17 impressive facts about our bodies

It’s been a common belief that about 1 in 10 of the cells in your body are actually human. The rest cells are made up of microbes that live on you, and inside of you. They consist of bacteria and viruses, along with other micro-organisms. However, recent studies suggest that the ratio is closer to 50/50!

They live on your eyelashes! These creepy microscopic creatures live in the hair follicles and pores of your face, and particularly love eyelashes, where they feed on oils and dead skin cells. They like to come out at night to mate and reproduce. However, if they multiply too much, they can cause skin and eye irritation.

Most people have about 5 million hair follicles on their bodies. That’s about 3 times more than a gorilla! The difference is that human body hair is a lot finer, therefore it is a lot less noticeable. If you have excessive body hair, you’ll be pleased to know that it has been linked to a higher intellect.

There are many more blood types than you think. The International Society of Blood Transfusion recognizes 29 human blood group systems. The most rare blood type is the Bombay blood group. It is mostly found in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of Middle East such as Iran.

While many people find earwax to be disgusting, it is actually a very important part of your ears’ defense system. It protects the delicate inner ear from bacteria, fungus, dirt and even insects. It also cleans and lubricates the ear canal. However, excessive earwax needs to be addressed.

While the brain might be the pain center when you hurt yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain. However, the brain is surrounded by lots of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are receptive to pain, and can give you a pounding headache nonetheless.

A certain type of tumor, called a teratoma, is made up of cysts that contain embryonic cell layers. Teratomas have been reported to contain hair, teeth, bone, and on rear occasions eyes, hands, feet and other limbs.

Unless you are an identical twin, as part of that smell is determined by genetics, you have a unique smell. However, your individual smell is also largely due to dietary and environmental factors. Personal hygiene products play a role in creating your unique scent as well.

Your pet isn’t the only one in your house that sheds. The average human scalp has 100,000 hairs, and the lifespan of a human hair is about 3 to 7 years. Every day you lose about 50-100 strands of hair. But don’t worry, you need to lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it becomes apparent to others.

Each of your feet has at least 250,000 sweat glands and is capable of producing more than a pint of sweat per day. However, the sweat itself does not make your feet stink. The bad odor is actually caused by bacteria on the skin that thrive in sweaty conditions.

In order for foods, or anything else, to have a taste, chemicals from the substances must be dissolved by saliva. Try it for yourself! Dry off your tongue and then taste something.

Your immune system kills off at least one “would-be cancerous cell” every day. This gets compromised when the immune system becomes weak, ineffective or the cancer cells are developing at such a high rate, that the body cannot kill the cells fast enough.

Bones stop growing shortly after puberty, and muscle and fat cell division decreases as you age. But cartilage in your ears and nose continues to grow until the day you die. Not only does cartilage grow, the earlobes also elongate from gravity.

We produce far more gas than we realize. That is because most of it actually does not smell. The average person releases gas about 14 times a day, and that can add up to between 1 and 3 pints of gas per day.

Older individuals tend to lose their ability to taste, and many find that they need much more intense flavoring in order to be able to fully appreciate a dish. Maybe you shouldn’t trust grandma’s cooking too much after all?

It is a myth that everybody living farther than six inches from the equator has heard before. The notion that temperature alone can lead to colds and flu illnesses has passed around for well over 100 years and has been proven completely wrong.

This idle threat has been around since Tvs were first invented and is rumored to have been started by a doctor who linked distance from a screen with epilepsy in the 1970s. The truth is, most families just used it as a way to get their kid’s big head out of the way.