The human body
If you’ve never
fallen in love before I suggest you study the human body. It is fascinating,
the more you learn the more you want to know and still you get surprised. Even
its most ‘ugly’ features are beautifully designed and intricately placed within
our bodies for their own specific purposes. Granted people won’t understand
them all because I actually don’t think we are meant to know it all, but
personally I think that mystery is what makes you seek to love it more.
We’ve all learnt the
mantra of moderation eating and regular exercise but there’s so much out there
what do you pay attention to? Being a regular reader of health magazines I
always gain the opportunity to add to the plethora of knowledge I gained from
studying biomedical science courses at University. Tough subjects yes, but all
the wealth of knowledge I gained. I could really talk about the human body for
ages, I have been known to get off topic and introduce random fun facts in
classes that leave my very young students baffled and confused all because of
the passion for this amazing gift we’ve been given. So instead of writing and
lending off on a tangent I’m supplying you with the fun facts.
Human Body 101
1. The heart has several ways to restart
itself. In order to understand this you must understand that the heart beats
through a series of electrochemical responses that move from the Sinoatrial
node to the Atrioventricular node, the Bundle of His and the Purkinje fibres.
Whoa, what a mouth full huh? Essentially typically when someone has a heart
attack the sinoatrial node may not be starting the heart’s beating process. So
the heart has backups…the atrioventricular node, Bundle of His and the Purkinje
fibres all can create a ‘kickstart’ for the heart if the Sinoatrial node isn’t
working; though they tire more quickly they are still effective. Essentially it
means it’s harder to have a heart attack than you think. Pretty cool huh?
2. Your brain controls your breathing. You
probably have heard this before, but anxiety over anything can be maintained by
thinking about your breaths which will in turn slow your breath. Hence
meditation is bliss.
3. Most scientific names for the body are
built on latin roots- understand their prefixes and suffixes and you’ll at
least get the location of the muscle. Eg: tibialis anterior (otherwise affected
by what we call shin splits) is the muscle located at the front of the lower
leg nearest the shin bone (tibia). Study made easy now right?
4. A man working on a railway a couple of
centuries ago was using a pick and it went through his head, he remained alive
to teach us that the frontal lobe (front part of the brain) is responsible for
our personality. Perhaps a brain transplant isn’t what someone needs? A pick is
pretty cheap these days. Ps: I’m not encourage violence, I’m just using poor
humour.
5. The body’s muscles contain fast and slow
twitch fibres. Their name indicates their ability to perform. Fast twitch
fibres are fast reacting muscle fibres (myofibrils), slow twitch are slow
reacting muscle fibres. Each person has a genetic makeup of fast and slow
twitch fibres, the more dominant fibre they contain the enhanced ability they
have to be sprinters or long distance runners. This explains the child/person
you know who throws in a lot of effort for running but gets nowhere (slow one-
literally). It also explains how one can ‘detrain’ themselves after a few weeks
on the couch. 10% of these fibres have the ability to morph into their opposite
fibre.
6. The body has the ability to work automatically
if a ‘motor program’ is made automatic. A motor program can include running,
hopping skills or could be the volleyball serve action. Hence ease is created
through training.
7. Red blood cells live for 7 days. They are
created in the bone marrow and are recycled by the body after their death.
Removal of red blood cells (eg donating blood) is beneficial to create fresh
new stocks of blood and it can increase energy levels. So get donating!
8. It takes fewer muscles to frown than it
does to talk- perhaps that’s why some people are good at being grumpy.
9. Old people pass out on toilets when doing
number 2’s because it is your body’s reaction to hold its breath whilst ‘dropping
the kids off at the pool’.
10. Nerves can regenerate themselves if damaged
but only at 1mm per year.
Now don’t ever say
you didn’t learn something new. Unless of course you knew all of this- perhaps
then yes. Hahaha.
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