Fun Facts

No one likes earwax. But do you have all the facts you need as to why we have earwax? That yellow, gooey stuff inside your ears actually has a job to keep your ears healthy by stopping dust, dirt, bugs and other stuff from getting into your ear canal as well as protecting the ears from infection.

Have you ever wondered why and where the snotty, slimy stuff comes from in your nose? A slippery substance called mucus traps things you breathe in like dirt, pollen and other icky stuff. Tiny hairs in your nose help move all this to the front of your nose or the back of your throat. Not something you like running from your nose or sniffling all day, but even this has a purpose.

There are four main ingredients in our specialized body fluid. Plasma is the liquid part that makes up a little over half of our blood. It’s 92% water. The rest of our blood is made of red and white blood cells and platelets. Blood makes up 7 to 8% of our body fluids. When George Washington came down with a sore throat and had trouble breathing, his doctors took blood from his body. This was a common way to treat ills in those days. They drained about five pints — about half of his blood — in less than a day. The president didn’t recover.

When a Japanese matchmaker asks, “What’s your type?” she may not mean tall, dark, and handsome but A, B, O, or AB. Many Japanese believe your blood group says a lot about your personality. Type A blood is a sign you are hard working, neat, and sensitive. People with type O are thought to be independent, logical self-starters.

People with type O blood are 83% more likely to be bitten by a mosquito. Hospitals ask most for type O blood, too. That’s because type O can be given to anyone. O-negative is the most appealing of all. If mosquitoes like that O blood, then why do they eat ME up in the summer?

Blood tests are used to tell if you are sick. Too few red blood cells may mean you have anemia. Too many white cells can be a sign of infection. Now, researchers are finding that certain chemicals in the blood are signs or “markers” that a person may be depressed or even thinking about suicide. These results give hope to better ways to test for, treat and prevent mental illness.

A theory called “geographic progression” shows that if vampires had been around in the year 1600, as rumored, there wouldn’t have been enough blood to go around. At the rate of 1 human for every vampire, humans would have been extinguished after three years. Then where would the vampires be without their sustenance?

Blood clots can form when on a long flight on an airplane because of the sitting in one spot for a long period of time. Without moving your legs it can cause “deep-vein thrombosis,” or blood clots in the legs.

Did you know that people with the rarest blood type, AB, are most likely to have thinking and memory problems? Keep your memory sharp, such as controlling blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.

These are just a few fun facts that aren’t always commonly known by a lot of people. Just stay away from those vampires, ok?

Dr Fredda Branyon