25 Fascinating Facts About The Health Sciences
Plan to Study the Health Sciences Or Already Are? Here are 25 Did-You-Knows For Your Next Trivia Night
/filters:quality(70)/prod01/channel_43/media/schools-and-colleges/shs/images/stories/2020/SHS_July_Blog_3_InterestingFacts.jpg)
When it comes to the health sciences, there's always something new to learn. Whether you're a physical therapist who's been practicing for 20 years, a student in a behavioral analysis program, or just someone who’s curious about new discoveries, we’ll bet you'll find something interesting in the list of facts below.
Fun Facts About Muscles and Bones
1. Fingers don't contain muscles.The muscles in our forearms are what moves the tendons in our fingers. (Source: deserthandandpt.com)
2. Where can you find the body's smallest bones? In the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes. (Source: entandaudiology.com)
3. The word “muscle” comes from the Latin term meaning “little mouse.” It's said that Ancient Romans thought that's what flexed bicep muscles resembled. (Source: natgeokids.com)
Fun Facts About Teeth and the Mouth
4. Human teeth are just as tough as shark teeth, even though shark teeth are composed of harder minerals. The internal structure of human teeth uses special proteins as tiny shock absorbers to help them resist breaking under pressure. (Source: sciencemag.org)
5. Approximately 15 to 25 percent of all Americans are considered supertasters: they have more papillae and taste buds than everyone else. (Source: discovermagazine.com)
6. Think only your fingerprints are unique? Actually, every person has a unique tongue print too, which can help identify individuals. (Source: hartfordhealthcare.org)
Nursing Fun Facts
7. Nurses make up the largest single component of hospital staff and are the primary providers of hospital patient care. (Source: aacnnursing.org)
8. The Nursing profession is good exercise! In an average 12-hour shift, nurses walk an average of four cumulative miles. (Source: nursetogether.com)
9. A Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) is now listed as a baseline requirement on most registered nurse job postings. In some states like New York, practicing RNs are legally required to get their Bachelor’s within 10 years of initial licensure. (Source: allnursingschools.com)
Occupational Therapy & Physical Therapy Fun Facts
10. Occupational therapy was founded by three men and three women in 1917—that's three years before women could vote. (Source: napacenter.org)
11. Occupational therapy techniques date back to 100 BC, when a Greek physician named Asclepiades used OT techniques to treat mental illness. (Source: bchcares.org)
12. Physical therapy began in response to WWI. In the army, ‘reconstruction aides’ (aka nurses) were responsible for providing rehab to wounded soldiers using both physical and occupational therapy. (Source: orthocarolina.com)
13. PT started as a female-only profession. In fact, in 1921, the first professional physical therapy association was born: the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association. The first president was Mary McMillan. (Source: apta.org)
Fun Facts About Speech and Singing
14. Some people who have suffered a stroke can still sing. Researchers theorize that this is because singing is a more right-hemisphere brain function, while speaking is more left-hemisphere dominant. (Source: discovermagazine.com)
15. Some throat singers are able to produce four tones (four!) simultaneously. (Source: discovermagazine.com)
16. The brain area responsible for speech (Broca's area) is also linked to our ability to make tools, which implies speech and manual dexterity evolved together. (Source: National Library of Medicine)
Interesting Facts About Mental Health
17. Studies show how beneficial optimism really is: there's a connection between increased levels of optimism and decreased levels of death from cancer, disease, infection, and stroke. (Source: nytimes.com)
18. The global economy loses nearly $1 trillion per year in productivity due to both depression and anxiety. (Source: who.int)
19. How prevalent are mental health conditions? In any given year, nearly 1 in 5 American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition. (Source: mhanational.org)
Physiology Fun Facts
20. The color of your nails can help reveal the quality of your bloodstream's oxygen level and blood circulation. (Source: deserthandandpt.com)
21. Research has shown that colder temperatures may help reduce allergies and inflammation and can help you think more clearly and perform daily tasks better. (Source: rd.com)
22. Recent discoveries have shown that sleep is essential for both memory consolidation and flushing out metabolic waste, such as beta-amyloids that are linked to Alzheimer's. Despite advancements in research, there’s still much we don’t know about why sleep is so crucial for the body. (healthline.com)
Psychology Fun Facts
23. Try to tickle yourself into heavy laughter—you can't! The surprise element is gone, so your cerebellum doesn’t react the same way as when someone else tries to tickle you. (Source: hartfordhealthcare.org)
24. There’s actually a proven psychological trick to make your treadmill workout go faster and seem easier — watch yourself in the mirror! This creates both a mild dissociative effect and lowers your perceived level of exertion, so a tough workout seems less exhausting. (Source: health.com)
25. Being fluent in two or more languages is linked to improved attention, memory and better problem-solving skills. (Source: Verywell Mind)
Love learning these kinds of things? Follow us on social, where we regularly talk about our research and findings here at Touro SHS.
