How many vertebrae does a human being have? A: 33--7 cervical, 12 thoracic (or dorsal), 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 4 caudal (or coccygeal).
How many bones are there in the human wrist? A: Eight.
What is the body's largest organ--by weight? A: The Lungs. Together they weigh about 42 ounces. The right lung is two ounces heavier than the left, and the male's lungs are heavier than the female's.
What is the longest muscle in the human body? A: The sartorius, which runs from the pelvis across the front of the thigh to the top of the tibia below the knee.
How many miles of nerves are there in the adult human body? A: 45.
What is your buccal cavity? A: The inside of your mouth.
How many pints of air per minute does the average adult use during normal quiet breathing? A: Almost 13 pints, or 6 liters.
How long is the average adults spinal cord? A: From 17 to 18 inches. It's weight minus membranes and nerves, is about 1-1/2 ounces.
What bacterium is named for German pediatrician Theodor Escherich? A: E. coli. The E is for Escherichia, after its discoverer, who first identified the bacteria in 1885 and called it Bacterium coli commune. It was given its current name in 1919.
How did scientist Louis Pasteur make sure the food he was served at the homes of his friends was safe to eat? A: He checked it with a portable microscope he carried with him.
Where in the human body is the only bone that is not connected to another bone? A: In the throat, at the back of the tongue. It's the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone, which supports the tongue and its muscles. Also known as the lingual bone, it is suspended by ligaments from the base of the scull.
How often does the epidermis, the outer layer of our skin replace itself? A: About once every four weeks.
Before surgical dressings of gauze and cotton were introduced, what was commonly used to cover wounds in American hospitals? A: Pressed sawdust.
What was the first human organ to be successfully transplanted? A: The kidney. Dr. Richard H. Lawler performed the transplant in 1956 in Chicago. His patient, Ruth Tucker, lived for five years with her new kidney.
How many miles of blood vessels are there in the average human body? A: About 62,000.
How many fat cells does the average adult have? A: Between 40 and 50 billion.
What is the skin that peels off after a bad sunburn? A: Blype.
What is a perfusionist's role in a hospital operating room? A: Running the hear-lung machine during open-hear surgery. The machine keeps the patient's hear pumping while it removes carbon dioxide from the blood and adds oxygen to it.
There are two atria in the human body--where are they? A: In the heart. They are the two upper chambers (auricles) that receive the blood from the veins and pump it into the two lower chambers (ventricles).
What do the letters CAT represent in CAT scan--the three dimensional composite image that can be taken of the body, brain or lungs? A: Computerized axial tomography.
What system of healing did Canadian-born grocer Daniel David Palmer formally introduce in Davenport, Iowa, in September 1895? A: Chiropractic medicine. Although new at the time, the principles upon which chiropractic medicine was based can be traced back to the earliest physicians--including Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.). Palmer created the name "chiropractic" by combining the Greek words for hand, cheir, and practical of (or efficient). praktikos.
What does the acronym DSB mean to a hospital worker? A: Drug-seeking behavior. The designation is used for a patient or wannabe patient who is complaining of a bogus ailment in an attempt to get narcotics.
Do identical twins have identical fingerprints? A: No. No two sets of prints are alike, including those of identical twins.
What is the name of the protein--the most abundant in the human body--that holds our skin together? A: Collagen.
How much saliva does the average human produce daily? A: One quart.
How many muscles are there in the human ear? A: Six.
What is the average lifespan of a red blood cell in the normal human body? A: Four months.
How many bones are there in the human hand? A: 27.
What is N2O--nitrous oxide--more commonly called? A: Laughing gas.
What physical symptom is exhibited by those who suffer from blepharospasms? A: Uncontrollable winking.
