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Why is the liver so weirdly regenerative?

576 points · 293 comments · jbotz

  1. schnuri · · focus · HN ↗
    I am in awe about how wonderfully engineered by evolution the body is. E.g., what we are able to do with it and how it heals itself when we have an injury. Sure, many people would not live long without external intervention, but many others would. I still want to see the robot that can survive 80 active years without maintenance.
    1. chistev · · focus · HN ↗
      The human body can't survive 80 active years without maintainance. They take drugs, they see the doctor, etc.
      1. CookieCrisp · · focus · HN ↗
        What did people do 500 years ago?
        1. EduardoBautista · · focus · HN ↗
          Die as a child at alarming rates
          1. lukan · · focus · HN ↗
            But those who did not, got quite old without ever seeing a doctor.

            (If we are talking about hunter gatherers, not poor exploited peasants)

            1. steve_adams_86 · · focus · HN ↗
              Humans have assisted each other medically, supported injured and disabled tribe members, and sought out medicinal herbs since long before history was written. I'm not sure how you'd delineate between modern health care and when humans never had some notion of health care and/or support when bodies enter failure modes. We don't survive well without a lot of assistance and care, and living long lives required plenty of bodily maintenance regardless of how fortunate and healthy we were.
              1. b112 · · focus · HN ↗
                I think, if you add clarity, such as how aspirin alone is a wonder, how iodine to clean wounds is a life saver, how soap is a miracle, and all the parasites we don't have, yet all this we take for granted.

                We are certainly much healthier, with the little trinkets we keep in our houses.

                1. lukan · · focus · HN ↗
                  Willow bark was used like aspirin. Soap is a old concept (ash is desinfectant as is vinegar ). Alcohol for cleaning wounds is a very old concept alike. As was jumping into clean water every day (also in winter).
                  1. b112 · · focus · HN ↗
                    Yes, and all of those solutions are suboptimal compared to the modern variants, were not always available, and making alcohol required technology (just as fire usage was technology).

                    The real point here, is a lot of people today don't realize how supported they are, with medicine and the trappings of modern life. The simple things I've listed are quite literally a wonder, but to the modern human, often it's not even considered a big deal.

                    Even in a rural remote areas of Canada or the US, you can just get in your vehicle, drive for half an hour, and then suddenly be surrounded by tens of thousands of products to make you healthier. A city dweller can walk for five minutes, and have the same.

                    1. lukan · · focus · HN ↗
                      "The real point here, is a lot of people today don't realize how supported they are, with medicine and the trappings of modern life. "

                      No doubt. But I like to spend time in remote wilderness, so I do know what I have and do not have there. I definitely feel healthier if I am outside more often and can take care of various injuries myself, but if I would really need one, I surely would call for a modern medical helicopter and not go find some plants.

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