Fascinating Medical Facts

1.Medical researchers contend that no disease ever identified has been completely eradicated.
2.The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
3.No one seems to know why people blush.
4.In 1972, a group of scientists reported that you could cure the common cold by freezing the big toe.
5.The number one cause of blindness in the United States is diabetes.
6.The adult human heart weighs about ten ounces.
7.People who laugh a lot are much healthier than those who don't. Dr. Lee Berk at the Loma Linda School of Public Health in California found that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones, and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds have it best - they laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
8.People who have a tough time handling the stress of money woes are twice as likely to develop severe gum disease, a new study finds.
9.Between 25% to 33% of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light.
10.Of the 206 bones in the average human adult's body, 106 are in the hands and feet. (54 in the hands and 52 in the feet)
11.In 1815 French chemist Michael Eugene Chevreul realized the first link between diabetes and sugar metabolism when he discovered that the urine of a diabetic was identical to grape sugar.
12.Approximately 16 Canadians have their appendices removed, when not required, every day.
13.Sumerians (from 5000 BC) thought that the liver made blood and the heart was the center of thought.
14.Men have more blood than women. Men have 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.
15.The first Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. You made your own bandage by cutting off as much as you needed.
16.The human brain stops growing at the age of 18.
17.In 1977, a 13 year old child found a tooth growing out of his left foot.
18.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 18 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed for the common cold in the United States per year. Research shows that colds are caused by viruses. 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
19.It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.
20.The first known heart medicine was discovered in an English garden. In 1799, physician John Ferriar noted the effect of dried leaves of the common plant, digitalis purpurea, on heart action. Still used in heart medications, digitalis slows the pulse and increases the force of heart contractions and the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat.
21.Blood is red only in the arteries after it has left the heart and is full of oxygen. Blood is a purplish, blue color in the veins as it returns to the heart, thanks to having picked up carbon dioxide and other wastes from the body's cells. In fact, your blood is red throughout only half your body. When cut, of course, the blood always appears red because it is instantly exposed to oxygen outside the body.
22.Contrary to popular belief, hemophiliacs do NOT bleed to death from minor cuts. This rare disease, which affects only males (it is carried by females, but they don't exhibit symptoms), involves an impairment in blood clotting—not an absolute inability to clot. Hemophiliacs today may take clotting serums and often lead fairly normal lives.
23.During his or her lifetime, the average human will grow 590 miles of hair.
24.The average Human bladder can hold 13 ounces of liquid.
25.You lose enough dead skin cells in your lifetime to fill eight five-pound flour bags.
26.Your thumb is the same length as your nose.
27.The storage capacity of human brain exceeds 4 Terrabytes.
28.The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland was a symbolic character for the hat makers in towns of the late 1800's. The large felt hats of the day had supports made out of lead. The lead caused an organic form of psychosis (brain damage) to develop in the hat makers causing them to be declared crazy.
29.Although your system cannot digest gum like other foods, it won't be stuck inside of you forever. It comes out with other waste your body can't use.
30.The substance that human blood resembles most closely in terms of chemical composition is sea water.