Health

Disturbing Facts About Our Bodies that People Probably Don’t Want to Know

9. Mites Can Live On The Human Eyelash You have heard about a tiny insect called a mite. They tend to be so small that they… Trista - July 20, 2021

9. Mites Can Live On The Human Eyelash

You have heard about a tiny insect called a mite. They tend to be so small that they are nearly impossible to see. In fact, mites are almost invisible. Some people will state that they benefit the world as they live in soil and aren’t dangerous to humans or animals. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly true. Some mites can cause allergies and mites that can live on humans and cause problems.

Fortunately, not all species of mites can live on humans. The two types of mites that can live on humans are the Demodex folliculorum and Demodex Brevis. Like most mites, they are microscopic. They live on humans because they feed off of dead skin cells. They can also travel from one person to the next, as long as the humans have close contact or share things like makeup or sunglasses. One stomach-turning fact about these mites is that they can live on your eyelashes, and you won’t even know it – until they become overcrowded, which is when skin problems occur.

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8. Humans Can Have Prion Disease For Up To 50 Years And Not Know It

If you were alive during the early 2000s, you might remember something called Mad Cow Disease, which hit the United States and British beef market pretty hard. In fact, many people stopped eating beef during this time because they were afraid of getting Mad Cow Disease. It happens when you eat tainted beef that can cause a brain disorder known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Unfortunately, this disease is untreatable and also known to be fatal. What is scary to think about – and stomach-turning – is that this disease can live in you for 50 years.

The biggest problem is that you won’t have any symptoms, nothing to lead you or a professional to believe that you might have this disease or another variant of mad cow disease. One reason is that this is a prion disease. Basically, it is a neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by abnormally folded proteins in the brain. When the disease takes hold of your brain, it will affect your behavior, movement, and memory. Usually, the first signs of this disease, even 50 years later, are hallucinations and depression. From there, people usually develop dementia and lose their motor control.

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7. The Body Of The Fetus Is Usually Covered By A Certain Type Of Hair In Utero

Scientists and other professionals have proven that some pretty strange things start to happen to the human body prior to birth. That’s right. Even a fetus makes this list as they have their own facts that will make your stomach turn. However, it’s also for good reason. For instance, there is a type of hair that tends to cover the body of the fetus. While this hair is usually not noticed during the pregnancy, it’s a softer hair that will cover the whole fetus, and it’s called lanugo.

This hair tends to show up on the fetus about five months after gestation. It’s not a bad thing, so if you ever notice it or are at this point in your pregnancy now, there is nothing to worry about. It is actually there to help protect the fetus against chafing. Lanugo usually falls off the fetus around the 8-month mark as it is absorbed into the amniotic fluid. Of course, this does mean that the fetus drinks it. However, there is a chance that a fetus is born with the lanugo hair still present on their bodies.

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6. It Is Possible To Be Allergic To Water

There are many things that a person can be allergic to, such as chocolate or dairy. People can also be allergic to dust or struggle with what is commonly known as seasonal allergies. These are common facts that people don’t usually think about and wouldn’t make this list of stomach-turning points. However, when you start looking into the fact that some people are allergic to water, it becomes a little more stomach-turning because, well, there are many reasons, but number one is you need water to live.

The second part of why being allergic to water makes this list is that aquagenic urticaria can happen while rare. It’s a burning and itching that occurs when someone comes into contact with water. If someone has this allergy, they can not only be set off by the shower or swimming pool but even rain and snow. Basically, anything that has water or is made up of water. Yes, this also means their own tears. Because research is limited, not much is known about this disease, but most people have it just deal with it because they need water.

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5. Children Tend To Grow Their Quickest In The Summer Months

It’s probably time to take a little break from the grossest stomach-turning facts that you have ever read and focus more on something that makes you smile. That goes double if you have little mini-me’s running around your house as you read. You know that children tend to grow quickly, but did you know that they develop their fastest during the warm summer months? That’s right, as soon as the temperature outside starts to spike, so do your children. Of course, you probably won’t notice too much unless you measure the height of your kids often because it is usually a slow, steady growth.

In fact, an associate professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Joseph Gigante, discusses that it is a gradual growth. However, it is also more constant than their gradual growing throughout the colder months of the year. Dr. Gigante told CNN about the topic. He said, “Although we don’t have a good explanation for it, children seem to grow fastest in the summer and slowest in the fall.” Therefore, there is no stomach-turning reason why this happens. So far, it simply just does. You can try it yourself. Take your child’s height right now and then again when it starts to get colder, and see how much they grew in these few months!

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4. Scars That Healed Opened Back-Up Due To Scurvy

If you remember anything from history class, it’s probably something about an awful disease that killed thousands of people – enter scurvy. This disease was common during the 18th century, especially on ships. In fact, you might have thought about the old pirate adventures when you saw the term. A deficiency causes scurvy in vitamin C, which happens when people don’t get enough fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, it took several decades to make this connection, so many people contracted the disease.

To make this disease more stomach-turning, it affects the body’s ability to produce collagen. Therefore, tissue and cartilage in your body begin to break down. When this happens, bones that were once broken but then healed could fail again. However, the symptoms of scurvy didn’t stop there as it also made its way to the skin. Yes, wounds that had once closed and healed would reopen and start to bleed again. People also dealt with bleeding gums and losing their teeth. I am pretty sure you are now noticing how much vitamin C you have had recently…

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3. Even Though Bones Break, They Are Stronger Than Steel

What? Do you need to read that again? Yes, even though your bones break, they are known to be stronger than steel. It is probably hard to believe, especially if you have lived through a broken bone or two. You often feel that they break pretty easily because, well, you can jump off the back of a school bus and break an ankle. You can also slide down the stairs and break a leg. It’s all possible, and this would make you think that they’re not stronger than something like steel, but it’s true. Trust it. We’re not trying to pull your leg.

In fact, your bones are so strong that Discover Magazine is noted for saying, “ounce for ounce, our bones are stronger than steel.” The truth of the matter is, or the reason why this saying came to be, is because your bone has a greater pressure tolerance than the steel rod of the same width as your bone. Therefore, you have a wider steel rod than your bone, the saying won’t stand its ground, and the steel will be stronger than your bone. Furthermore, the strongest bone you have in your body is your femur, which can support up to 30 times the weight of an average human!

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2. The Next Time You Have Hiccups, Try A Rectal Massage

Yes, you probably want to re-read that if you haven’t already. However, you also want to realize that this is genuinely a stomach-turning fact. There is a proven scientific cure for hiccups, and, no, it is not holding your breath or drinking water. If you have ever tried these two factors, you have probably realized that they don’t usually work. However, what does work is receiving a rectal massage. How did the doctors find out about this cure? Well, when one 60-year-old man’s hiccups wouldn’t disappear, they tried this unusual method, and it worked.

Now, hiccups are usually minor inconveniences because we swallow air too quickly. However, there are stories out there that discuss how people have had hiccups for hours, days, even years. There are many tales about how people tried to get rid of these hiccups. However, few have read a medical journal that discussed the massage. As the journal states about the 60-year-old, “Digital rectal massage was then performed, resulting in abrupt cessation of the hiccups.” And yes, it worked again when his hiccups returned. So the next time you have hiccups, and you feel that they won’t go away, you have this stomach-turning fact to think about.

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1. Half Of Your Hand Strength Is Held In Your Pinkie Finger

Did you ever make a pinkie promise with your friend when you were younger? After reading this fact about your body, you will probably think those promises were a little stronger than you initially thought. Your pinkie finger looks like the weakest finger on your hand. Nevertheless, it holds at least half of the strength of your whole hand. Think about how you sometimes carry groceries. Come on. We’ve all been there. You are trying to carry in as many bags as you can, and sometimes you realize that your pinkie finger or your smaller two fingers can hold more than your larger two fingers.

That is because they can, due to the strength of your little pinkie. The reason for this is because the strength of your pinkie grows with everything you do with it, even though you don’t realize it. For example, your pinkie will help your thumb pinch. It constantly supports your other fingers when trying to do something, even though it is much smaller. A hand therapist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, Laurie Rogers, told The New York Times that losing your pinkie would mean a lot. She said, “You’d lose 50 percent of your hand strength.” That’s a lot of strength to lose for a small part of your hand!

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