10 Craziest Facts About The Human Body
Posted by Phoebe Chin on 05/23/08 in Featured, Fun Facts
#1 Your Hand Can Have A Mind On Its Own
Remember Devon Sawa’s character in 1999’s ‘Idle Hands’, a comedy / horror movie about a teen whose hand becomes possessed and goes on a killing spree?
Apparently this movie has some truth in it. The ‘idle hand’ which referred to as the ‘Alien Hand Syndrome’ is an unusual neurological disorder in which the sufferer’s hand seems to take on a mind of its own. This is due to the damage in the medial motor frontal region of the brain and often occurs after a brain surgery, a stroke or an infection of the brain.
The sufferer has no control over the movements of the ‘alien hand’ nor will they have any conscience idea on what that hand is doing. The person suffering from this condition can often feel disconnected with their hand, and feel as if it was not part of their body.
When the suffer is unaware the alien hand can sometime act out complex movements like unbuttoning clothing, using tools or even tearing pieces of clothing. There are no know treatments or cure for ‘Alien Hand Syndrome’ however the best solution is to give this alien hand an object it can play with to keep it distracted from doing anything harmful to the sufferer.
#2 You Could Remove A Large Part of Your Internal Organs and Survive
While the human body may appear fragile, your body is stronger than you could possibly imagine. It is possible for you to survive even after the removal of the spleen, the stomach, one kidney, one lung, 75% of the liver, 80% of the intestines, and almost every organ from the pelvic and groin area.
#3 The Strong Contraction of Your Heart Creates Enough Pressure To Squirt Blood As Far As 30 Feet
#4 You Can Still Have An Erection After Death
(sorry couldn’t find a picture)
This is a death erection, which often being referred to as ‘angel lust’. It is a post-mortem erection that occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-downside and as long as the body remains in this position, the effect will not subside.
How It Could Possibly Happen?
When a man is still alive, the heart pumps blood evenly around the body. When he dies, this mechanism stops and the blood acts by the force of gravity. As with any mass, the blood will settle at the lowest point of the body and cause swelling. So if a man dies vertically, the blood will settle in the legs and collect at the feet.
The pressure will cause the blood vessels and tissues in the feet to swell up to accommodate as much blood as possible. As blood collects, it will fill up to the torso and the blood will attempt to move to a lower position due to gravity, which is the penis (the legs are full by now). The blood causes the penis, consisting of erectile tissue, to fill with blood and expand.
#5 Heart Attacks Are More Likely To Happen On Monday
A 10-year study in Scotland found that 20% of people die of a heart attack on Monday’s compare to any other day of the week. The study suggests that the ‘Monday peak’ could be a result of massive drinking during the weekend and work related stress; you know the ‘Monday blues.’
#6 Three Hundred Million Cells Die In Your Body Every Minute
It does sounds like a lot but this is actually less than 0.0001% of the amount of cells being replaced in your body every day. (about 10-50 trillion cells are being replace in your body every day)
#7 Babies Have More Bones Than You Do
When a baby is born, they have 300 bones in their body. When they reach adulthood they are left with only 206 bones. This is because the smaller bones eventually join together to form stronger single bones.
#8 Your Hair Is Almost Indestructible
Apart from having it burnt, human hair decays at such a slow rate that it is almost impossible to get rid of. Do you remember those documentaries about Egypt, the pyramids and Mummies on Discovery Channel? Well the mummies are left with no flesh, practically nothing but bones and yes… hair. It might look fragile but hair cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.
#9 You Can Survive Without Food But Not Without Sleep
You need sleep as much as you need food. Many people neglect the importance of having enough sleep without knowing that humans can actually survive longer without food than without sleep. With water alone, an average person could survive a month to two without food (that also varies from an individual’s body fat and other factors).
But a few sleepless nights will cause the person to start experiencing radical personality and psychological changes. The longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is 264 hours. Randy Gardner at the end of which the experiment did not stumble or hallucinate but scientist has said that any more sleepless nights than that is dangerous.
#10 You Have A Philtrum
The indentation in the middle of the area between the nose and the upper lip is called the philtrum. While scientists are yet to figure out the specific purpose of this indentation serves besides allowing humans to express a much larger range of lip motions, the ancient Greeks thought it to be one of the most arousing places on the body.
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john | May 23, 2008 | Reply
Did you also know that the crayfish is the only invertebrate capable of sustaining a groin pull?
Tod | May 23, 2008 | Reply
Thats B.S.! I have gone 30 days without sleep. You get a little hinky after that but…
ms | May 23, 2008 | Reply
OK, so where’s the evidence of dying from lack of sleep? You say you can’t survive without sleep and yet we have a young boy who hasn’t slept in three years that was just in the news. PLus though I’ve heard of death from exhaustion, not so far from sleep loss.
If you cant’ “survive” then I guess you’d die right? And yet you dont’ mention how many days or whatever, you just talk abotu hallucinations, which most of us are aware of, but they don’t kill you. How about some bolder more factual statments under that entry.
beck | May 24, 2008 | Reply
attn: ms
if you can die from exhaustion, than wouldn’t lack of sleep be the same thing?
if you did not sleep, you’d be exhasuted.
way to go there, champ.
mayday | May 24, 2008 | Reply
that kid did not sleep since he was born.. so he is obviously not normal… I found this.. proves that lacking of sleep will kill you
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1690
Pat | May 24, 2008 | Reply
Everyone knows the Philtrum is there to allow air into the beer bottle while you drink.
Ian | May 24, 2008 | Reply
I guess “angle lust” must’ve been what happened in geometry…
Guinness | May 25, 2008 | Reply
For those who SWEAR to the truth of these marathon-insomniacs, please submit them as an entry into our upcoming book. Thanks!
not tod | May 25, 2008 | Reply
Yeah flipping right Tod!
JG | May 26, 2008 | Reply
1) The dying from lack of sleep thing is ludicrous - cite your sources please.
2) If you’re going to publish something like this, for all of us to read, PLEASE check your grammar. Parts of this story were hard to read because of the mistakes.
Kate | May 26, 2008 | Reply
You can certainly die from lack of sleep. It is just not that common because the brain usually forces itself into a resting mode before shutting down completely.
Dont rule anything out obnoxiously in commentary before you check your facts.
Roger | May 27, 2008 | Reply
Without sleep, you do something dumb without thinking — like try to drive home. You get a couple miles down the road, fall asleep at the wheel, the car goes straight and veers into the path of an oncoming big rig truck.
If you’re not so lucky, you wake up as a quadriplegic.
If you’re lucky, you end up dead. So yeah, lack of sleep can definitely kill you.
Phoebe Chin | May 27, 2008 | Reply
haha nice one Pat
Phil Monroe | May 27, 2008 | Reply
Lack of sleep will kill you, it’s just that 99.9% of the time you just fall asleep. Now, being forced to stay awake with loud music, temperature extremes, stress positions, that will lead to death. (and that is why it is torture)
EL | May 27, 2008 | Reply
I can’t give the exact details but when I was at college the standard study was Jouvet’s artificial island to show that without REM sleep cats go mad and then die. It took about 2 weeks I think.
georger | May 27, 2008 | Reply
there’s only one way your brain rests and its called REM-sleep (when you dream). if you dont get rem you go crazy and your brain goes dead in a couple of weeks.
you dont trust me? dont be lazy. look for medical sites or some i-magazines related to medicine or dreaming.
thank you
Greg | May 28, 2008 | Reply
The boy who has been awake for three years is a sham. Yes, he hasn’t “gone to bed” per say, but his brain does shut down involuntarily, allowing the necessary rest.
It’s a documented fact that Albert Einstein was borderline insane. He had a similar condition: he would only sleep for about an hour a night his entire adult life. He said he couldn’t sleep because his brain never stopped thinking. He also forgot to wear his socks often and frequently forgot his own address and how to get home; his secretary had to give him directions numerous times.
Kortnee | May 29, 2008 | Reply
Tod. You’re full of crap. So I hope you were only issuing a painful attempt at being humorous.
The Times reports that: “The Guinness previous record was for 11½ days, or 276 hours, and was set by Toimi Soini in Hamina, Finland, between February 5 to 15, 1964.” However, Soini’s record was removed from the Guinness Book of Records in 1989. “It was deleted on the grounds that it could encourage records harmful to health and was unverifiable because of the claims of insomnia sufferers.”
germaine | Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
I told my friend yu get a erection even when yu die but can u still “bust”while yur died
-germaine a.k.a fresh_kiid13
PERCE-NEIGE | Jun 7, 2008 | Reply
First, excuse my approximate English. Yes! We can die from a lack of sleeping. The experiment have been made with animals. The immunity, the nervous system, the brain control upon hormon system are strongly weakened, and it may causes death within a period depending on the person until the system is exhausted. The sleep duration is less important than its quality. If you’ve got a quality relaxation during the sleep, are able to deeply relax during the daytime in order to renew your nervous energy stock, and depending on the structure of your sleeping phases, you may bypass some rest nights. Sure, it’s possible to have a large sleep debt and some individuals may be able to enter in a phase where their brain does the work it does during night, while awaken, but it is very scarce I think.
Mike Behnken, MS, CSCS | Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
The most amazing one is that you can survive without most of your organs…. not saying quality of life would be very high though.
Alan | Jun 16, 2008 | Reply
The philtrum is well known simbol to women
cant really tell you as it is secret ———
only for women to know. all I can say is it’s a good benefactor and sacrid for it’s purpose.we know are the sentients of life.(sorry)
some_dude | Jun 19, 2008 | Reply
are you kidding ! 30 days without sleep???
were you in Comma or something !!!
Gaje Master | Jun 23, 2008 | Reply
This was great. I love that the human body still amazes me.
Chetan | Jun 25, 2008 | Reply
Really interesting facts about our body, which are leser known..THANKS
rahima kuragari | Jul 3, 2008 | Reply
i really liked yur facs and pcs. even though i already knew #9!!!! nice job!!!!!!! ^_^
carlos man of love ^^ | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
aw that´s just impossible ! you´d be going nuts after 15 days!
Paunchiness | Aug 28, 2008 | Reply
An interesting list of facts about the body. Thanks. Some of them are gross, but hey people are pretty gross.
Kiefer | Sep 1, 2008 | Reply
Ok, i have some issues with #8. If hair is so indestructible where the hell is mine going ?
David, London | Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
6 doesn’t add up.
It says we lose 300m cells a minute, which is less than 0.0001% of the cells replaced every day.
Since a minute is 1/1440th of a day, the figure per minute should be about 0.07% of the cells we lose per day.
It still out by a factor of 10 if the original comment is per second.
Stephanie | Nov 12, 2008 | Reply
The philtrum is a sort of seam in your facial structure. When a fetus is in the womb, different parts of the face are formed and then fused together. Some people have cleft palates or lips because the two sides of their mouth never properly joined together, or didn’t finish in time. Between your nose and mouth is one place where different pieces of flesh connect.