10 Crazy Facts About The Human Body

#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.