Interesting Facts

The taxman looks set to be granted the right to break the speed limit in the UK. (At present only the emergency services; police, ambulance and fire, are allowed to break the speed limit, but under new rules other groups will be included: bomb disposal units, the blood transfusion service and mountain and mine rescue teams, oh and the aforementioned taxman.  The taxman - the fourth emergency service.)

Octopuses have three hearts. Two branchial hearts pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third is a systemic heart that pumps blood through the body. (Octopus blood contains the copper-rich protein heamocyanin for transporting oxygen. Although less efficient under normal conditions than the iron-rich haemoglobin we have, in cold conditions with low oxygen pressure, heamocyanin oxygen transportation is more efficient than heamoglobin oxygen transportation. The heamocyanin is dissolved in the plasma instead of being carried within red blood cells, and gives the blood a bluish color, which of course we had to call "ink". Yet another reason not to eat these remarkable marine animals:  The main reason being they can juggle.)

World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, the first one was held in 1988. (According to the UK Medical Research Council a 20-year-old with HIV, who has been diagnosed and is receiving treatment, can expect to live to an average age of 66 and in years to come many HIV patients can expect a normal lifespan in years to come. Dr Steve Taylor, an HIV specialist at Birmingham Heartland Hospital said, "If they can get that medication then their life expectancy after they've been on the drug for five years is that of the general population." However, the key is early diagnosis; it is estimated that one in four HIV-positive people in the UK have not been diagnosed and half of those being diagnosed are diagnosed "late". Those classified as "late" have a severely reduced immune system and as the immune system gets weaker still, the body becomes vulnerable to opportunistic infections. So, if you think there may be a chance that you are infected, go ...

Each red blood cell in your body lives for only 120 days on average! (Over time, the red blood cells get worn out and eventually die.  I know how they feel.)

Human blood most closely resembles sea water in terms of it's chemical composition!

The human body creates 2.4 million red blood cells every second. (Good job we don't have to count them; or bank them!)

Researchers at Erasmus University in Rotterdam in the Netherlands have developed a new method of estimating a person's age - from their blood. (The test takes advantage of a characteristic of immune cells known as T cells but it's only accurate to plus or minus 9 years. So no more lying about your age - within limits.)

The smallest man made pump is the size of a human red blood cell. (A team of American and Chinese researchers have created tunnels in glass rods that are thinner than a human hair, these conduct electricity and power the teeny weeny fluid pump. The only problem is, I'm not sure what use it is.)

powered by ODEO Blood can turn a dark greenish-black - like Spock's - if you take a certain type of migraine medication. (A team of Canadian surgeons got a shock when the patient they were operating on began shedding dark greenish-black blood, but the unusual colour was due to the migraine medication he was taking. The patient had been taking large doses of Sumatriptan, which seemingly can cause a rare condition called sulfhaemoglobinaemia, where sulphur is incorporated into the oxygen-carrying compound haemoglobin in red blood cells. Actually I think he was really a Vulcan. Live long and prosper.)