human body.....what can it do??

[the.dr]

i had a discussion with a friend about the what the body can do, i had been told that given the supplimeents of food and water the body can run forever! its just the weakness of the mind (e.g pain) which lets the body down. is this true.....i believe so

[woofgang]

pain is not a weakness of mind, pain is your body telling you that you are damaging it!!!

[undercovers]

no the body would not last forever - our ability to regenerate redlines as we age e.g. wrinkles on the skin would be the most obvious symptoms of this, i believe this is something to do with free radical activity and the damage to cells / dna but I'm sure some someone will be along in a minute to clarify

[WaldoMcFroog]

Get a high quality copy of your favourite picture. Place it face down on the glass of the world's best quality colour photocopier. Print one copy. Take the copy. Place it on the glass and print one copy. Repeat this process a thousand times then compare the last photocopy with the orginal picture. You'll undoubtably notice errors - perhaps patches which are a different colour, or are distorted, maybe even missing.

That's a reasonably analogy of what happens to your DNA over time as it is reproduced and that's why your body won't last for ever.

[elgroucho]

The spindle fibres in your body are estimated to last only 120 years, they are crucial to the continuation of life so I suppose the answer to your question is no the body cannot live forever.

[kazzee69]

Hello, I personally know 'the.dr' and you have all really misunderstood his question. Maybe he didn't word it right! He doesn't mean 'can the body run?' he means can you run?' Like Forrest Gump did... Running phisically..? Is it a mind over matter situation? Am I explaining this right?

[Scarlett]

If you consider that all nature's creatures need to sleep in order to regenerate, heal and grow, then NO I would say that it is not possible to run forever. You would surely wear out the knee and hip joints far quicker than if you did not run, but sometimes walked, sat and slept.

[woofgang]

yes I understood that and my answer stands. Pain is not a weakness of the mind, pain is to tell you something. If you ignore or switch off the pain then the damage will continue to happen, to the point where you are crippled or dead.

[El D]

ultra marathon runners are as close as you come to pushing the body to breaking point really - although the human body is supremely adaptive it doesnt mean we can run forever. Our bodies are not designed for continual output.