Report Blog Entry
1. Heart can explode
Extreme pressure can make the heart rupture inside the chest.
Verdict: true, in a way. It's called myocardial rupture and it's a laceration of the ventricles of atria of the heart, of the interatrial or intraventricular septum, or of the papillary muscles. However, "explosion" is not a term commonly used in medicine and is an exaggeration of this condition, made to induce psychological distress in uneducated readers. I have to admit, it is often fatal though.
2. Nose can fall off
Infections and diseases have caused noses to rot away.
Verdict: true, in a way. Infections such as leprosy may cause the nasal tissues to fall off, but it's unlikely that all of the nose including the nasal bones, muscles and cartilage will fall off.
3. Brain shrinks at night
It temporarily shrinks while you sleep to clean toxins.
Verdict: true. However, this is primarily to avoid neural overload. It's not a bad thing, smaller brain =/= less intelligence.
4. Might have a twin inside you
Some people unknowingly carry their absorbed twin's cells.
Verdict: true.
5. You have a second brain
Your gut's nervous system works without your brain.
Verdict: true in a way. This is mostly an overexaggeration of how the gastric system behaves. However, the brain is essential for human existence and the gut cannot function optimally without your brain.
6. Nails keep growing
They appear to grow after death due to shrinking skin.
Verdict: contradiction. Just because something appears to be growing doesn't mean it actually is. As OP stated, it's the skin that's shrinking, not the nails that are growing. The cells need glucose to grow and nails don't have an available source of it post-mortem.
7. Skin can grow teeth
Rare conditions cause random body parts to sprout teeth.
Verdict: sort of true. It's usually a teratoma - a tumour - but it usually grows on the organs or other internal tissues.
8. Body has trillions of viruses
Most of them live inside you, and some of them alter your DNA.
Verdict: rather true. It's called the human virome and unless there's a pathogenic virus present, is usually harmless. Pretty sure I read that viruses outnumber the bacteria in our body. Some viruses, such as bacteriophages that infect pathogenic bacteria can be helpful. And yes, viruses can and did alter our DNA. While human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) can possibly increase odds of some diseases, they have manipulated our genome long ago. For example, human (and mammal in general) reproduction would likely not be the same if not HERVs. "Virus" is such a feared word because it's derived from the Latin word meaning "poison" and thus applied in the 30s (although theorised in the 1880s) to the first described type of virus - tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) - which doesn't even infect humans. Then it was associated with different viral diseases such as polio, yellow fever, Ebola, or respiratory infections (common cold, influenza, Middle-Eastern respiratory syndrome "MERS", severe acute respiratory syndrome "SARS", COVID-19), as well as rabies and AIDS caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, what we fail to realise that viruses can be pathogenic, but can also be neutral or even beneficial - just like bacteria.
9. Brain can forget how to breathe
Some neurological disorders shut off automatic breathing functions.
Verdict: true. This is how death from neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's, dementia, Creutzfeld-Jakobs disease, or even rabies) can occur.
10. Body produces cancer daily
Cells mutate constantly, but your immune system fights them.
Verdict: true. Take a moment to appreciate your immune system.
11. Body can grow a horn
Some people develop hard, keratin-based growths.
Verdict: technically true, but it's arguable whether it can be referred to as a horn or just looks like it. Horns are permanent and have a bony core.
12. Trees can grow in lungs
Inhaling a seed can make a tiny tree sprout inside your lung.
Verdict: true, but very rare, allegedly. There are reports of surgeons finding a 5cm fir tree inside a man, Artyom Sidorkin's, lung. There are not many studies on how the tree got in there.
13. Jaw can snap from yawning
Some cases of excessive yawning have resulted in broken jawbones.
Verdict: true, but rare. Of course too much force will cause an injury, but it is very rare, like most conditions on this list.
14. Eyes can develop worms
Certain parasites can live inside your eyeballs.
Verdict: contradiction. Eyes cannot develop worms on their own, since worms are not made out of humans. However, an eye can contract a parasite. Examples include: ecanthamoeba keratitis, toxoplasmosis, onchocerciasis, ocular toxocariasis, demodicosis, loiasis (African eye worm), gnatosthomiasis.
15. Brain feels no pain
It has no pain receptors, even during surgery.
Verdict: technically true. The brain does not have nociceptors, however technically your brain interprets the stimuli experienced by your neurons, which means that technically all your physical pain is projected by the brain to the nerves.
16. Body can reject your face
"Face blindness" makes people unable to recognise themselves.
Verdict: contradiction. The body will not physically reject the face, this is a psychological/neurological phenomenon. The brain is a physical part of the body, but your face will not fall off, you will just struggle to recognise your or/and other people's faces.
17. Allergic to touching water
Aquagenic urticaria makes skin break out from simple water contact.
Verdict: technically true. It's a dermatological reaction and it's debatable whether it can be considered an allergy, since the water inside internal organs does not cause issues, it's just the skin.
18. Second head can grow
A parasitic twin can develop inside or outside the body.
Verdict: contradiction. While a parasitic twin is a real phenomenon, the second head will not "grow" on you. What will emerge will not even be viable and will be surgically removed, unless we're talking conjoined twins.
19. Teeth can grow in weird places
Some tumours grow teeth, hair and even eyes.
Verdict: true. This applies to the teratoma I mentioned before.
20. You glow in the dark
Humans emit weak bioluminescence, but it's too faint to see.
Verdict: true. This is more of a topic for a physicist rather than a medic though.
21. Hole in your skull
Some diseases dissolve skull bones, leaving empty spaces.
Verdict: true. Particularly brain cancers like glioblastoma.
22. Eyeballs can pop out
Extreme pressure can force eyes out of their sockets.
Verdict: nearly impossible. The pressure would have to be really extreme and the national cushioning of surrounding tissue would have to be damaged.
23. Some have a second face
A rare condition causes a second face to form on the skull.
Verdict: true, but very rare. Usually fatal, individuals don't really live long. Some cases in humans include Lali Singh (10 March - 10 May 2008) who had 2 pairs of eyes, 2 noses and 2 pairs of lips and Faith and Hope Howie (8-27 May 2014).
24. Body grows new organs
Some people develop extra spleens, kidneys, or even hearts.
Verdict: wrong phrasing. Some people may be born with extra organs, but they develop with all the other ones and don't just grow out of the blue.
25. Sweat can turn red
Haematohidrosis makes sweat glands excrete actual blood.
Verdict: true.
26. Jaw can lock forever
A condition called tetanus can freeze your mouth shut.
Verdict: true. Tetanus is a bacterial infection commonly referred to as "lockjaw" for this very reason. It's not much of a threat nowadays due to vaccinations.
27. Liver can grow back
It's the only organ that regenerates almost fully.
Verdict: true.
28. Hair can turn to needles
A rare disorder makes hair stiff and sharp like glass.
Verdict: false. However there is a condition known as "uncombable hair syndrome". It makes the hair silvery, frizzy, wiry and dry, but doesn't make it into needles.
29. Skin can grow unhealing holes
Some disorders leave gaping holes that never close.
Verdict: technically true, but it would usually require a combination of conditions such as haemophilia and necrosis.
30. Fetus can keep cells in you
Mother's body keeps fetal cells for decades after birth.
Verdict: true.
31. Eyeballs can fill with blood
Sudden pressure can make eye vessels burst.
Verdict: true, but it's very unlikely that this will cause your hole eyeball to turn red.
32. You can grow a second tongue
Some growths can cause additional tongue tissue to form.
Verdict: unsure. It's more likely to be a defect you're born with or a result of a cosmetic surgery.
33. Bones can grow outside
Some people develop rogue bone growths in their muscles.
Verdict: true in a way. What you probably mean is fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, which is a rare medical condition which causes muscles, tendons and ligaments to calcify and become bone, particularly after injury as an immune reaction.
34. Skull had soft spots
As a baby, part of your skull were completely open.
Verdict: exaggeration. The fontanelles are covered with tissue to protect the brain and grow over untill around the 18th month of life.
35. Muscles can explode
Sudden contractions can cause muscles to rupture violently.
Verdict: true but rephrased. This is what causes torn muscles and hernias, but "explosion" is a bit of an overexaggeration.
36. Brain can melt
Certain infections can turn brain tissue into liquid.
Verdict: 50/50. The brain can melt under heat, however it's very unlikely that fever would be high enough to melt the brain.
37. Stomach can burst
Overeating can literally make your stomach split open.
Verdict: exaggeration. Your stomach won't burst all over the place, but there may be holes in it due to abdominal perforations.
38. You can grow an extra heart
Some rare cases involve people developing a second heart.
Verdict: false. Unless you are a conjoined twin.
39. Face can freeze in a smile
Nerve disorders can lock facial muscles in a permanent expression.
Verdict: false, unless facial paralysis is present.
40. Bones are alive
They constantly break down and rebuild inside your body.
Verdict: wrong term. Bones are part of a living organism, but aren't alive on their own.
Comments
Displaying 0 of 0 comments ( View all | Add Comment )