7 Myths About The Human Body

Some people are double-jointed, right? Actually, no! Here we clear up some fascinating fallacies.

- Wendy Stelzmann

IF YOU were asked how many senses you have you probably wouldn’t even hesitate before saying five. Well, you’d be wrong – you have more senses than you can count on both hands!

The human body is a marvel and new discoveries are being made about it all the time.

There are also plenty of “facts” about the human body that have been debunked thanks to science, but because they’ve been shared so often people tend to think they’re true.

Here’s a round­up of some old wives’ tales and claims that have been proven wrong.

1 MOST OF YOUR BODY HEAT ESCAPES THROUGH YOUR HEAD

This myth was born thanks to a ’50s study by the US military to find out how cold weather affects soldiers. Volunteers were dressed in Arctic survival suits and the researchers observed how their bodies reacted to freezing-cold temperatures.

The conclusion was that the volunteers lost most of their heat from their heads, which they did – but the researchers apparently ignored the fact the volunteers’ heads weren’t protected from the elements.

This finding was taken to heart, with a US Army survival manual from the ’70s stressing the importance of covering the head in cold conditions to avoid losing “40 to 45% of body heat”.

Scientists now agree that no particular body part is better or worse than any other at retaining heat.

2 SOME PEOPLE ARE DOUBLE-JOINTED

There’s no such thing as a double joint. People who can pull their thumbs back to meet their forearms or bend their forearms back at the elbow don’t have two joints – they’ve simply been born with joints that are extra-flexible.