5 Amazing Facts About Your Internal Organs

1. The brain has convolutions because it is compressed in the cranium

Gel model of the brain made at Harvard. Video: Mahadevan Lab / Harvard SEAS

Even a person with little knowledge of anatomy will be able to recognize the brain in the picture because of its characteristic “wrinkled” structure, reminiscent of a walnut. But for a long time, scientists could not figure out why these convolutions appear.

No, why are they needed, it was clear long ago: they increase the surface cerebral cortexto fit a larger number of neurons and synapses into the limited volume of the cranium. But how and why they form was unclear.

At first it was assumed that the appearance of convolutions was genetic. But experts from Harvard created complex gel model of a developing brain on a 3D printer and realized that DNA code nothing to do with it. The process is purely mechanical.

The fact is that the soft tissue of the brain grows faster in the fetus in the womb than the skull. And due to lack of free space, the organ

starts literally crumpled - like paper that was stuffed into a drawer that was too small.

This process called gyrification, and it begins around the sixth month pregnancy.

2. The liver can recover

The liver is a very important organ. She recycles nutrients from food in the intestines and distributes them throughout the body according to its needs.

It also produces bile necessary for digestion, participates in metabolism, stores glycogen as a supply of nutrients for cells, cleanses the blood of allergens and toxins, produces various hormones and proteins. In general, the liver always has something to do.

In addition, the liver is the only organ in the human body that can fully recover. She's just like Wolverine from the X-Men, only not as beautiful. Liver cells, hepatocytes, have extremely high metabolism and able intensively divide and increase in size to regenerate lost or damaged tissue. This process is called compensatory hypertrophy.

However, don't think your liver is invincible. Because of abuse alcohol and junk food, viral hepatitis, parasitic infections or drug intoxication may begin cirrhosis, and the regenerating parenchymal tissue will gradually be replaced by fibrous connective tissue. It is a chronic and potentially fatal disease.

3. A person can have many kidneys

The main task of the kidneys is to filter the blood, during which excess waste and water are removed - this is how urine. This process helps maintain fluid and mineral balance in the body.

In addition, the kidneys regulate levels of electrolytes such as sodium and potassium, which are important for proper muscle and heart function. These substances are involved in the formation of red blood cells and the regulation of blood pressure and the volume of blood circulating throughout the body.

Usually a person has two kidneys. But there are also exceptions. Some people are born with only one organ - this called renal agenesis. And others may lose a kidney due to injury or illness. A person with unilateral agenesis can most often live a full life, since the remaining organ is able to compensate for the function of the missing one. At the same time, the single kidney increases in size, becoming larger vulnerable for damage or infection, but it is not fatal.

However, in some individuals, against, from birth there are more than two kidneys - this is a rare but possible phenomenon. Such people may suffer from various diseases. For example, from hydronephrosis - this is a violation of the outflow of urine from the kidney.

And some people have extra kidneys that are not congenital, but acquired. You see, during a transplant, the old organ is most often not removed unless it is infected.

Absolute record holder by the number of kidneys - Bjorn van Empel, a resident of the city of Roosendaal, Holland, the Netherlands. This fellow can boast of having seven of these organs at once. Björn underwent his first transplant at age seven, after an ear infection destroyed his own kidneys. refused. Over and over again, van Empel’s body rejected the transplanted kidneys - the last time he even received one from his own sister.

4. The heart is located in the middle of the chest

Most people think that heart is on the left side. But this is a myth. If you look at any anatomical atlas, you will be convinced that it is located almost in the middle of the chest.

Approximately two thirds of the heart are to the left of the center line, and a third to the right. But because the left atrium and ventricle are slightly larger, they make it seem as if the heart is beating on this side of the chest.

Most of the heart's mass is located between the lungs, in an area known as the mediastinal space. Although many people—again mistakenly—believe that the lungs are the same, in fact the left one is slightly smaller and lighter than the right. And it inferior place of part of the heart.

In some people, by the way, most of the heart may be located not in the left, but in the right part of the sternum - this is called dextrocardia. This phenomenon may be accompanied health problems, but not always. The reasons are still unknown: the frequency of dextrocardia amounts to only 1 case in 12 thousand.

5. Your stomach can digest razor blades. But not coins with batteries

The gastric environment is very sour due to hydrochloric acid needed to digest food. This is the same substance that is present in your car battery. True, it’s in the stomach located in a very diluted form - its concentration is only 0.5%.

However, this enoughto dissolve many metals. So, in one experiment, scientists poured gastric juice into a glass container and placed razor blades, rotary batteries and one-penny coins in it. And in 24 hours the blades lost 37% of their original weight.

But the pennies and batteries remained intact. Apparently, the alloys from which they were made are more resistant to the corrosive effects of acid.

However, this, of course, does not mean that you can calmly swallow blades razors. After all, people who did it for really thrills or because of psychiatric disorders, in the end turned out to be on the operating table with serious wounds to the digestive organs.

You may also be wondering: if the acid is so strong, why does the stomach doesn't digest by myself? In fact, the organ has protective mechanisms. Its inner shell produces a mucous layer that prevents direct contact with acid and protects the walls from the action of digestive enzymes. In addition, the membrane cells are constantly renewed, which also helps prevent damage.