Hi Dude,
In general, corals need a number of conditions to grow and survive, including constant bathing in water within a range of salinity/pH, an adequate supply of algae/zooplankton and dissolved nutrients, and the host bacteria (zooxanthella) needed to assist in nourishment and, along with calcium carbonate saturation, in the formation of their colonial body structure. Most zooxanthella, and hence corals, also need sunlight.
This constellation of requirements is unlikely to exist on or within the normal human body.
Regards,
DocVikingo
From a recent exchange on another forum:
(Q) October 21, 2014.
Dear Doc,
Though not an MD, I am a diver and licensed aircraft engineer and have travelled around the globe in pursuit of both activities.
On arrival at RAF Gan, we spent more than the usual amount of time being shown some of the perils pursuant to living on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean one of the most memorable being a conducted tour of the Institute of Pathological and Tropical Medicines outpost, attached to the medical centre on Gan.
One of their prized exhibits was basically a series of photographs showing what can happen when one is gashed on the ankle by a section of live coral. The accompanying notes detailed the sufferer of the resulting coral infestation, where coral polyps entered the bloodstream in this warm & moist, nutrient-rich environment, attached themselves to the ankle bone of this patient and proceeded to multiply. The final photos showed in colour a large, conical, surgical excision of the affected ankle leaving a large hole in said patients lower extremity.
You may think that coral polyps cannot grow inside a human but I have seen proof positive to the contrary.
Autolycus
(A) October 23, 2014.
Hi Autolycus,
I dont doubt that something was excised from the ankle of a teenager from a small, remote atoll in the Maldives under the medical expertise & equipment that prevailed in that area in the 60s. Or that the procedure left a large, conical, surgical hole at the excision site. However, in the absence of scientific confirmation that the material excised was in fact composed of living coral, this anecdote is in no way proof positive of the growth of coral polys within the human body. Was the removed material subject to histological or any other sort of reasonable confirmative examination?
As to what, exactly, was excised, I can only refer to the facts as we know them:
1. Average salinity of the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans is ~3.5%. The vast majority of tropical saltwater corals tolerate only a fairly narrow range of salinity; they grow best with a salinity between ~3-4%. The basic salinity of human blood is ~0.9%.
2. Optimal temperature for tropical coral growth is 73-77°F, although temps between 61-95°F can be tolerated by a small number of species. The body temp of a human is 98.6°F.
3. Light is critical in maintaining the symbiotic association between tropical corals and the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that assist in nourishing them. There is negligible to no light below the skin of the human body.
4. pH measures hydrogen by factors of ten, The ideal pH for tropical coral polyp growth is within the ~8.3-8.5 range. The pH of normal human arterial blood is ~7.35-7.45.
Cheers,
DocVikingo
