Chapter 7 5. The madman in the medical field

1947, China, Dabie Mountains in Western Anhui Xiaoshan was awakened in the middle of the night, someone was banging on the door, shouting: "Doctor Zhou, Doctor Zhou!" The shouts mixed with the barking of dogs, and echoed in the empty and lonely mountain area.Shocked, Xiao Shan hurriedly fumbled for his clothes in the dark. When he went out, he saw a few torches in the courtyard, a bamboo bed, and two thick poles leaning against one side. The patient squatted in a circle, steaming from the head.Dr. Zhou has already come out and is examining the patient. His dark face is illuminated by the kerosene lamp, and his expression is very serious.

Xiao Shan is 10 years old and was born in a scholarly family in Mengcheng, northern Anhui.His father is not as foolish as ordinary land rich people. He knows that the world is in chaos, and a hundred acres of fertile land may not be as good as a meager skill, so he cruelly sent Xiaoshan to his best friend, Dr. Zhou Rumo, to study medicine.Dr. Zhou is a Christian. He studied both Chinese and Western medicine. He never stays in the city, but has been practicing medicine in remote villages and mountainous areas. His medical skills are as famous as his strange temper. The patient opened his eyes and begged to see the doctor.His left foot had been rotten and blackened, emitting a strange smell, and some brown-black bloody herpes appeared on his face and neck.Dr. Zhou took out an injection needle from the needle box, gently pricked the patient's blackened part, and asked the patient, "Does it hurt?" The patient shook his head blankly, "Does it itch?" The patient nodded, "Itches, high fever, Headache."

Doctor Zhou asked with a sullen face, "Why was it delivered so late?" An old man who raised the bar said with a bitter face, "The road in the mountains is dangerous, so it's not easy to send it out. There are 50 miles of mountain roads in total. After a day of tossing around, the sun was not visible at both ends. Zhou Xianer, what kind of disease is he, can he be cured?" Doctor Zhou's face was gloomy, and he squeezed out two words: "Anthrax." Xiao Shan already understood that anthrax is a vicious infectious disease, but only when he heard the teacher gritted his teeth and squeezed out these two words, did he really realize that feel its danger.He couldn't help but shudder.

People in the mountains don't know what anthrax is, but they know its harm from the doctor's expression.They timidly asked: "Is there any help?" Doctor Zhou hesitated a little, separated from the crowd, bowed down in front of the patient, and said: "Brother, let me clarify the condition for you. What you have is skin anthrax. If you amputate your leg immediately, you may be able to save your life. However, I don't have anesthesia or surgical instruments here. You have to endure the pain. I will harden it." Saw it off. Brother, do you dare to say something."

The patient smiled sadly and said, "Zhou Xian'er, we know that you are a good person, and we all believe in you. Just let it go, I will burn incense for you when you are cured, and I will accept fate if you are put to death." Doctor Zhou came over and called Xiao Shan to prepare.They borrowed butcher's knives and woodworking saws, disinfected the patient with alcohol, tied the patient to the bed, asked the villagers to hold him down, gave the patient enough painkillers, and forced a few towels into his mouth. There was the sound of a rooster crowing in the distance, the sky was already twilight, and the extinguished torches were emitting green smoke.Dr. Zhou picked up the knife and saw, and said to the patient, "Brother, I'm going to do it." The patient couldn't speak, and nodded vigorously, his eyes were as frightened as an animal waiting to be slaughtered.Xiao Shan was passing the instruments by the side, he didn't dare to look directly at the operation, he could only hear the knife slicing open the flesh, the saw rumbling through the bones, and the patient struggling in severe pain convulsed violently on the bamboo bed.

After the leg was amputated, the patient had passed out. Doctor Zhou quickly stopped the bleeding, woke the patient up, and injected the patient with expensive penicillin. Then he ordered repeatedly: "Dig a deep pit, bury the sick leg, and burn the bamboo bed and quilt. Xiaoshanzi prepares more 5% carbolic acid solution, let the villagers wash their hands and faces first, and then disinfect their clothes." The villagers heard from his tense tone. Knowing the history of anthrax, he hurriedly followed suit.He confessed again: "I have to take care of the patients today, so I can't get away. You have to go back to someone who can do things, and check the villagers, especially the family members of the patients. If there is any similar disease, come to me immediately. Check the horses, cattle, and sheep in the village. If you find that the livestock has symptoms such as chills and trembling, eyelid edema, difficulty in breathing, dilated pupils, purple mucous membranes, and nosebleeds, burn them immediately, or use lime water cotton balls to plug the nostrils and bury them in a dry place. Never I can't bear it, once this disease spreads, hundreds of thousands of people will die, and I will go to your place as soon as this patient stabilizes."

The oldest old man among the visitors said: "I listen to Zhou Xian'er, I'll go back, others won't speak well when they go back." The old man hurried away with a few pieces of dry food.Doctor Zhou carefully disinfected himself and Xiaoshan.He sat down on the pan, his fingers trembling.Xiao Shan brought him breakfast, and he waved his hand, saying let's put it down for a while, I can't eat it. Xiao Shan looked at his profile timidly, at his furrowed brows, and the corners of his mouth full of pain.he asks: "Uncle Zhou, is anthrax really that bad?" Mr. Zhou sighed and said: "Of course it is terrible. About 50 years ago, after a flood, there was an epidemic here, and tens of thousands of people died. It was an incurable disease at that time. Now that there is penicillin, the situation is better, but it still cannot be cured. It can be completely cured." He sighed and said, "Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit of wisdom, human beings have had original sin, and all kinds of suffering in the world are the punishments we deserve. Various vicious infectious diseases are the messengers of hell. In the sixth century The plague destroyed half of Rome, and it took 25 million lives in Europe in the middle ages. Smallpox ravaged humans more than 2,000 years ago, with a mortality rate as high as 25%. Even influenza caused 900 million people to suffer from it at the beginning of the 20th century. disease, 20 million people died. This is the will of God."

Xiao Shan said angrily: "Uncle Zhou, God's heart must be very vicious!" Uncle Zhou panicked and said: "Son, you can't say such blasphemous words. God is merciful, and God has his own arrangements for the order of the world. You see, the pathogens of all vicious infectious diseases are usually relatively weak. Either the vitality is not strong, or it is difficult to spread. In short, there must be a fragile link in its chain of life, so that it cannot wreak havoc among humans. Like Bacillus anthracis, its spores are extremely tenacious and buried in the soil of sick animals After 34 years, there are still surviving spores, and once the pasture is infected, it can maintain the infectivity for 30 years. But Bacillus anthracis itself is very fragile, and it can be killed by heating at 55°C for 40 minutes, 5% carbolic acid, and sunlight. If Bacillus anthracis, Both Yersinia pestis and smallpox virus are as tenacious and easy to spread as Escherichia coli, and human beings may have perished long ago!"

Xiao Shan respects Uncle Zhou very much, but today he cannot be convinced.Maybe he has been growing up in a home that doesn't believe in God, and he can't believe in this "God's arrangement" anyway.He didn't refute any more that night, just thinking silently. He didn't expect that this thinking has been going on for ten years.At that time he was already a student of Beijing Medical College.When he returned to Mengcheng during the summer vacation, the small town also had the atmosphere of the Great Leap Forward, with the slogan "15 years of hard work, surpassing the British and suppressing the aesthetics of the Soviet Union" written on the brick wall.In the courtyards of private houses on both sides of the street, from time to time, you can see white smoke from earthen steelmaking furnaces.Huangfu Youshan did not pay attention to these political scenes. He found Mr. Zhou who was still practicing medicine in the county, and said excitedly as soon as he entered the door:

"Mr. Zhou, I finally figured it out, what you said is wrong!" This sudden accusation surprised Dr. Zhou.He has gray hair and a stooped back. He has suffered a lot because of his religious background in recent years, so he is also humble to his former favorite student.His student is already a robust young man with a crew cut, rosy face, broad shoulders, still wearing a small-town double-breasted jacket, two thick sword eyebrows, a pair of small eyes shining brightly, shining with an unconcealable arrogance, that It's based on arrogance about one's own talent.He asked in horror:

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Huangfu Youshan took out the gifts he had bought for his mentor, a copy of "Modern Immunology" written by Hayward in England, and several bottles of Beijing pickles, and put them on the incomplete table.The clinic is very simple, a bed made of adobe is covered by a cloth curtain in the corner, and an old quilt is almost all the belongings of this lonely old man.Huangfu Youshan felt a pang of sadness in his heart, but these worldly troubles were quickly overwhelmed by his purely rational thinking.He sat down opposite the teacher and said excitedly: "It's what you said ten years ago about God's arrangement: the most vicious pathogens are generally weaker, so that human beings have a gap in their survival." The teacher nodded in confusion: "I was wrong, I have now learned that there is no God, and religion is the opium of the ruling class to deceive the people." Huangfu Youshan couldn't laugh or cry, and waved his hand impatiently: "You screwed up, I don't mean it at all! Of course, a secular God certainly does not exist, and a benevolent and omnipotent God would not force Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn son-even the temptation is too vicious. He will not Destroy the entire city of Jericho because of a blasphemer, and will not destroy mankind with a flood because of human crimes, leaving Noah's family alone. Mr. Zhou, you are so wise and open-minded, but you are facing God When prostrating, why not think about these obvious facts." Dr. Zhou's atrium was severely gouged out.Although he had given up his belief in God after liberation, it was only a trick on the surface, but he always kept the cross in his heart.But Xiao Shanzi's few simple words made a big hole in his wall of belief... Huangfu Youshan changed the subject: "Don't mention this, let's put this God aside for now. But there is another God—the objective God, and God's order also exists. Human beings have evolved from single-celled organisms to today, and they have been evolving in a different environment. Those who come here face many pathogens all the time: Shigella, Escherichia coli, Yersinia pestis, smallpox virus, rabies virus, HIV, etc. The primitive people, apes, and apes before the civilized society did not There is no medical skill, but it can be passed down for hundreds of millions of years. Why? Because human beings and all species that survive today (including pathogens) are evolutionary powerhouses. Humans have evolved a powerful immune system in their bodies. A new pathogen After it appears, it will devour the lives of tens of millions of people, but there are always some aptitudes in the huge human population who can overcome death-and at the same time acquire immunity to this pathogen and pass it on to future generations. Humans today are actually The joint crystallization of countless survivors, our immune system is an extremely rich treasure house. There are as many pathogens in the world as there are corresponding antibodies in the human immune system. Therefore," he said with emphasis: "It's not what you said: All vicious pathogens are relatively fragile. It should be said that all pathogens with relatively weak vitality have less chance of attacking humans, and the human body has not stimulated effective antibodies, so they are more vicious." He showed a colorful rational world in front of Uncle Zhou, and the old man couldn't help wandering in it. He opened his mouth slightly and listened intently to his former students' speeches. "There are too many examples like this. You said that the flu virus was very vicious. It killed 20 million people in the early twentieth century. When the white colonists first came to Australia, the flu virus they brought with them had no resistance to it. The powerful Australian natives are absolutely deadly, but now the surviving Australian natives are no longer afraid of it. The smallpox virus is still vicious, but the resistance of the Han people is higher than that of the Manchurians from outside the customs. Those Rao Yong, who was good at fighting, was so fearful of smallpox that they regarded whether he had had smallpox as an important reason for choosing the crown prince." The old man was very excited, and he was completely convinced by Xiao Shanzi's words.Because the truth itself has great power, once you pull out the thread of truth from the mess, all the mess will be straightened out.His spiritual energy, which had been imprisoned for many years, also awakened, and he took Xiao Shanzi's words and said: "So, pathogens—human beings, this is a life-and-death balance, a dance on the edge of a knife that will never end. However, human beings already have a treasure trove of antibodies left by their ancestors and a large enough population group. Coupled with the increasing development of medicine, with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and vaccines, human beings will surely win the battle. Is that so?" He was surprised that the young man did not speak for a long time.Someone outside the door was beating the gong vigorously, shouting loudly: "Let's get rid of the four pests and act together! Drive the sparrows and act together!" People clamored and climbed up the roof and tree branches, and the gong sounded one after another.Zhou Rumo listened anxiously to this operation. No one informed him, so he didn't dare to participate rashly, but he was in no mood to have a clear talk with Huangfu Youshan.However, he was embarrassed to urge the students to leave.Huangfu Youshan's thinking is completely divorced from real life. He pondered for a long time before speaking: "Mr. Zhou, I have studied Western medicine for several years, and I feel that the development of Western medicine is completely wrong, fundamentally wrong. .” Zhou Rumo could hardly believe his ears. Hearing this conclusion was even more shocking than hearing that God does not exist at first, because God cannot be seen after all, and the brilliant achievements of Western medicine can be seen everywhere.He asked suspiciously: "What did you say?" "Teacher, I am not denying the great achievements of Western medicine in the past century. They have eliminated many diseases one by one from the chaos, invented chemical drugs, antibiotics, vaccines, etc., and many vicious diseases that have been raging for two thousand years have been controlled. However, Western medicine bypasses the body's immune system and directly fights pathogens, which is a very dangerous game. On the one hand, the human immune system gradually degrades while doing nothing; on the other hand, pathogens are increasingly strengthened during super-intensive exercise. It's like storing water on a high embankment, one day the artificial balance will be destroyed, and the disease will devour human beings more ferociously." Zhou Rumo was dumbfounded.This insight simply made him shudder.It destroyed a doctor's decades of faith.And what's scary about it is that it's so naked, so eloquent, that you almost leave no room for doubt.He timidly asked his former students: "So, how do you say medicine should develop?" When the young Huangfu Youshan expressed his conclusion, there was no joy of victory at all.On the contrary, his expression looked very serious: "Teacher, I have been thinking about that question for ten years, but I would rather never have thought about it when I came to a conclusion, because this conclusion is too cruel. In my opinion, medicine has developed for thousands of years, and it has turned in a big circle. Afterwards, I am afraid that it will return to its starting point: human beings should return to nature and fight against pathogens with their own immune function and group advantages. In this fight, a certain proportion of victims should be allowed. Only in this way can God This is a cruel and fair balance of life and death. What new medicine needs to do is to use scientific methods to move this balance point to the side of life as much as possible without affecting the effect of natural selection—but Never try to get rid of disease and death altogether." The old doctor asked angrily: "You mean, only rely on the patient's own immunity to defeat the pathogen, if not, let him die without using drugs?" "I'm afraid that's the case. At least they should be deprived of their reproductive rights. The death of a few people is for the life of the entire human being. In fact, can the current medicine prevent death from disease? Antibiotic allergy alone kills 150,000 people in the United States every year; Drugs cause drug-resistant strains, and hundreds of thousands of people die every year." The old doctor was very angry. His old mind could no longer bear these deviant views, but he couldn't refute them.At this time, a street cadre came in and broke the deadlock. The female cadre said with a cold face: "Zhou You faction, the whole city is exterminating sparrows, why don't you go?" "Nobody informed me, I don't know whether I should go or not." The man glanced at Huangfu Youshan and asked, "Who is this?" The old doctor hurriedly said, "It's a student from Beijing Medical College. Come to educate me." The female cadre said impatiently: "Okay, get out, I'm doing it for your own good, lest others say you have resistance." The old doctor quickly lowered his head: "That's, that's, in my heart clear." Before leaving, he said to Huangfu Youshan, "Xiao Shanzi, I'm leaving." Huangfu Youshan nodded absent-mindedly. His thoughts had gone too far and sunk too deep, and he couldn't return to reality for a while. Doctor Zhou confessed hesitantly: "Your thoughts...be careful." The old doctor's hunch was right.Huangfu Youshan has gone too far. His views are not limited to medical schools, but he has even challenged the generally accepted ethics and morals of all mankind.Two years later, Huangfu Youshan graduated and stayed at the famous Union Hospital, but he was soon considered a lunatic by the medical profession.Eight years later, he was kicked out by the Red Guards and returned to the countryside where he was born for his political (not medical) blasphemy.