Random Fact #55

Sperm containing the X chromosome create a female and Y male.  It is theorized that there are more males born because the Y chromosome sperm is smaller and and can swim faster.  That's right guys are the result of faster swimmers.

Random Fact #54

Symptoms of syphilis go through 3 stages.  The symptoms sometimes go untreated and the third stage can cause serious neurological impairment.  It is thought that mental hospitals at one time had many third stage syphilis patients.  Al Capone went crazy with it.

Random Fact #53

                        There are approx 1.2 billion people worldwide infected with the roundworm parasite.

                         

Random Fact # 52

Every year there are 25,000 babies born with a heart defect.
Trav you aren't that special.

Random Fact #51

It is estimated that 1/4 pregnancies end in miscarriage.  Most of these pregnancies end in the first few days after conception and most are due to chromosomal defects.

Random Fact # 50

There are 300 trillion neuronal connections in the cortex of the brain. Counting one connection per second it would take you 30 million years to finish. 

Random Fact #49

Parasitic infection causes an immune response in the body to help combat the invader. In Canada and the US parasite infection are very rare and therefore we do not have the heightened immune response.  It is thought that some diseases like irritable bowel syndrome and some food allergies are because we do not have this immune memory, caused by fighting the parasite.  This is now opening the idea to purposefully infect a person with a weakened parasite in hope that the body will kill the parasite and up their own immune response.

Random Fact #48

80% of humans are left brain dominant for language.  This means that if an injury occurs on the right side of the brain, in which the language area is damaged, only 20% of people will be unable to speak.  There is also a language comprehension area that is located on the dominant side, at the back of the brain.  So potentially, the language are could be damaged but the comprehension area is fine (they have different blood supplies).  If this is the case the person will be able to understand what is said but be unable to communicate a response.

Random Fact #47

There are an estimated 250 trillion nerve connections in the human brain.

Random Fact #46

In the auditory association areas of the brain, there are thought to be single nerves that correspond a single word. For instance, there would be one nerve for the word no, one nerve for more, and one nerve for shopping. The way certain people process that information, however, is greatly different.

Random Fact #45

It is much nicer to open up the stomach and small intestine when there is no food in it.  Thanks Helen for not eating for 12 hours before you died.

Random Fact #44

In the United States, the cost of a quadruple bypass surgery costs approx $100,000.

Random Fact #43

A mothers and babies blood never mix during pregnancy.  At the placenta, the nutrients diffuse out of moms blood vessels and into the babies.  It works similarly to a heat exchanger.

Random Fact #42

Alfred Nobel spent a great majority of his life trying to turn the very volatile substance nitrogylceride into a stable form.  He finally created dynamite and earned a fortune from it (from which he started the Nobel prizes).  The irony is that he developed a heart disease and the doctor prescribed him nitrogylcerine (when used in small doses it acts as a vasodilator) the very substance he tried for years to convert to a stable form.

Random Fact #41

10% of sperm are deformed.  The most common deformities are two heads or two tails.

Random Fact #40

Helen was a good candidate for this mid saggital head hemidisection because she didn't have teeth.  Using a hacksaw (the fine tooth blade doesn't chew up the soft tissue ie tongue) we were able to cut easily through the bones of the skull and vertabrae.  Apparently the teeth are very hard and difficult to saw through.  

Random Fact #39

Vitamin K is naturally synthesized in the gut.  However right after birth the child's body can not produce enough vitamin K as is needed.  That is why it is law in every State/ Province for the child to receive a vit K shot after birth.

Random Fact #38

Study sessions, with they guys, aren't as productive without Michelle's delicious homemade cookies.  Hopefully I'll still pass biochem.

Random Fact #37

University of Western States needs a campus bar.

With the completion of the new anatomy building, I think they should turn the old anatomy building into a bar and  name it, "The Morgue."  The joke will be to walk in and say, "it's sure dead in here."

Random Fact #36

To view the muscles around the eyeball, you take a hammer and crack the frontal bone above the orbit.  You then can peel the bone away like you would a hard boiled egg.

Random Fact #35

Your lower teeth are innervated by one nerve.  Your upper teeth are innervated by a few different nerves.  So if you go to the dentist and have to get work done on your lower teeth you only need one needle for freezing.  Your upper teeth need multiple needles to freeze all the nerves.

Random Fact #34

If you could take all the capillaries in your circulatory system and link them together it would stretch for 50,000 miles.  That would go around the earth twice.

Random Fact #33

There are 6 muscles in the orbit that control eye movement.

Random Fact #32

A hammer and chisel are appropriate tools in the anatomy lab when breaking though the spinal vertebra to expose the spinal cord.  Apparently being the son of a carpenter paid off as I was complemented on my chiseling capabilities.

Random Fact #31

Your tear duct (lacrimal duct) is located in the upper outside part of your eye socket. Tears are produced and move across the eye via blinking to the bottom inside part of the eye socket. Here tears drain through a series of ducts into the nasal cavity. This is why, when you cry, your nose runs with a mixture of saliva and tears.

Random Fact #30

Veins push blood back to the heart by surrounding muscles contracting and moving the blood. The Great Saphenous Vein is surrounded by fat in your leg and can not use the leg muscles to move the blood.  The vein therefore has a muscular wall that can contract to move the blood.  This vein is not crucial and can be harvested and used in cardiac bypass surgery.

Random Fact #29

DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is the muscle pain that you have 24-72 hours after strenuous exercise.  The pain is caused by micro tears in the muscle tissue and not lactic acid accumulation.  Lactic acid does form during extreme exercise and can lead to muscle fatigue but is usually flushed from the tissue 30 minutes post exercise.  So to all the coaches who, after a game, would make us run to flush out the lactic acid  I say..... "thanks for nothing."

Random Fact #28

ATP is a high energy bond that is needed for muscle contraction.  ATP can be produced without oxygen and so after death ATP can still be produced for a short period of time.  This allows muscle contractions to occur even after death.  This phenomenon is known as rigor mortis.  It has been noted that sometimes there can be such a strong muscle contraction that the body will actually move post mortem.

Random Fact #27

Every second your body produces 2 million new red blood cells

Random Fact #26

Rickets is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin D in the body.  This disease causes softening of the bone and the legs bow to try and support the weight of the body.  The disease is common in the underdeveloped world, where vitamin D is not as prevalent in the diet.  In North America, rickets is rare, however children who are always inside and never exposed to sunlight may also be susceptible to rickets.  

Random Fact #25

The Thyroid gland in the largest endocrine gland in the body weighing between 40-60 grams.  During fetal development it starts as little buds on the back of the tongue.  As it grows it migrates down the front of the neck and settles in front of the trachea leaving a duct along the way.  After birth the duct usually disappears however sometimes pieces of the duct remains and may become thyroglossal cysts.

Random Fact #24

Bilirubin is an important chemical that is responsible for the breakdown of red blood cells in the body.  It further breaks down and is responsible for the yellow color (notice the american spelling) in bruises, the brown color in feces and the amber color in urine.

Random Fact #23

"When testing flexion and extension of the Sacroilliac joint make sure to not to play piano on the patients rear end.  This is how lawsuits happen."

Dr. McCaffery.