Tag Archives: medical facts

It is Possible for a Person’s Muscles and Other Connective Soft Tissues to Turn to Bone

Today I found out it is possible for your muscles and other connective soft tissues to turn to bone. The condition is known as Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) or “Stone Man Syndrome”. It affects an estimated 1 out of every 2 million people beginning when they are children, and to date there is no cure. The telltale sign of someone […]

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Why Do Olympians Wear Colored Tape?

J.Temple asks: Why are the Olympians wearing colored tape on random parts of their bodies? The colored tape the Olympians and other athletes wear is called “Kinesio® Tex Tape”, which is essentially just an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic, heat activated adhesive.  The tape was designed in the 1970s by a Japanese chiropractic and acupuncture specialist, Kenzo Kase. To […]

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Large Enough Quantities of Capsaicin (The Thing That Makes Peppers Hot) Can Turn Your Skin Blue

Large enough quantities of capsaicin may cause your skin to turn blue-ish, severely inhibit your breathing, cause convulsions, and possible eventual death.  However, the relatively small amount of capsaicin in peppers makes it unlikely you’d ever come in contact with enough of this to have this actually happen, unless someone sprayed a significant amount of law enforcement grade pepper spray […]

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Redheads are Harder to Sedate Than Any Other Group

redhead facts

Redheads are harder to sedate than any other group. Using most common anesthetics, they require on average about 20% more anesthesia.  They also have a higher tolerance for pain than ‘normal’ people. This is because the Melancortin 1 Receptor mutation that gives them red hair also triggers the excess release of Pheomelanin, which among other things stimulates a brain receptor […]

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Why Beans Give You Gas

Today I found out why beans give you gas. Beans contain a sugar molecule called ‘Oligosaccharides’. These types of sugars cannot be digested by the stomach or small intestine. They get passed on to the large intestine where numerous types of bacteria begin to break them down. During the process, the bacteria release several different types of gases, mainly hydrogen, […]

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What Causes Hiccups

Today I found out what causes hiccups. In medical terms, a hiccup can be called a hiccough, a synchronous diaphragmatic flutter, or singlutus. Hiccups are classified into three categories: normal, protracted or persistent, and intractable. Protracted are those hiccups that last over 48 hours, but not more than one month.  Intractable hiccups continue for more than one month. If hiccups […]

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How Scars Form

Today I found out how scars form. One of the main components of skin is a protein called collagen.  Skin collagen is primarily made from specialized cells called fibroblasts. After scab formation, fibroblasts that are hanging out under the surface of the skin will begin leaking into the clot just under the scab. Once the clot is sufficiently soaked with […]

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What Causes Headaches

Today I found out what causes headaches. There are approximately 200 different types of headaches, classified in two main groups: primary and secondary. There are in the neighborhood of 42 types of primary headaches and 157 secondary headaches (unless I lost count, but should you want to verify those numbers, or just need a sleep-aid, feel free to review the […]

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Where Birthmarks Come From

Today I found what causes birthmarks. There are several different types of birthmarks. What causes them is an excess of pigment cells (Melanoctyes), or an excess of blood vessels confined to one area of the skin.  Birthmarks caused by an excess of pigment in certain areas of the skin are known as pigmented birthmarks. The color of your skin is […]

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