From Fun to Unbelievable: Medical Trivia!

If you are reading this blog, most likely you have a passion or love for medicine, just like the rest of us! However, how much do you really know? For instance, perhaps you are able to name many different bones in the human body, but did you know that the longest and largest bone in the body is the femur or thigh bone? Let’s put your medical knowledge to the test and learn some fun medical trivia!

Laughter is the best medicine!

We have all heard the saying “laughter is the best medicine.” This idiom comes from a Proverb stating “a merrie heart doth good like medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” While this is still an idiom, we can still take this advice to a literal sense! Laughter actually comes with physical benefits. For instance, it can help decrease stress hormones and it can also release endorphins. There are many other benefits that come with laughter, so make sure you take your daily dose of laughter!

The medical drama “Gray’s Anatomy” comes from a textbook in 1858 based on dissections performed on unclaimed corpses

Yes, you read that right! This book was published by Henry Gray, a British anatomist and surgeon, and Henry Vandyke Carter, an English anatomist, surgeon, and anatomical artist. This work is today regarded as one of the most comprehensive accounts of current anatomical understanding available. So, when we usually say “Gray’s Anatomy,” while most people think of the medical drama, no one knows about this influential textbook.

Asclepius was the ancient Greek God of medicine

In ancient Greek mythology, Asclepius was the son of Apollon and the Trikkaian princess, Koronis. He was raised by the centaur Kheiron who taught him the art of medicine. Asclepius became so skilled in this craft that he was even able to restore the dead to life. However, this resurrection was a crime against the natural order so Zeus, the God of thunder, killed Asclepius. Asclepius was very influential in health in medicine. He had exceptional skills in surgery and he was knowledgeable in different drugs. Additionally, Asclepius carried a rod with a snake wrapped around it. The snake symbolized a snake bite which was difficult to cure. However, Asclepius was known to be able to heal a snake bite. Even today, the rod with the snake is a symbol of physicians throughout the world.

The skin is the largest organ in the human body

The skin covers your entire body and it makes up 16% of your overall body mass. In fact, in an average adult human, the skin has a surface area of about 19 square feet.

People who dream more often and more vividly have higher I.Qs. and receive better quality sleep

Psychologists and scientists have found this connection, however, the understanding of this is still not quite complete. Psychologists have a theory that people with higher intelligence will tend to dream more. This is because they will think of many problems before bedtime, leading them to constantly strengthen their memory and make it easier to dream afterwards. Additionally, the brain is always in a state of excitement, so subconscious information can be repeatedly output in the brain. However, just because you do not dream as much does not make you less intelligent! This is simply a connection observed by the psychology community so if you do not have many dreams, do not feel discouraged!

Your heartbeat changes depending on the music you’re listening to

This is a very fascinating concept confirmed by an experiment. This experiment involved 23 individuals and some interactive music. The results of the experiment show that the music did indeed affect the patients’ heart rates. It showed that more fast-paced music increased heart rate while more calming, slow music decreased their heart rate. Next time you listen to music, maybe try measuring your heart rate to two different songs and compare the results!

You are taller in the morning and get shorter as the day goes on

This may sound a bit strange, but the anatomy behind this can explain. Since you are normally upright all day, whether from standing or sitting, the discs in your spine get compressed. As a result, you get shorter throughout the day. However, when you lie down and sleep, your spine decompresses, adding onto some of your height. Try measuring yourself in the morning and again in the night and see if there is any difference!

Humans share 60% of their DNA with bananas

We have all heard that we share about 98% of our DNA with chimps and primates. However, did you know we share over half our DNA with bananas? We both have many genes necessary for basic cellular functions. This includes DNA replication, control of the cell cycle, and cell division. Not only do we share many common characteristics in our DNA with bananas, but we have many commonalities with chickens and fruit flies as well.

The brain itself does not feel pain

We have all experienced some sort of pain before, whether it is from a cut, a broken bone, or some other kind of injury. However, while the brain sends signals so we can feel pain, the brain itself actually cannot feel pain. This is because there are no nociceptors located directly on the brain tissue. As a result, many neurosurgeons are able to operate on the brain tissue without causing any sort of discomfort towards the patient. In fact, oftentimes operations are performed with the patient fully awake.

The word “muscle” comes from the Latin term meaning “little mouse”

This may seem ironic seeing the contrast between the word “muscle” and its etymology. However, it got its name as many people believed the shape of some muscles resembled the look of mice. Whether you can see that resemblance or not will be up to you!

There you go! These are ten different fun pieces of medical trivia! We hope you learned something new or interesting in this blog. Also, we encourage you to research more if you are interested as there is still much more to explore!