13 Random Health Facts You Never Knew

Plus many other scary and interesting facts

1) Motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunk drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding .08.

2) Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour.

3) In some parts of the world, they protect their babies from disease by bathing them in beer.

4) The word 'gymnasium' comes from the Greek word gymnazein, which means 'to exercise naked.'

5) There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee; of these, only 26 have been tested, and half caused cancer in rats.

6) The average American eats at McDonalds more than 1,800 times in his/her life.

7) There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.

8) According to U.S. FDA standards, 1 cup of orange juice is allowed to contain 10 fruit fly eggs, but only 2 maggots.

9) You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.

10) It is possible to go blind from smoking too heavily.

11) Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.

12) You are about 1 centimeter taller in the morning than in the evening.

13) During your lifetime, you'll eat about 60,000 pounds of food — that's the weight of about 6 elephants.

Scary Health Facts

·         It's not just coughs and sneezes that spread diseases. One single bacteria cell can multiply to become more than 8 million cells in less than 24 hours. Just imagine what's on the toilet door handle you just touched, the taps and even on other people's hands...

·         Flies can't eat solid food. They vomit on food to make it soft before sucking it back up. Flies will eat anything from poo, to your roast dinner. Speaking of poo, a typical bowel movement can contain up to 100 billion potentially disease-causing organisms some of which end up in the air and on the toilet even after flushing - even if the lid is put down. When you're cleaning special attention should be paid to anything likely to be touched or contaminated with feces. This includes lavatory seats, flush handles, door handles, wash basins, taps, floors, tiling, light switches, potties, baby-changing mats etc.

·         Airborn - Different viruses cause the common cold and flu, but both are spread through the air in tiny droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes. When you sneeze your body is getting rid of infected cells and an average sneeze will spread over 100,000 virus cells up to 30 feet. And, in case you were wondering, people suffering from a cold can spread the virus from two days before the symptoms of the illness start and up to four days afterwards. On average, adults catch two to three colds each year. School-age children can have twelve or more colds in a year.

·         Do not use eyeshadow if you have an eye infection as this will aggravate the problem. You could also pass the bacteria on to the eyeshadow with the applicator or your finger. And pay attention to how those suave mall makeup artists apply their products on your face. You don't want to get used tools. Which reminds us, never use lipstick if you have a cold sore, it will aggrivate the cold sore but, more importantly, the infection will be on the lipstick and you could re-infect your mouth. Ok, one more thing, never share mascara as this is the most common way to pass on eye infections such as conjunctivitis.

·         The wart virus is very contagious. The skin cells on the warts release thousands of viruses and touching the wart or skin cells on it releases the virus, which can then infect others. Similarly, 6-9 million Americans have toenail fungus. Protect your feet by keeping them clean and dry. Furthermore, a tiny flake of infected skin from a person with athlete's foot can fall off whilst showering. It may then be trodden on by others who can then develop the infection. Once a small patch of infection develops it typically spreads along the skin.

·         High heels over 1.5 inches could lead to broken and twisted ankles as well as knee and backstrain. Pointed shoes could lead to bunions and hammer toes.

·         Don't neglect your beard. If you do it will smell like a sweaty armpit. Dirty beards harbour the same smelly bacteria that live in smelly armpits. Human beards that aren't regularly maintained or groomed create the perfect environment for human lice.

·         Make sure you brush and floss your teeth twice a day to avoid plaque. Plaque produces smelly gasses and bacteria which lead to bad breath and gum disease.

More Enlightening Health Facts:

·         Medical researchers contend that no disease ever identified has been completely eradicated.

·         The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.

·         No one seems to know why people blush.

·         In 1972, a group of scientists reported that you could cure the common cold by freezing the big toe.

·         The number one cause of blindness in the United States is diabetes.

·         The adult human heart weighs about ten ounces.

·         People who laugh a lot are much healthier than those who don't. Dr. Lee Berk at the Loma Linda School of Public Health in California found that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones, and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds have it best - they laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

·         People who have a tough time handling the stress of money woes are twice as likely to develop severe gum disease, a new study finds.

·         Between 25% to 33% of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light.

·         Of the 206 bones in the average human adult's body, 106 are in the hands and feet. (54 in the hands and 52 in the feet)

·         In 1815 French chemist Michael Eugene Chevreul realized the first link between diabetes and sugar metabolism when he discovered that the urine of a diabetic was identical to grape sugar.

·         Approximately 16 Canadians have their appendices removed, when not required, every day.

·         Sumerians (from 5000 BC) thought that the liver made blood and the heart was the center of thought.

·         Men have more blood than women. 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.

·         The first Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. You made your own bandage by cutting off as much as you needed.

·         The human brain stops growing at the age of 18.

·         In 1977, a 13 year old child found a tooth growing out of his left foot.

·         According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 18 million courses of antibiotics are prescribed for the common cold in the United States per year. Research shows that colds are caused by viruses. 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.

·         It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.

·         The first known heart medicine was discovered in an English garden. In 1799, physician John Ferriar noted the effect of dried leaves of the common plant, digitalis purpurea, on heart action. Still used in heart medications, digitalis slows the pulse and increases the force of heart contractions and the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat.