20 STRANGE BODY PHENOMENA
Our bodies are full of signs of human evolution. Some are bemusing and others are downright strange. Restless legs, shivers, teeth grinding: what exactly are these strange bodily phenomena that we experience?
SHIVERING
Before getting too cold, your body sends out a signal, and you feel a shiver. A shiver is actually a series of small neural signals sent from the brain to the spinal cord, telling the muscles to speed up their contraction and release movements. This in turn raises your body temperature.
EYES MOVING WHILE YOU SLEEP
You may never see it, but anyone who watches you sleep will notice that your eyes move rapidly behind your closed eyelids. Several researchers attribute this phenomenon to intense brain activity, whose main purpose is to organize neural activity to process new visual information.
JOINT PAIN
It’s not the pain itself, but what triggers it, that’s odd. Some people can predict an uptick in joint pain just by watching the weather channel, regardless of whether the pain is caused by arthritis or by an old injury. High humidity or a decrease in barometric pressure can be warning signs for increased pain.
SWEATING
To maintain a temperature of 37°C (98.6°F), our bodies produce sweat, which cools down the body when it’s too hot out or during intense physical activity.
FINGERS PRUNE WHEN IN WATER
Stay in the water for too long and you will notice that your fingers and toes start to wrinkle. We assume – incorrectly – that this is from water that gets into the skin. The real cause is a reaction by our nervous systems that contracts the blood vessels in our fingers when under water.
This phenomenon traces back to the time when humans had to catch their food in wet environments, in trees or rivers: wrinkled skin provides better grip.
GRINDING TEETH
The scientific term is bruxism, and this phenomenon usually happens while you sleep. Tooth grinding is usually brought on by stress or misalignment of the jaw, and can cause severe pain.
PRODUCTION OF GROWTH HORMONES AT NIGHT
There is a reason why sleep is so important for children: it allows their bones and muscles to grow, as nighttime is when their body releases growth hormones.
GOOSE BUMPS
This phenomenon occurs when our body, reacting to the cold, reflexively tries to insulate us with our own body hair. Located in the root of the hairs, tiny muscles called arrector pili retract and make the hairs stand on end. Humans used to have much more body hair, so this reflex helped warm the body. Today this process is just an old involuntary reflex.
SEASONAL DEPRESSION
Directly linked to a decrease in light during the fall, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a bodily phenomenon just like the others. It may not be as visible as goose bumps are, but it’s a direct reaction of our bodies to a lack of light.
INTESTINAL GAS
Commonly known as “farts” or “flatulence”, intestinal gas is caused by the fermentation of decomposing food in the intestine. Some foods produce more gas than others.
STRONG SENSITIVITY TO BEING TICKLED
Our sometimes hysterical reaction to being tickled may seem absurd to some and a complete mystery to others, but it’s actually an ancient survival instinct: by reacting to the slightest touch, the body is protecting itself from outside influences.
RESTLESS LEGS
Lying or sitting in the same position for too long can cause restless legs. Compression of the blood vessels slows the flow of blood to the sensory nerves, and the brain gets a message to slow down. To solve the problem try changing positions or moving around (in short, stretching your legs!).
BODY ODOR
If you decide to stop washing today, there’s a good chance that your body will start to smell pretty ripe in no time. Sweat glands, located near the genitals and underarms, produce sweat that contains protein and sebum. These elements are food for the tiny bacteria living on our skin, which are invisible to the human eye, but the culprits of bad body odor.
SCABIES
This skin condition is not the result of a serious disease, but is caused by “sarcoptic mange mites”. Scabies is contagious and must be treated; the mites will keep colonizing until they are completely wiped out.
RUNNY NOSE
Runny noses happen so often they barely seem strange. But when it is very cold out, our nose starts to run for a reason. This phenomenon is a reflex of the nerves controlling the mucous membranes of the nose and the sinuses. A signal is sent to the brain, which reacts by telling the nerves to secrete mucus. The goal is to protect mucus membranes from the cold by keeping them moist and by purifying the air we inhale.
HERPES LABIALIS
Known as a “cold sore”, herpes is a reoccurring sore that appears on the lip, cheek or corner of the nose. It is very common, affecting 50% to 90% of the population, depending on the region. Herpes is contagious and once a person is infected, they are infected for life. The sore will pop up occasionally, when the person is run down, fighting a fever, or exposed to the sun.
SUDDEN URGE TO EAT CARBS
Though a little hard to pinpoint, the sudden urge to eat pizza, candy, chips or cake can be explained. Some researchers have discovered a link between a decrease in serotonin (a neurotransmitter) in people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder, and the desire to eat carbohydrates.
WARTS
These small, lumpy growths conjure up images of old witches, and while they can grow on the face, they usually appear on fingers or feet. They are harmless but contagious. Warts are often caused by a virus (from the human papillomavirus family). Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of them without medical treatment.
LIVER SPOTS
Associated with age (also referred to as age spots), these spots pop up on skin that has been exposed to the sun over many years. They are usually visible on the face, hands, shoulders and arms of people over the age of 40, who have spent a lot of time outside, whether for fun or as part of their job.
SNEEZING WHEN YOUR NOSE ITCHES
The explanation for this phenomenon is simple: when dust or other particles make it into your nostrils, your nose reflexively shoots out air (by the mouth or nose) to clean the nostrils out.
20 strange body phenomena
