A basic explanation of what is anatomy and physiology is that physiology is the study of life, and life is in the form of the human anatomy. To answer the question, so what does it mean to me? It mean everything to you, because its “all about you”.
We all care about something, when it is about us. Ironically the most important thing to us which is our life, we leave in the hands of many others, mostly to those in the health care field. Of course we are all not doctors and nurses, so we have to entrust ourselves to those who are. To a point, and that’s the point I am making here. We have the responsibility to ourselves to know what we are made of, so we can make sound educated judgments, when it comes to health issues.
I am not just referring to basic knowledge, I am talking about a good understanding of anatomy and physiology which I again say ” its all about you”. If you can clear your way to thinking, that the body is about you personally and not a separate entity , then you have a better understanding of the importance in getting to know it.
Let me give you an example. When the economy is at its peak, people will go out and buy a vehicle that appeals to them. Perhaps they have heard about it through an advertisement, or a friend has one. They don’t base their decision on what they know personally, instead they base it on the word of others. Now a big factor here is money.
If the money situation is good then you can afford to be more daring. On the other hand, when money is tight people do a lot more investigating into purchases. For example they make it their business to find out how good the car is on gas, or how durable it is, or what are they getting exactly for the money. Now why does this happen? Simple, when money is tight, people have more to lose, so they are more careful, because they won’t have the means to replace it.
This is exactly how we are with our anatomy and physiology. When it seems to be working it great condition, we just go about our daily routine, not even giving a thought as to why its working so good, and what can we really do to keep it that way. Then the unfortunate day may come when you have just had your medical exam done, and the doctor says there is a problem.
For example, he may say your thyroid is malfunctioning. Perhaps you haven’t even heard the word thyroid. So now you don’t even know just how much trouble you may be in. Is it serious or what? All of a sudden now you will go on a crash course of learning a lot more of what the body is all about. At least where it pertains to your problems. You will most likely jump onto the internet, and type in the word “thyroid”. By the time you are finished you will be an expert on it.
I am not suggesting that you have to be a graduate student of the studies of anatomy and physiology. I am saying if you know your body well, then you are in a strong position to take preventative measures against illness. In addition you are well more informed from the start about potential problems you may be faced with. I mean by not knowing about the details of your body you could be creating a great deal of unnecessary stress for yourself.