20 Eye-Opening Medical Facts That You Should Keep in Your Mind
16 There is an experimental spray-on skin product scientists are working on that can heal difficult or chronic wounds faster.
The spray-on skin is a mixture of skin cells and different types of proteins that is said to be more effective than available treatments. In a study, participants who had venous leg ulcers, shallow wounds that occur because of inadequate circulation, experienced a significant reduction of the size of the wound after using the treatment.(source)
17 Sitting straight in a chair for long periods of time during work is not good for your back, says a study. Instead, researchers suggest a 135-degree lean backwards to be a much better position to sit. Â
The patients in the study were asked to use three different sitting positions – a forward hunched slouch, upright position and a relaxed backward leaning position. It was found that the spinal cord had to bear more weight while sitting upright which causes the disks to move and hence result in pain and damage.(source)
18 In emergency situations where IV fluids are not available, coconut water can be used instead. It was administered Intravenously during the Second World War to British and Japanese patients because all saline liquid was finished.
The water, however, does not contain enough salt to be used as a substitute, almost 10 to 15 times less than blood plasma, and also contains calcium and magnesium which makes it a bad idea for patients with kidney failure and severe burns. It was a common practice during the late 1970s in Cambodia but was criticized heavily. It was only used as an emergency substitute rather than an actual method for rehydration.(1, 2)
19 Researchers say that camping for one week without any electronics will reset biological clock and synchronize the melatonin hormones with sunrise and sunset.
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder found out that living by sunâs schedule helps you sleep an hour early in the night and get up an hour early in the morning. They believe that sun is capable of undoing the influence of artificial light and can adjust your body clock to what it should be. According to Nammi Goel, melatonin is the âhormone of the darknessâ and the levels rise during the night when it’s dark naturally and drop during the day.(source)
20 Dorylus ants or driver ants can be used as sutures for cuts and wounds. They are so large and have such a powerful bite that in East Africa they are used to close wounds by making the ant bite and then removing its body.
The driver ants are a genus of large ants mostly found in Central and East Africa. Though they rarely bite, their bite is very painful and leaves two puncture marks. Their jaws are extremely strong and you can break its body but cannot easily remove its jaws. When some tribals of East Africa have a gash, they use these ants as temporary surgical staples to close the wound.(source)