The body-as-battleground theory of disease goes something like this:
The forces of evil (disease) have invaded the body. The forces of good (medicine) shall enter the body and conquer the forces of evil.
This theory sees the body as passive: itâ€™s a battleground in a cosmic war between good and evilâ€”a piece of territory rather than a dynamic, living organism. This theory does not respect the bodyâ€™s innate vitality and intelligence. This theory doesnâ€™t know the body is an ecosystem. This theory is ridiculous.
The debate between body-as-ecosystem and body-as-battleground has been going on for a long time. In the 19th century, Antoine BÃ©champ and Louis Pasteur squared off over whether the primary cause of disease could be found in the ecology of the body itself or in microbial â€œinvaders.â€ Pasteurâ€™s microbes carried the day, and medicine is still feeling the effects.
Sure, microbes are interesting. They certainly play a role in the development of some diseases. But they are in no way the whole story. Exposed to the same microbes, some people get sick and some people donâ€™t. Every ecosystem is different.
Itâ€™s a question of science getting ahead of itself: â€œWow, look at these bad little critters that make people sick. If we just kill them all, everything will be better again.â€ Um, no. Wrong approach. Think antibiotic resistance. Think superbugs.
The story of humans and microbes is fascinatingly complex. It turns out weâ€™re covered with them, inside and out. And it turns out we depend on themâ€”to protect us from infection, to manufacture nutrients, to train our immune systems . . . sure sounds like an ecosystem to me.
Next in this series:
Pitfalls in modern medicine: the body-as-battleground theory in practice.
And coming soon:
Traditional foods: millet polenta.