The "Black Box"... The Challenge of Gazing Inside The Human

Early physiological theories described the human body as a ‘black box’. The term referred to the possibility of observing the inputs and outputs to and from the human body, but not being able to explain what is going on inside it. This perception, of course, has been transcended, but the challenge of completely accurate estimation of the condition of the human body remains up to this date. Everyday medical practice heavily relies on medical tests that could definitely be improved both in terms of their specificity and sensitivity. The importance is even more stressed when we understand that almost no diagnosis can be established unless some technical means have been utilized to achieve the goal.  Unfortunately, dependence is in place of simple biochemical tests that many times seem to give questionable results.

One such example is the fact that Autopsy studies showed definite evidence of hypothyroidism with normal blood tests- Autopsy tests for Mucin Deposition demonstrate the failure of blood tests – At autopsy, one can run a test for the presence of hypothyroidism by staining the tissue for mucin. In a research study designed to correlate the presence of mucin staining at autopsy with clinical information, Peterson, et al, concluded that those with mucin demonstrated abnormal laboratory data only 11% of the time, physical examination was only slightly better at 12%, whereas clinical history was shown to detect 76% of the cases of hypothyroidism West J. Med. 1992; 156; 163-65. Laboratory data alone was not a reliable guide to detect a low thyroid status.