Up from the Grave in Sago

A sudden explosion and warm air, dirt and rock blow into the face of a groggy miner being transported to his station early in the morning in January of 2006.  An earlier group is trapped farther down, but lethal carbon monoxide levels turn back a first rescue attempt.  Twelve frightened men wait in the dark 2 miles down, sharing life -giving oxygen from eight emergency tanks, hoping.  Hours later families up above are told they are still alive. They clear the church and roll out the red carpet to welcome their beloved husbands, sons, brothers.  But the men below understand what has happened to them much better, and they are preparing for a very different kind of homecoming. “We began to accept our fate. Toler led us all in the Sinner’s Prayer.  We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones.”  Randal McCloy Jr. remembers that because he alone lived to tell, barely.  Brain failure, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure just about took him home too.  How did he recover?

The ambulance whisked him past the weeping, distraught loved ones of his lost friends to the trauma center of the West Virginia School of Medicine.  Once there Dr. Julian Bailes could see the very fragile string tethering Randal to this earth.  What do desperate people do in desperate situations?  If they are wise, they make courageous decisions based on solid facts.

Fact: EPA and DHA, the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil, reduce inflammation.  (1) Dr. Bailes believed in the power of this natural healer and started Randal on an unprecedented, radical dose of 30 grams per day. (The USDA recommends no more than 3 grams per day as a safe guideline.)  Dr. Bailes credits the oil with reversing the inflammation to Randal’s internal organs caused by oxygen deprivation, and with repairing the damaged tissue in his brain.  (2)  Weeks in a coma, 3 months of intensive rehab, and yet finally home and another child in the months to come were the good fate of this lone survivor under the care of Dr. Bailes and his healing prescription.

Our personal stories lack this kind of sensation of course, but internal inflammation like Randal’s is a real danger to all of us. It’s called silent inflammation because it doesn’t cause pain like when we sprain an ankle or stub a toe.  Dr. Barry Spears of the Zone Diet puts it this way. “It has a damaging effect on arteries, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. It destroys nerve cells in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. It depresses the immune system and helps promote the formation of cancerous tumors. In essence, silent inflammation is the polar opposite of wellness. It lays the groundwork for chronic disease.”  (3)  The American Heart Association has even been discussing whether testing for internal inflammation markers should become standard protocol for cardiac care because the connection to heart health has become so clear. (4)  Let’s continue this discussion next week for better understanding about how inflammation works and what we can specifically do to avoid it through diet.

You can READ MORE right now about what causes inflammation in all of us in the Dr.‘s Corner.

Have you chosen your favorite flavor yet?

Molly

READ MORE ABOUT RANDAL’S RECOVERY:  http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/03/true-medical-miracle.html

READ MORE ABOUT THE ACCIDENT:    http://www.mensjournal.com/down-in-the-sago-mine

(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15698426  (2) http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_mccloy.aspx  (3) http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_wellness.aspx
(4)  http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/review_summer_02/txtalumridker.html