DID YOU KNOW?
Some random Anatomy and Physiology trivia!
OOH, THAT SMELL!
Body odor comes from a second kind of sweat—a
fatty secretion produced by the apocrine sweat
glands, found mostly around the armpits,
genitals, and anus.
 (Yum! The odor is caused by bacteria on the skin
eating and digesting those fatty compounds.)

GOT THAT HEAD AND SHOULDERS?

Human dander can cause allergic rashes in dogs
and cats—and in other humans.
BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP…

An average adult's skin spans 21 square feet,
weighs nine pounds, and contains more than 11
miles of blood vessels.
NEVER SAY “DIE”!

There are at least 200 euphemisms for death,
including "to be in Abraham's bosom," "just add
maggots," and "sleep with the Tribbles" (a Star
Trek favorite).

Half of all human DNA originally came from
viruses, which infected and embedded themselves
in our ancestors’ egg and sperm cells.
THE TRIGGER OF DEATH, IN ALL CASES, IS
LACK OF OXYGEN.

Its decline may prompt muscle spasms, or the
"agonal phase," from the Greek word agon, or
contest
CHEW ON THIS…
Your stomach’s primary digestive juice,
hydrochloric acid, can dissolve metal, but plastic
toys that go down the hatch will come out the
other end as good as new. (A choking hazard is
still a choking hazard, though.)
 Same with crayons, hair, and chewing gum—all
of which will pass through within a few days, no
matter what you’ve heard.

WITHIN 3 DAYS OF DEATH, THE ENZYMES THAT
ONCE DIGESTED YOUR DINNER BEGIN TO EAT
YOU.

Ruptured cells become food for living bacteria in the
gut, which release enough noxious gas to bloat the
body and force the eyes to bulge outward
SO MUCH FOR RECYCLING!

Burials in America deposit 827,060 gallons of
embalming fluid—formaldehyde, methanol, and
ethanol—into the soil each year. Cremation
pumps dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide,
and carbon dioxide into the air.

For organs to form during embryonic
development, some cells must commit suicide.
Without such programmed cell death, we would
all be born with webbed feet, like ducks
WITHOUT A TRACE

Some people never develop fingerprints at all.
Two rare genetic defects, known as Naegeli
syndrome and dermatopathia pigmentosa
reticularis, can leave carriers without any
identifying ridges on their skin
WAITING TO EXHALE

In 1907 a Massachusetts doctor conducted an
experiment with a specially designed deathbed
and reported that the human body lost 21 grams
upon dying. This has been widely held as fact
ever since. It's not
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT?

The gastrointestinal tract is a 30-foot
tube running from your mouth to your
anus. Topologically, your gut has the same shape
as those doughnuts you regularly pass through it.
KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

The small intestine contains so many folds—
down to the microscopic level—that its total
surface area is about 2,700 square feet, enough to
cover a tennis court.

Fetuses don't develop fingerprints until three
months' gestation
A SHOT IN THE DARK…

Much of our basic understanding of gastric
physiology comes from the work of army surgeon
William Beaumont, who in 1825 observed the
digestive process by inserting food into an
unhealed gunshot wound in a French-Canadian
trapper’s stomach
MAYBE IT’S JUST THE COMPANY.

Tryptophan, an amino acid found in turkey, is
often blamed for post-meal drowsiness, but the
proteins in the meat largely neutralize it.
FEEL THE BURN!

The calories you burn simply digesting
food account for 5 to 15 percent of your energy
expenditure. Protein and alcohol require the most
energy.
EAT DIRT…

Pica, an eating disorder in which sufferers
develop an appetite for nonnutritive substances
such as paint and dirt, affects up to 30 percent of
young children. Its cause is unknown but possibly
linked to subtle mineral deficiencies.
VIRUSES ARE NOT ALIVE

They do not have cells, they cannot turn food into
energy, and without a host they are just inert
packets of chemicals.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC
SHEEP?

Dreaming is connected to bursts of electrical
activity that blow through the brain stem every
90 minutes during REM sleep. Over a lifetime,
an average person spends more than six years
dreaming, clocking more than 136,000 in all.
SURVEY SAYS…

Depending on gender and how active they are,
adults should eat 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day.
U.S. agriculture now produces 3,900 calories of
food per inhabitant per day.
HOLD THE ICE, PLEASE…

A seventh grader in Florida recently won her
school science fair by proving there are more
bacteria in ice machines at fast-food restaurants
than in toilet bowl water.
The total number of fat cells in your body
remains constant once you reach adulthood. Even
after radical weight-loss procedures such as
stomach stapling, fat cells return to their
presurgery numbers within two years.
 (Liposuction is the only way to actually reduce
the number of fat cells in your spare tire. Diet
and exercise just shrink them.)

A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW…

Our sensitivity to bitterness may have evolved to
protect us from poisons. Most toxic plant
compounds, such as strychnine and cyanide,
taste bitter.
BRAIN FOOD?

The brain is about 70 percent fat.

Fingerprints don’t actually help you “Get a
grip”… they actually reduce friction!
NO AMERICAN HAS DIED OF OLD AGE
SINCE 1951

That was the year the government eliminated
that classification on death certificates.
DON’T SWEAT IT!

The skin releases as much as three gallons of
sweat a day in hot weather. The areas that don't
sweat are the nail bed, the margins of the lips,
the tip of the penis, and the eardrums.
A WALK IN THE GRASS COULD TURN YOU
VEGAN.

Scientists have shown that tick bites can cause
the immune system to produce antibodies to
alpha-gal, a carbohydrate in beef, pork, and
lamb. These antibodies can induce allergic
reactions to meat.
B’AAA, HUMBUG!

A 2002 study by Oxford University researchers
concluded, brilliantly, that the traditional
practice of counting sheep is an ineffective cure
for insomnia. The mental activity is so boring
that other problems and concerns inevitably
surface.
I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD!

A six-year study of a million adults showed that
people who get only six to seven hours of sleep a
night have a lower death rate than those who get
eight hours.
CHEW ON THIS…

Your teeth cannot always stand up to your
mouth’s native population of bacteria, which
produce acids that leach calcium and phosphate
from the enamel—the process that leads to
cavities.
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

Globally, dead skin accounts for about a billion
tons of dust in the atmosphere. Your skin sheds
50,000 cells every minute.
THE HUMAN BODY IS HOME TO SOME 1,000
SPECIES OF BACTERIA.

There are more germs on your body than people
in the United States.
IT’S A MYTHTAKE…

Remember the tongue map you learned about in
junior high—the one showing taste receptors for
sweet flavors on the tip of the tongue, bitter in
the back, and sour on the sides? It’s totally
wrong.