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Having sisters who have taken medical courses during college and the habit of reading books and watching discovery channel definitely have its perks - Especially if you’ve had a list of medical mysteries ever since you were just a kid. It may have taken more than 20 years but taking the time to find the explanations for these perplexing body mysteries have definitely allowed me to sleep a little bit better at night. At least now I know where these weird habits come from.
Anyway, here are some mysteries I have crossed off my list so far:
1. Sleep Paralysis:
Ever woke up from a bad dream and found out that you couldn’t move or scream? It may be as freaky as hell but scientists say that this is completely natural. After all, the brain has to disengage its direct control over your body so as to prevent it from making the movements you make in your dream. Imagine dreaming about a knife fight and finding yourself with an actual knife in your hands when you wake up? Wouldn’t you prefer temporary paralysis over that? He he. Some people’s brain doesn’t completely disengage its control over the body though. That’s why you find some people sleepwalking, mumbling in their sleep, fixing coffee, and my personal favourite, trying to climb walls (which my mother claims I did when I was a kid).
2. Post Pee Shiver:
At first I thought this only happens to men. We stand by the wall, expel our pee, then do that little shivering dance before pulling up the zipper. One time, I overheard girls talking about this same phenomenon although I’m sure their experience is a lot more personal and private than for boys. After all, girls pee inside enclosed cubicles compared to boys who line up side by side by the wall, shivering that little post pee shiver for everyone to see. Sometimes the shivering even gets so bad that pee is sprayed all over the place, he he, with adjacent guys doing that matrix like evasion dance. Anyway, my sisters say this is entirely normal (shivering not spraying) because as the body pees, body heat is lost through the warm pee that is expelled. The body then compensates by shivering.
3. Déjà vu:
One of my sisters presented an interesting theory about that déjà vu feeling we get whenever it seems like everything happening now has happened before. She says that according to some medical books, sometimes the things we see and hear gets routed to the long term memory portion of our brains where memories are stored instead of the short term memory slot. This tricks us into thinking that a particular incident has happened before. Whew! At least that’s a lot more comforting than the theory presented in Denzel Washington’s Movie “Déjà vu” where people from the future are viewing what we are doing now.
4. The Invisible Space Bubble:
Ever noticed the invisible space bubble around people you come across daily? It’s an invisible space around individuals or representative objects that for some unspoken agreement we don’t or hesitate to encroach upon. Like urine marks on animal territorial boundaries, a book on a library table, a jacket on a chair, a bag on a bus seat, all seem to scream “STAY BACK, STAY AWAY”. The space bubble around people increases or decreases too depending on the occasion, it might feel ok to rub shoulders with a total stranger when riding on a jeepney, a bus or on the MRT, but to rub shoulders with someone you don’t know in a spacious library or any other open space? I’ll bet you daggers will definitely go a flyin’. It’s like we’re all walking around with repelling magnetic charges that forces us to set the maximum possible distance between people. Of course, this doesn’t apply when we’re with someone we’re comfortable with like our friends or loved ones, in which case, our space bubbles merge, the magnetic polarities switch to attract and the combined bubbles becomes larger than the sum of the parts. This is why we give a wide berth to lovers, rowdy groups and individuals wearing the same shirts, he he. Apparently there’s a scientific study on this subject called Proxemics which states that the use of interpersonal space or distance helps individuals regulate intimacy by controlling sensory exposure.
5. The Lie-Eye Relationship:
Although I have never tested it, I saw this one in an episode in CSI where the investigators immediately knew the woman suspect was lying all because her eyes looked left before she answered a particularly difficult question. Now science says this is because when our eyes move left, we are actually accessing our right side of the brain which handles imagination (and consequently the ability to lie and fabricate stories). When we remember, our eyes should move right to access the left side of our brain which is for logic and memory. Hmmm… Did Abalos’ eyes move right or left during the ANC interview?
6. Chocolates, Scary Movies and Lust:
Question: What do chocolates, scary movies and lust have in common? Answer: PEA, not the ones in the Ipod but the phenylethylamine hormone, a hormone responsible for giving you that feeling of infatuation and that lovesick puppy look. Chocolates contain minute amounts of it, scary movies and situations induce the production of it and lust is the end product of it. So girls, should someone ask you out to watch a movie after gorging you on chocolates, BE ON YOUR GUARD. He he
7. The Smelling After Scratching Habit:
It maybe a yucky habit but admit it, you’ve probably seen a close friend do it. In fact, you yourself may be guilty of it. He he. Thinking about this particular number has gotten me so curious that I have even posted a poll in the internet about it. I also browsed around for scientific articles explaining this weird phenomenon. Apparently, this is a worldwide problem. I came across American girlfriends complaining about their boyfriends doing it in forums, found a bunch of confused white guys attempting to find the meaning behind it, and even stumbled upon a related habit “the pinch and roll” but that’s for another story. I’ve read somewhere though that our primal ancestors once used our sense of smell a lot more extensively. They used it to mark their territories, recognize kin, guard against danger, etc. In fact, another study indicated that we still use our sense of smell in to attract people as well as in choosing our partners (our nose have the ability to determine if the one we’re attracted to is a good genetic match for us and would produce healthy children). This is also the reasoning behind the Musk perfume which is basically an odor emitted by certain animals when they are in heat. So are the smelling after scratching habit, my cousin’s inclination to smell other people’s hair as well as the tendency to smell other people’s fart a leftover social programming from our primal ancestry then? I certainly think so, he he
8. Feeling Sleepy after Eating Syndrome:
This is an easy one. My sister says that after eating, most of our blood supply and thus the body’s oxygen is routed to our stomachs to help in food digestion. Consequently, this makes us feel drowsy and weak.
9. Earwax Consistency and Body Odor:
This one I saw in a MadLabs episode in discovery channel. The theory goes that the more powdery your earwax is, the less body odor you have. Conversely, the more viscous they are, the stinkier your body odor is. The MadLabs people even went ahead and did a test among Caucasian and oriental people. They found out that Orientals like the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese tend to have powdery earwax, thus less deodorant sales in these countries. Caucasians on the other hand had more viscous earwax, you know what comes next.
10. The Falling Sensation:
Have you ever felt that falling sensation just as you nod off to sleep? I’ve certainly experienced them a lot in my 7 am classes back in college to the fascination of my professors and classmates– kicking legs and all. Scientists call this the hypnagogic myoclonic twitch or “Hypnic jerk”, they say that this situation happens when our brains misinterpret the signals sent by our muscles when they start to go slack and relaxed - thinking that we are about to fall down. This is actually a remnant instinct from the time when our ancestors used to live in trees. In these occasions, the brain then tells the body to jerk itself upright while making us instantly awake and alert. This is entirely normal they say although people who suffer from sleep deprivation experience from it more. This is also said to be the third leading cause for embarrassing episodes while sleeping, the first being bed wetting followed by farting while sleeping. He he, thank God I didn’t end up farting while sleeping in class instead!
11. Genital Protection While Sleeping:
It’s an embarrassing topic and one most boys would probably deny when asked about it but its true. Most boys hold their genitals while sleeping. WHY?? I scoured the web for an explanation but apparently most of the people in the internet find it an embarrassing topic too. I got some interesting tidbits of info though. Apparently, celibate monks during the middle ages used to sleep with their hands over their genitals holding a crucifix to keep away the incubus or sex demons that brings about impure dreams (wet dreams in modern science). Also, instead of putting ones hand over a bible while swearing to tell the truth in a court of law, Romans in ancient times put their hands over their genitals. The psychology of the human mind however provided some light on this topic. Apparently, this behaviour is more common to boys who have experienced being teased about their penises while they were young. The posture then becomes an unconscious automatic reflex to protect this body part while sleeping. Hmmm, there must be lots of boys teased about this when they were young then.
12. Hiccups:
One of the mysteries of the body that has stumped countless scientists for hundreds of years. After all, hiccups do not seem to have a discernible purpose in the overall blueprint of our body. One theory states that hiccupping is a way to strengthen the lung muscles of babies still in the womb. Another theory states that it’s a reflex action used by the body to keep out the amniotic fluid from the lungs. A more interesting theory however states that hiccupping is an instinct retained from our sea based ancestors from 370 million years ago. After all, hiccupping, or the sudden closure of the windpipe using the glottis just as we are about to breathe is very similar to how these animals shut off their glottis when breathing in oxygen through the gills instead of their lungs.
Well, so much for that. At least now I can finally shelve these thoughts in the backroom of my brain and concentrate on finishing my work. He he
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