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The skin produces more hormones than the pancreas and more enzymes than the liver.
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The skin of the average person covers about 16-22 square feet and weighs about 7 lbs.
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Every square inch of skin contains 19 yards of blood vessels.
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One square inch of skin can contain 1,300 sensory nerve endings.
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Moist skin is 10 times more absorbent than dry skin.
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Itching (pruritus) is the most common skin symptom in dermatology and the most common complaint of people over the age of 65.
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Smoking cigarettes correlates with skin wrinkling and aging as well as skin conditions including acne and psoriasis.
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At least 30% of individuals with diabetes have some form of skin problem.
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Approximately 20% of the general population experience hives at some point in their lifetime.
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The human body has between 2 and 5 million sweat glands.
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The epidermal layer of skin is replaced every 28 days.
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The uppermost layer of the epidermis called the stratum corneum is not inactive but is actually highly dynamic.
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Yeast organisms are a normal part of skin flora usually kept in check by other skin micoorganisms.
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Dermal scarring is one of the main surgery-related concerns that patients have.
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Oxidative stress is closely linked with inflammation and is associated with fibrosis and scar formation.
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Xerosis or abnormally dry skin is a common skin problem for older individuals.
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In order for skin to remain supple and elastic, it must contain from 10-15% water.
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Humidity levels less than 10% causes the skin to lose moisture.
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The human body is capable of creating over 3 million pounds of cells over a lifetime.
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98% of the body gets replaced at the molecular level in only one year.
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6 trillion chemical reactions take place in the human body every second.
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There are more bacteria living in and on your body than there are people on the planet.
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Humans excrete up to 700 milliliters of sweat per day.
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One of the reasons some bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics is due to their ability to produce biofilms.
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If the intestines were laid into a flat surface, they would cover approximately 330 to 430 square feet.
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Fingernails grow up to 4 times faster than toenails.
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Fingernails and toenails are not impermeable and contain 7-12% water.
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The cerebral cortex is the largest part of the brain and is thought to contain 15-33 billion neurons.
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The average adult brain weighs up to 1400 grams and is made up of about 78% water.
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The brain receives up to 20% of the blood flow from the heart.
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The blood-brain barrier blocks the transport of approximately 98% of small molecules from the blood to the brain.
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The gut nervous system includes 100 million neurons.
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The gut produces 70% of the body’s serotonin and 50% of the body’s dopamine.
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80% of the body’s immune cells line the gut.
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The human gut is estimated to have 100 trillion microorganisms, 10 times the total number of human cells in the body.
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The liver is thought to be responsible for up to 500 separate functions usually working together with other systems and organs.
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As little as 25% of a liver can regenerate a whole liver.
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Tears are not just water; they are made up of water, salts, antibodies, lipids and enzymes called lysozymes.
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Eye blinking can be a criterion for diagnosing medical conditions.
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Multiple muscles control blinking reflexes and the average normal blink lasts 100-150 milliseconds.
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Pupil size increases in proportion to the difficulty of the task at hand.
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The left lung is smaller than the right lung to make space for the heart.
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Together the lungs contain approximately 1500 miles of airways.
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The normal adult resting heart rate is from 60-100 beats per minute.
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During sleep the normal heart rate is 40-50 beats per minute.
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An endurance athlete’s typically have heart rates between 30 and 50 beats per minute.
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Fingerprints are formed on the fetus in the mother’s womb by the fetus touching its surroundings and forming “friction ridges”.
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Fingerprints are fully formed by the time the fetus is 6 months old.
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The average human tongue has 2,000-8,000 taste buds.
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Five different elements of taste: salty, sour, bitter, sweet and umami (savory) can be detected by any area of the tongue.
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Multiple studies have identified a positive correlation between the loud snoring and the risk of heart attack and stroke.
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It is estimated that about 1 in 15 Americans are affected by at least a moderate degree of sleep apnea.
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Babies are born with 270 bones, but the number is decreased to 206 by adulthood after some bones have fused together.
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Cigarette smoke contains more than 100 trillion free radicals that can cause oxidative stress.
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Scientific evidence indicates that oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to many of the negative health effects seen with type 2 diabetes.
