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50 Essential Facts About the Human Body

The 50 facts that you MUST know on your way to becoming an anatomy expert!

In an average lifetime the heart beats over 3 billion times	Circulation
Red blood cells carry oxygen to every cell and remove carbon dioxide
Blood vessels help to control our bodies' temperature
If stretched out, your blood vessels would extend almost 100,000 km
Blood is made from red cells, white cells, plasma and platelets
Our bodies produce between 1 and 2 litres of saliva every day	Digestion
Food can go through the digestive system if you are upside-down
The small intestine is 7 metres long. The large is just 1.5 metres
Our stomachs contain hydrochloric acid
We burp to release air that has been accidentally swallowed
The glands that produce hormones make up the endocrine system	Hormones
The hypothalamus gland regulates our hunger and thirst
Our bodies create and use more than 50 different hormones
The pituitary gland is one of the most important, but it's the size of a pea
The pancreas releases insulin and glucagon to regulate blood sugar
The immune system protects us from bacteria and viruses	Immunity
There are 5 types of white blood cells which fight pathogens
Fevers are caused by our bodies as a way to fight pathogens
Allergies are caused by our immune system reacting to harmless things
Sleep is important for a healthy immune system
There are over 650 skeletal muscles in the body and billions of others	Muscles
The largest muscle in the body is the gluteus maximus in your bottom
Size for size, the strongest muscle is the masseter in the jaw
Most of the heat produced in your body comes from contracting muscles
Many muscles, like the triceps and biceps, work in pairs
There are 4 different kinds of nerve cell in the nervous system	Nerves
The central nervous system is the brain and the spinal cord
All other nerves are part of the peripheral nervous system
The brain uses more energy than any other organ
Neurons can’t replace themselves so nerve damage is often permanent
Our kidneys filter toxins from our blood, converting them to urine	Renal
Our bladders can hold up to 800 ml of urine - about 4 cups full
Urine is 95% water, 2.5% urea, and 2.5% minerals and enzymes
The kidneys and bladder are linked by thin tubes called ureters
Kidney stones are caused by minerals forming crystals
Our lungs can hold up to 6 litres of air	Respiration
The left lung is smaller than the right one to make room for the heart
If the lungs were unfolded they’d be roughly the size of a tennis court
Our lungs contain 3-5 million air sacs called alveoli
Our lungs are protected by the epiglottis which covers the trachea
There are 206 bones in an adult skeleton	Skeleton
The smallest bone in the body is in your ear
The femur, or thigh bone, is the longest bone in your body
More than half your bones are in your hands and feet
The hyoid bone in the throat is the only bone not connected to another
The average person’s skin covers an area of 2 square metres	Skin
A square centimetre of skin contains 6 million skin cells
The skin on your soles is 1.4 mm thick. On your eyelids it's 0.2 mm
Your skin sheds 30-40,000 dead cells an hour
Up to 1,000 species of bacteria live on our skin

50 Essential Facts About the Human Body

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