Buzz
Recently, a Reddit user u/Monke_0101 asked the users of the Ask Reddit forum, "What is one shocking medical fact that most people don't know?" Here are some of the craziest responses:
1. "I can't declare someone with hypothermia dead until we've brought their body temperature back to normal."
—u/GuitarEvening8674
"They're not gone until they're warm and gone."
—u/Hot-Data686
"Anna Bågenholm is a great example. She survived with a body temperature of 13.7°C (56.7°F) and made an incredible recovery."
—u/OMG_A_CUPCAKE
2. "When you receive a kidney transplant, your original kidneys aren’t removed, so you end up with three kidneys after the surgery."
"The new kidney is actually placed in your abdomen and rests on top of your pelvis/hip area. If you have more than one transplant, they simply keep adding kidneys. I’ve heard of patients having six kidneys. I learned this firsthand during my own kidney transplant six years ago."
—u/Traveling_mustang
3. "It’s surprisingly difficult to close someone’s eyes after they pass away. It’s not as easy as it looks on TV."
"You press them down, and they pop open again. Then you have to press them harder to close them completely.
I know this firsthand. I was at my Dad’s bedside when he passed. If he were here, I bet he’d be cracking up.
Miss him."
—u/Ludwig_Vista2
4. "If a man falls and gets an erection, don’t move him. It could indicate a spinal injury."
—u/Midnite06
"I'm a New York Rescue Medic for the [Fire Department]. [This is] something we specifically check for. People who don't understand may think we're just a bunch of perverts."
—u/rroberts3439
5. "I had a full thyroidectomy last year due to thyroid cancer. I found out that, in rare situations, your body can regenerate thyroid tissue (either healthy or not) from the small number of thyroid cells that remain."
"This is why thyroid cancer patients must take high doses of replacement hormones to suppress the thyroid-stimulating hormone that might trigger the regrowth. It was shocking to discover that removing the gland doesn’t always solve the problem."
—u/trizer81
6. "A defibrillator actually stops your heart. The body is then left to restart things correctly. It’s like the IT guy asking, ‘Have you tried turning it off and on again?’"
—u/NoSwimmers45
7. "Pneumothorax (collapsed lung) can just happen unexpectedly. A sneeze, a cough, or even an incorrect breath, and your lung can just give out and collapse."
—u/cat_prophecy
8. "Situs inversus is a condition present at birth where the major internal organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal arrangement."
"I only discovered this while reading about Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek) — turns out, her internal organs, like her heart and lungs, are reversed to the opposite sides of her body."
—u/katasoupie
"My grandfather had this! It baffled his doctors when he had appendicitis, because the pain was on the wrong side."
—u/shaarlock
9. "Your stomach creates a new lining every few days to prevent it from digesting itself."
—u/Swimming_Treat3818
10. "A lot of bone fractures aren’t as painful as you’d think. I work in radiology, and while we don’t see the severe breaks that occur in trauma (which often REALLY hurt), we do see many broken toes, fingers, metacarpals, and metatarsals."
"These fractures are often difficult to tell apart from muscle or tendon strains without imaging, and the person affected may appear to be acting completely fine. I used to think that breaking anything would leave someone in agony, but many people are like, 'Yeah, it hurts when I bend it.'
If you want a true nightmare: sometimes your spine can break under its own weight. This is called a compression fracture."
—u/Halospite
11. "Humans can survive with only one lung; the remaining one will expand to partially fill the chest cavity, which may cause heart problems. It’s not the most comfortable way to live, but people have managed to live up to 30 years in that condition."
—u/mckqllguddy
12. "It's well known that if you feel a lump in your breast, you should get it checked out, but there are actually 12 symptoms of breast cancer."
"The image on that site (an entirely woman-run nonprofit) literally saved my life: my doctor did a physical exam, didn’t feel a lump, and tried to send me away, brushing off the strange allergic-reaction-like patch of skin on my chest.
Any changes to your chest — dimples, dents, changes in skin texture, itching, dry skin, anything — make sure to run it by your doctor and trust your instincts.
Over the years of treatment and regular checkups, I've always asked at least one nurse or doctor if they are aware of the 12 symptoms, and they never know. The point isn’t to criticize doctors (there’s a lot to learn, women’s health isn’t prioritized in med school, etc.) but that you need to be proactive and advocate for yourself."
—u/lizlemonista
13. "Endometriosis (tissue from the womb) isn't cancer, but it can spread cells through your internal organs, grow, fuse your organs together or block them, deform them, create holes, and even spread up to your diaphragm and lungs."
"Unsurprisingly, this is agonizingly painful. About 1 in 10 women experience this, and shockingly, it still doesn’t receive sufficient research attention."
—u/LegalFox9
"My spouse is a gynecological surgeon. She treated a patient with endometriosis in her lungs which caused life-threatening pulmonary issues."
—u/i_am_voldemort
"I often do deep medical research as a morbidly curious person, and endometriosis is one of the scariest conditions I've come across. It can grow in almost any part of the body. People have had it in their brain and on their skin. And it can occur during menstruation. Truly awful, frightening, and terrifying."
—u/CannibalAnn
14. "Pregnancy can trigger diseases that you may have never experienced before."
"I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease and an autoimmune disorder during my first pregnancy. It’s been a joy."
—u/PublicProfanities
"It can also affect your vision, lead to cavities and loose teeth, worsen bone loss or osteoporosis, cause or trigger the growth of moles or angiomas, make periods heavier, temporarily shrink grey matter in the brain, cause pelvic organ prolapse, alter the skeletal structure, lead to abdominal muscle separation, trigger new-onset diabetes (often from gestational diabetes), and raise the risk of Alzheimer’s.
The range of side effects, complications, and potential long-term impacts of pregnancy could fill a whole book, yet people still pretend it’s just a normal, harmless process and that women are simply complaining."
—u/Inwint
15. "There are certain conditions where your bowel can leak into your stomach and you end up vomiting feces."
"This condition is referred to as feculent vomiting."
—u/EitherChannel4874
16. "The bacteria in your gut play a crucial role in your overall health and even have an impact on your mental well-being. Your depression may be linked, at least in part, to a deficiency in certain bacteria or an imbalance in your gut flora."
—u/nsmith0723
"Fecal transplants have been known to transfer clinical depression from the donor to the recipient."
—u/garrettj100
17. "Prion diseases occur when a protein, which is a fundamental building block of the body, starts to malfunction."
"This starts a ripple effect where nearby proteins also become misshapen, and vital bodily functions begin to fail. When it targets the brain, it leads to irreversible brain damage and eventually death. Unfortunately, there's no way to target the rogue protein. In conditions like Mad Cow Disease, it's contracted from consuming contaminated meat, though it can also occur randomly."
—u/Junior_Sginificance9
18. "Approximately 50% of the global population is iron deficient, and out of that group, around half develop iron deficiency anemia."
"Iron plays a crucial role in nearly every part of your body, from the coldness in your feet to potential symptoms of bipolar disorder. If you're experiencing any unexplained symptoms, it might be worth investigating your iron levels."
—u/314159265358979326
19. "If you undergo a rib removal (such as during surgery), the younger you are, the higher the chances are that the rib will regenerate."
—u/kiwidale
20. "The female fetus already has all the eggs it will ever ovulate before birth."
—u/ChanSungJung
21. "Undergoing an allogeneic bone marrow transplant results in your blood type shifting to match the donor's, and both your bone marrow and blood will carry the donor's DNA."
"For instance, if you are male and your donor is female, a blood DNA test would reveal that you are female. However, since the rest of your cells are your own, a DNA test from a mouth swab would indicate you are male. This phenomenon is called chimerism."
—u/dadamax
22. "Each eye contains a million nerve fibers that collectively make up the optic nerve."
—u/No-Object-294
23. "Erectile dysfunction can indicate an early stage of heart disease. The arteries that supply blood to the penis are just slightly smaller than the coronary arteries. Once the penile arteries begin to block, leading to ED, the coronary arteries are likely to follow in about two years."
—u/cownowbrownhow
24. "A tumor has the potential to contain both hair and teeth."
—u/spicytotino
"I had a cyst removed from my ovary that contained hair, teeth, and even brain matter. I called it my 'cyst-er.'"
—u/coors1977
"This is referred to as a teratoma."
—u/RoutineOther7887
25. "Fat is far from inactive. Each pound of fat is supported by roughly five miles of blood vessels. That's a significant extra burden on the heart."
—u/jocosely_living
26. "Except for manatees and sloths, all mammals have seven cervical vertebrae. Giraffes, like humans, have the same number; they are just much larger."
—u/flinger_of_marmots
27. "When you receive a saline IV, you can taste the salt because it diffuses from your blood into your lungs."
—u/suddenspiderarmy
28. "Humans naturally have subtle stripes, primarily across their backs. These patterns are unique to every individual. Though not visible to us within our visual range, some animals can perceive them. It's unfortunate that we can't see them because I bet they'd look amazing."
—u/AnnoyedOwlbear
29. "Remaining immobile for extended periods can heighten the risk of developing blood clots, particularly as you age."
—u/Solelbis
30. And lastly: "The reason measles is so hazardous is because it essentially causes a type of immune system amnesia, which can persist for a year or even two."
—u/wilderlowerwolves
