21 Terrifying Medical Facts That Will Haunt You For Days

Brace yourself for unsettling facts about your body that are scarier than your worst nightmare.

Jesse

• Published in News
• September 12, 2024

Our bodies are pretty amazing, right? They can heal, grow, and do some truly fascinating things without us even realizing it. But let's be honest—there are also some facts about the human body that are, well, downright creepy. 

Sure, we know the basics: our heart pumps blood, our lungs help us breathe, and our brain does all the thinking (or at least tries). It’s all fun and games when we’re talking about how cool our opposable thumbs are, but what about the parts of our bodies that make you think, “Wait, what?!”

Recently, a Reddit user with the screen name u/Beneficial_Cry2061 opened up a Pandora’s box of medical horrors by asking, "What is a disturbing medical fact that not many people know?" Well, let’s just say the internet delivered.

From unsettling truths about our skeletons to bizarre conditions you probably wish you never heard of, the responses might just make your skin crawl (literally). Sometimes, the more we learn, the more we wish we didn’t know.

So, if you’ve got the stomach for it (pun intended), dive into some of the weirdest, most bone-chilling truths about the human body. Fair warning: you might want to grab a blanket for those goosebumps!

1. Meet HeLa—the immortal cells that have been saving lives since 1951, but the story behind them might just break your heart.

The truth about HeLa cells. These cells grow and divide constantly and are used in all sorts of medical research to discover cures for cancer and other diseases. They were originally harvested from a woman named Henrietta Lacks who had cervical cancer that was fatal.

She died in 1951. Her family didn’t know that her cells were even being used until recently. These cells were basically stolen from Henrietta by a doctor and he made millions from them, and Henrietta’s family never knew. Once they found out, they finally settled with a biotech company for an undisclosed amount. This woman has basically saved so many of us, and we all owe her so much.

2. The first doctor to recommend handwashing before surgery was mocked—who’s laughing now?

3. Chiropractic ‘adjustments’ aren’t always as they seem. Sometimes, they land you in the ER

A scary number of people wind up with vertebral artery dissections and strokes from chiropractic cervical manipulations. How do I know? I've seen several perfectly healthy women in the prime of their lives as organ harvests in my OR.

4. Did you know that modern medicine came about by grave robbing, accidents and all sorts of crime? Who knew being a doctor wasn’t always legal?

5. Not all pregnancies lead to new life. Sometimes, the body has a different plan

6. Ignoring your teeth can break your heart—literally

The health of your teeth, or lack thereof, can cause heart disease. The bacteria that infect the gums and cause gingivitis and periodontitis also travel to blood vessels elsewhere in the body, where they cause blood vessel inflammation and damage.

If you are diabetic, and don't know it--or do, but have problems controlling your sugars, it can severely harm your teeth. On the flip side? Having bad teeth can severely affect your blood glucose as a diabetic. It can become a s****y cycle.

And yes--mentioned earlier, but if you get an infected tooth, that infection can travel to the brain or blood very fast.

And yet, teeth are still considered "luxury bones," with maintenance, cleaning, and dental care hardly ever being covered by insurance.

7. Medical errors rank as the 3rd leading cause of death in the US

A study by Johns Hopkins in 2016 cited that medical errors are probably the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA, following heart disease and cancer.

Errors were: Wrong Diagnosis. Incorrect dosage or wrong meds. Surgery errors and the biggest, poor communication between staff.

It is also thought that this study is also correct in the UK and EU.

8. CPR is more violent than you think. Those chest compressions are heavy enough to crack a rib or sternum

Chest compressions are violent. Just let your 91 year old grandma go.

9. Doctors don't know it all. They're human, just like you

10. Every single day, your body fights as much as 10,000 events that would cause you cancer

11. Chainsaws were actually invented to birth children, while v*brators were originally invented to cure hysteria in women

Chainsaws were originally invented for childbirth.

V*brators were invented because doctors were manually massaging women to hysterical paroxysm (orgasm) to cure their “hysteria” and they got too lazy to do it by hand.

12. There are several wild and horrific-looking organisms living in the microbiome of a human's skin

There are so many wild things living in the microbiome of a human's skin. Demodex are a great example; little mites that live near human hair follicles. They look horrific and they feed off of sebum, sweat, dead skin etc.

Many things are localized too; the things living in your eyelash follicles are not the same as the ones living on your elbows. We're a whole universe, and even our skin is colonized by bizarre little f*****s

Edit; a lovely little quote I found online, about Demodex

"When you sleep, the mites come out of your skin’s pores, mate, then go back into your skin to lay eggs."

Sexy.

13. The scientist who developed the pap smear worked alongside his wife, who underwent tests almost every day for 21 years to support his research.

>Volunteering as an experimental subject: For 21 years, Mary allowed her husband to sample her cervical cells and v*ginal fluids almost daily, which he would then smear on glass slides and examine under a microscope.

14. There's a disease called "Cat scratch fever", which is bacterial infection you can get from a cat scratch or bite. Worst of all, it's deadly!

Cat scratch fever is real, and can be deadly. I know someone who spent 2 weeks in hospital from it and it was his cat.

15. Rabies has no cure

There is no cure for rabies unless you catch it immediately and get injections. Once symptoms show it is too late and the person will die.

16. 80% of lower-limb amputations are a result of complications from diabetes

17. Your immune system can turn against you and start attacking vital organs in your body when there's no foreign invaders to fight against

18. When you die, the bacteria that once helped digest your food will begin to digest you

19. It is very possible to have chronic pain without a diagnosis. In other words, the pain is not tied to an injury or physical illness

20. Cold sores have the ability to cause permanent brain damage

Cold sores can cause inflammation of your brain. It’s called herpetic encephalitis and is likely to cause permanent brain damage even with treatment. It can also be caused by shingles, so getting the shingles vaccine is more important than you think.

21. When surgeons need to scoop your organs out to access other areas during surgery, they don’t return them to their original spots.

When you have surgery and your organs have to be scooped out to access something else, they don’t put them back where they were. They just kinda put it all back in and our organs just shift back to where they were. I learned this fact when I went to stand up after having a c-section.

Just when you thought you knew your body, these medical facts prove it’s full of surprises (and a few nightmares). The body truly is a terrifying machine.

So, each day you wake up feeling strong, take a moment to appreciate the gift of good health.

Jesse