn't want to increase my risk for atherosclerosis, chronic bronchitis or emphysema let alone one of the countless lung cancers.

3) Whenever I buy groceries, if it's available, I choose a product that is sugar-free, non-fat or reduced calorie (sugar-free syrup or sugar-free jelly for example). Wouldn't want to develop Type II diabetes and all of the associated pathologies that go along with it.

4) Whenever I go into someone's basement or attic I always wonder if there's radon present. Wouldn't want to develop bronchogenic carcinoma.

The four types of bronchogenic carcinomas are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma.

5) When I'm studying in bed for long periods of time, I constantly move my legs around. Wouldn't want to develop a deep vein thrombosis.

The patient's right leg is edematous due to a clot in one of the deep leg veins.

6) Lately, I've taken up the habit of avoiding cheese and any milk that isn't non-fat milk. Don't want to increase my risk for prostate cancer with all the hormones that companies inject into chronically lactating cows nowadays.

The white spots you can see is the cancer, probably an adenocarcinoma.

7) I've also stopped eating butter and most greasy foods like fried chicken. I don't want my coronary arteries or aorta to get clogged up like this.

In this aorta, all of the yellow debris are plaques of cholesterol due to atherosclerosis.

So as you can see, with knowledge comes a bit of apprehension. There are many more bad things that I haven't shown because I don't want you to lose your lunch. You don't want to know half of the things we study when it comes to venereal diseases.

I realize that, to some people, I may be going a bit overboard in how I conduct my life now. It's somewhat similar to the person who watches crime and courtroom dramas on TV all the time and then they worry about their house being the next to be burglarized.

So how should one conduct their life when they know about all of these bad things that can happen to their body?

The answer, for me, must lie somewhere in-between the extremes. I'm in no hurry to become the archetypal doctor who smokes, nor am I in any hurry to starve myself and start a diet of caloric restriction to live longer. I'll continue to mostly eat healthy and enjoy my occasional apple pie. (As a matter of fact, I'm eating just that right now as I type this. Now I need to run off the calories before my arteries start clogging. There goes my thinking again. See what happens when you study pathology?)