Interesting Facts About The Skeletal System |
Your bones are much more than a coat hanger for your skin. If you didn't have bones, you would be a sack of organs that moved like a worm.
- Bones have two primary purposes in your body. Some provide structure like the backbone that allows you to stand up tall and straight. Other bones are protective which means that they guard the soft delicate inside parts of your body. Good examples of protective bones are your ribcage that protects your heart and lungs and your skull, which acts like a helmet for your brain.
- Our skeleton gives us stature and contributes to our shape (everyone is a little different). Bones also have two other important functions, movement and collection of minerals. Your bones are storage centers for certain minerals, most importantly calcium and phosphate.
- In movement, skeletal muscles are attached to bones and use the bones as levers to move the body and all of its parts. Your legs allow you to walk and your arms are used to pick up things and carry them. Take a moment and look at your arm. Try to imagine the muscles in your arm and hand manipulating the bones to make them move when working to type on your computer or to move the mouse.
- Did you know that your bones are alive? Bones are made up of lots of living cells that help them grow and repair themselves. If they weren't alive, broken bones would never mend and we would all be in trouble! These living cells are constantly working to deposit hardened material in the bones to help them grow or repair breaks. Many bones are also hollow. Hollow bones are strong and light. There is a substance inside of the hollow bones called marrow. Marrow is the place in your body that makes new red and white blood cells. I bet you didn't know that your skeleton was so important!
Did you also know?
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You were born with over 300 bones. As you grow, some of these bones will fuse together, resulting in only 206 bones in your adult body.
- The human hand has 27 bones.
- The face has 14 bones.
- The longest bone in your body is the femur (thighbone). The femur is about 1/4 of your height.
- The smallest bone in the human body is the Stapes bone (stirrup) in the middle ear which is approximately 1/10 of an inch.
- The human body has over 230 moveable and partially moveable joints in the body.
submitted by: Amy Hendrickson, Eastern NC AHEC, TeleHealth Program Coordinator 6-99
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Interesting Facts About The Spine |
Your Spine is a column of strong bones, which house the spinal cord. It is not a rigid, stiff stack of bones. Instead, your spine or Vertebral column is made up of 26 irregularly shaped bones that connect into a flexible and curved structure. Extending from the base of the skull to the back of your pelvis, the spine serves as the support for your body. The spine also serves as the protection for the spinal cord.
- Q: An infant has 33 vertebrae...do you know what happens to nine of them?
A: Nine of the vertebrae fuse into 2 bones, the tailbone (4) and the back of the pelvis (5) leaving 26 vertebrae in the child and adult.
- In between each vertebra are discs of cartilage. These discs are very elastic and compressible much like rubber. Providing cushion during running, walking, jumping, and other spine twisting exercises is their main function. They allow the spine to be flexible. The spinal discs account for 25% of the length of the spine.
- The spinal column sounds pretty impressive and strong but your spine actually needs help to stand up straight. Think of your spine as a tall tower needing anchor wires to hold it in place. Ligaments and trunk muscles hold it in place. The ligaments run from the sides of the spine to the neck and the back of the pelvis (sacrum).
- The spinal cord is housed inside the spine. The spinal cord is a complex bundle of nerves that provides a 2-way conduction pathway for the brain. The spinal cord runs from just below your last rib to the base of the skull where it merges with the brain stem. The spinal cord is about 17 inches of glistening white fibrous material, which is constantly bathed in cerebrospinal fluid. The spine is approximately the width of a thumb with larger areas between the shoulder blades and at the base (just below the last rib).
- Did you know that 97% of the other creatures on earth don't have a backbone? Those animals with a backbone are very similar in that they all have a skull, a rib cage surrounding their heart and lungs, a jawbone and a mouth.
submitted by: Amy Hendrickson, Eastern NC AHEC, TeleHealth Program Coordinator 6-99
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Interesting Facts About The Brain |
The brain has been well hidden beneath its bony skull and away from science for many centuries. Thankfully, we know a lot more about it now and are learning more and more everyday through scientific research.
- Your brain is a soft, wet, wrinkled mass with the consistency of cold oatmeal. It isn't very pretty but it is made up of more than 60 billion nerve and other cells. Did you know that the average human brain weighs 1600g or 3.5 pounds? A woman's brain weighs slightly less than a man's (1450g). Before all of you (men) start jumping to conclusions: Brain size is not the main determinant of intelligence. Albert Einstein only had an average size brain and the Neanderthal man had a brain that is 15% larger than ours.
- Humans have the most complex brain of any living thing on this planet. The brain monitors and regulates all bodily processes including the unconscious ones like breathing and heart rate. Your brain interprets all sensory input and lets you know what you are seeing, feeling, hearing, and tasting. Your brain is also what signals your arms and legs to start moving.
- Neat facts:
- Your brain is divided into 2 halves. The right side controls the left side of the body and the left controls the right.
- A newborn baby's brain triples in size during the first year.
- We humans have the most complex brain of any creature on earth.
- We also have the largest brain in comparison to body size of all creatures on earth.
- Your brain continues to grow throughout your entire life, folding in on itself and developing deeper and deeper folds and creases.
submitted by: Amy Hendrickson, Eastern NC AHEC, TeleHealth Program Coordinator 6-99
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Interesting Facts About Teeth |
Our teeth are housed in sockets in the upper and lower jaws of the skull. Teeth help us to process our food by chewing. Our teeth tear and grind our food, making it into smaller fragments before moving to the stomach.
We have two sets of teeth in our lifetime, our primary teeth and our permanent teeth. Our primary teeth or baby teeth (deciduous teeth) start to appear around 6 months of age erupting in one to two month intervals until 24 months when they should all be present. A child should have 20 baby teeth.
- Adult or Permanent Teeth
As permanent teeth develop beneath the gum, the roots of the baby teeth are re-absorbed causing them to loosen and fall out. Baby teeth begin to fall out between 6-12 years of age and permanent teeth fill in as replacements. There are 32 teeth in a permanent set but sometimes the last molars or wisdom teeth are absent or must be removed.
- Tooth Structure
Each tooth has two sections, the crown and the root. The crown is the region above the gum line and is covered in hard enamel. Cells producing enamel degenerate after the tooth has broken through the gum. Therefore, any cracks or breaks in the tooth surface have to be artificially repaired with fillings. The root of the tooth is below the gum line and anchors the tooth in the jaw. The teeth in the front portion of the mouth have only one root and the teeth (molars) in the back commonly have two roots. The molars in the top of the mouth have three roots for more secure anchoring in the jawbone.
submitted by: Amy Hendrickson, Eastern NC AHEC, TeleHealth Program Coordinator 6-99
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Interesting Facts About Skin |
Your birthday suit! What a wonderful garment; soft, strong, stretchable, waterproof, and self-repairing, not to mention washable and permanent press!
- What do you think it would be like without your skin? A mess?
You're right! Skin is an architectural marvel that receives little respect from its users. Without your skin, your insides would spill right out. Skin acts like a big container and is the largest organ of your body. Skin covers your entire body, has a surface area of 1.5-2 meters, weighs approximately 4 grams and accounts for 7% of your total body weight.
- If we didn't have our skin we could get very sick from all the bacteria and viruses out there, a protective wrapping of sorts. It keeps germs and water out and your body fluids and salt inside. It is also a insulator because it has a layer of fat underneath, protects your delicate internal organs from bumps, bangs and other wear and tear. Skin is tough, taking constant punishment from the elements and us.
- Your skin is alive; it is made up of many thin sheets of flat, stacked cells in two distinct sections called your epidermis and dermis. New cells that grow up from below push older skin cells to the top. When old cells reach the top, they become wider and flatter by all of our activity and eventually fall discarded from our bodies. Every minute 30,000-40,000 dead skin cells fall from your body. Your body has a completely new layer of skin cells in approximately one months time.
- Skin contains pigments called melanin. The more melanin in your skin, the darker your color, less melanin means less color. Sitting outside in the sunshine or in a tanning bed can cause more melanin to be manufactured in your skin cells resulting in a suntan or sunburn.
Did you know?
Every square inch of your skin contains:
- 70 cm worth of blood vessels
- 55 cm of nerves
- 100 sweat glands
- 15 oil glands
- 230 sensory receptors
- About 1/2 a million cells that are constantly being replaced
- You will probably shed more than 40 pounds of skin cells during your lifetime.
- As an adult, you may have more than 20 square feet of skin.
submitted by: Amy Hendrickson, Eastern NC AHEC, TeleHealth Program Coordinator 6-99
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