THE BODY ELECTRIC
The Body Electric was a book written by an orthopedic surgeon, Robert O. Becker, M.D. and published in 1998. It describes his experiments with trying to heal bones that would not unite.
Most fractured bones of humans come together after about six weeks if they are immobilized in a cast. A small percent; however, do not unite. That condition is known as “non-union.” This is a rare occurrence, but it necessitates surgery to remedy.
A more formidable form of disaster is the loss of a limb or the partial loss of limb from trauma, such as in warfare. Is there a way to replace that lost leg or arm? These were the questions that Dr. Becker was contemplating whilst performing his experiments.
THE SALAMANDER
The salamander is a primitive little reptile. It evolved in the chain of life prior to the frog. But it retained some incredible qualities that were present during the period of time that he evolved.
The Salamander, if it loses a leg or arm or tail, simply re-grows it! To Dr. Becker, this was an incredible feat. How did the Salamander re-grow an entire limb? Was it possible for other animals to achieve the same feat?
When Dr. Becker tried the same experiment on a frog, there was no re-growth. The frog had advanced too far along the evolutionary path.
Re-growth was a fundamental process. Cells which were divided easily re-grew. Worms and other more primitive creatures also re-grew parts. But, if you beheaded a salamander, it died. There was a point of no return.
ELECTRICITY
After numerous experiments, Dr. Becker noticed that there was an electrical difference between the end of the amputated leg and the center of the body. He concluded that an electrical field was controlling the growth of the cells which were emerging in the amputated leg.
He also found, later, that if he placed a human fracture within an electrical field it healed faster. In fact, those few fractures which would not heal, did so if an electrical field was placed around them.
Subsequently, it was found that people with osteoporosis could accumulate calcium in their bones by sleeping on mattresses that held electric fields.
BIG QUESTION?
How can our body or our brain tell our cells how to grow and in which way to differentiate?
We call it “genetics,” but “genetics” is only a word. There must be a mechanism to tell each new cell what to become. That mechanism has to be electrical in the sense of an electrical field.
STEM CELLS
Stem cells are all the new rage in medicine. Create stem cells and they can re-create damaged cells in the heart, brain or any part of the body.
But what controls the stem cells? How does a stem cell know what shape it must take?
Dr. Becker gives us a hint of his hidden thoughts. Perhaps there is an ideal picture in the form of an electric field, from whence stem cells and all growing cells can determine their shape.
This concept has more than fantasy behind it.
PHANTOM LEG PAIN
We have all heard of people who have had a limb amputated, either by surgery or trauma, who complain of pain in the leg or arm which is missing. We call this pain: “Phantom Pain” and we explain it by memory of the missing part.
But, there is no memory that exists of PAIN in the missing part! There is only a memory of the part.
Is there something in the brain that is an electric picture of what we are when we are total? Is our body more than just cells, blood, ligaments and muscles. Are we also a “Body Electric?”
