Record-Breaking Facts In Medicine

Since the begining of the documentation of medical knowledge, scientists have seen many incredible and astonishing scenarios and situations. Several of these has undoubtedly seems to shifted the frontiers of medical doctrines, principles and knowledge. As it appears, people have defied medical science which has led structural modifications in our understanding of medicine even continuing till today. Many of these extraordinary conditions have therefore largely contributed to our understanding of the human evolution, anatomy, and physiology.

While trying to keep the article as short as possible I will discuss several interesting general medical facts and record-breaking events in medicine that have made some people superhumans. Only information specific about humans is considered here 

General Anatomy and Physiology

• Hydrogen makes >60% of the elemental composition of the body, almost present in all biomolecules.

The total number of bones in the adult human body is 206

• Largest cell: the largest cell in humans is the ovum released during the female reproductive cycle. They are as large as 120 micrometers. Motor neurons are comparably huge and can be as long as 1m and 100 micrometers in width.

• Smallest cell: the smallest cell is the sperm cell measuring only 4 micrometers. Common to both sexes, cerebellum granule cells are the tiniest. They are about 50 billion of these and they are the most numerous nerve cells.

• Largest organ: since the skin is considered as an organ it makes it the largest. It weighs about 3.6kg and measures 22ft².  The liver comes following weighing 1.36-1.59kg.

• Smallest organ: the pineal gland which secretes melatonin measures only 5-8mm.

• Smallest bone: the smallest bone is the stapes in the middle ear.

• Largest bone: the femur is the largest bone extending from hip to knee.

• Largest muscle: the muscle of the buttocks, gluteus maximus which enables abduction and adduction of the thighs and enables walking and balance.

• Longest nerve: sciatic nerve (this is the motor nerve, see above)

• Shortest lifespan: the epithelial lining of the gut endures only for 5 days before it sloughed off. The layer is rapidly regenerated.

• Longest lifespan: brain cells remain alive from birth till death. They do not die unless pathology is present.

• Most numerous cell: there are 25 trillion red cells (erythrocytes) in the blood making it the most numerous cell existing in the body

• Longest memory of a cell:  B-cells that produce antibodies against infections and antigens never forget an enemy.

• Most recently discovered organ: the mesentery has been known for quite a time but is only recently recognized as an organ. It lines the trunk (the digestive tract, abdominal arteries, and lungs) and acts as a shock absorber and protective lining.

Individual cases (General well-being)

J.B. Minnoch

• Heaviest: the heaviest person ever documented is Jon Brower Minnoch who at a point weighed 635 kg. He suffered from severe obesity and developed serious circulatory and respiratory failure. This led to congestion of fluid in his body. He was painstakingly brought to the hospital where he lost 419kg after the drainage of his accumulated fluids and other matter. His weight dropped to 216kg. He died years later.

• Biggest loser:  J.B. Minnoch also maintains the record for the greatest weight loss.

• Lightest: Lucia Zarate of Mexico weighed 2.18kg at 17 years old.

• Heaviest baby: the heaviest baby born is a child who was born weighing 10.2kg in Italy.

• Lightest baby: Kwek Yu Xuan was born prematurely weighing only 212g.

• Weight gain: Doris James gained 147kg of weight. She died at age 38 weighing 308kg.

Meet Chandra, the person who currently holds the record for the shortest person on Earth.

• Tallest: Sultan Kosen measured above 8ft tall. His gigantism result from a pituitary tumor and acromegaly.

• Dwarf: Dwarfism is mostly caused by deficiency in growth hormone. Chandra from India holds the world record for the shortest person measuring only 54.64cm

• Longest days without food: Angus Barbier survived 382 days without solid food rely ong only on water, milk, and zero-calorie drinks and beverages. He lost 125kg.

• Weirdest diet: Michael Lotito became famous for his consumption of inedible objects. Known as "Mr. Eat-All", he is said to have consumed all these things: 45 door hinges, 18 bicycles, 15 shopping carts, 7 TV sets, 6 chandeliers, 2 beds, 1 pair of skis, 1 computer, 1 Cessna 150 light aircraft, 1 waterbed (full of water), 500 meters (1,600 ft) of steel chain at once, 1 coffin (with handles), 1 Guinness award plaque. He died of natural causes.

Longevity record holder, Jeanne Calment

• Longevity: Jeanne Calment from France holds the greatest authentic record for number of years lived. She lived for 122½ years. At the time she was 120 years old, it was the doctrine that no one should see his/her 121st birthday. Today, the limit has been extended to 127 years. Experts say that ideally, the human body has enough resources to carry us till 150 years.

Gynecology and Obstetrics

Menopause signifies the end of one's reproductive age. However, there are instances where people legitimately conceived at a much later age. Nowadays, with modern techniques of hormonal therapy, a woman of any age can become pregnant.

• Oldest Mother: Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara became a mother at the age of 66yrs 358 days

• Most Children: a woman can only give birth to 400 children in a lifetime. Valentina and Feodor Vassolyev parented 69 biological children: 16 twins, 7 triplets, and 4 quadruplets between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.

Surgery

Although surgery has been long practiced, if only became effective and safe with the development of anesthesia and understanding of microbial infections.

• Earliest Surgery: It is now accepted that as far as 6,500 B.C., trepanation, the surgical procedure of drilling holes into the skulls were conducted. It was thought to relieve mental conditions varying from seizures to insanity.

• Most surgery on one individual: Charles Jensen had 1954-1994 a total of 970 operations performed on him due to basal cell naevus syndrome 

• Heaviest tumor: a 137kg multicystic mass in the right ovary was removed from a patient by Prof. Katherine O'Hanlan in 1991.

• Most protracted operation: the longest surgery lasted for 96 hours (4-8th February 1951) to eliminate an ovarian cyst in Mrs. Gertrude Levandowski. 

Oil of Vitriol (ether) is the first anesthesic to be employed clinically. It has today been largely replaced by better alternatives.

• First anesthesia: the anesthetic properties of ether was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1818. On 16 Oct 1846, William Morton used diethyl ether to remove a vascular tumor in the neck of a patient.

• Heart-lung-liver: triple transplant surgeries are very rare and complicated. The first of such kind was achieved in 1986 by British surgeons on a 35-year-old woman.

• Longest coma: Elaine Esposito lost consciousness in 1941 and died 37 years later in 1978.

Epidemiology and Infectious disease

The Bubonic plague is the worst epidemic that happen since human history. It was caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacteria transmitted by fleas on rats. Today Y. pestis is treatable.

• Most devastating: the most devastating disease outbreak known since human history is the black death (bubonic plague) which ravaged Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Between 30-60% of the European population at that period died.

• Most deadly: cardiovascular diseases are the current leading cause of death accounting for over 31.59% of all deaths caused by diseases.

Once a person begins to display symptoms of infection, nothing can be done making it invariably fatal

• 100% fatality: prion infections, rabies, African trypanosomiasis, and visceral leishmaniasis are 100% percent fatal in their full infections. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies caused by prions have no known cure. Death from rabies can only be prevented by the use of PEP and vaccine.

Therapeutics

• Oldest medicine: Archeological evidence discloses that certain plants and vegetables were used as medicine dating as far as the Paleolithic age.

Alcohol has profound effects on the central nervous system. It is highly addictive and consumption compromises health. Alcohol causes aggressive behaviors, liver damage and cancer.

• Most used drug: alcohol, typically regarded as a drug is the most widely used drug substance with the global alcohol beverage market valued at $1.448 trillion in 2021.

• Narrow therapeutic index: several drugs have a very narrow therapeutic index but all prescribers of warfarin are conscious of the need to tightly regulate the serum concentrations of this essential anticoagulant. Making it more challenging is the variability in response to the drug (about 20-40 orders of magnitude) in different patients. Lithium carbonate, digitalis, and theophylline among others are also safe only in a narrow range.

In the 21st century, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality. It also accounts for the greatest category in terms of purchase/sale of prescription drugs sold annually.

• Most poisonous plant toxin: Abrin from the brilliant red seeds of Abrus precatorius is regarded as the most poisonous plant toxin with only 1-2 seeds capable of killing a human. The lethal dose is 0.1-1 microgram per kilogram.

• Most expensive: Etranacogene dezaparvovec (hemgenix) a one-off virus vector-based gene therapy injection licensed by the FDA in November 2022 for the treatment of hemophilia B costs $3.5 million.

Survival Under Extreme Conditions:

Regarded as one of the most toxic substance in the universe, Plutonium-237 is extremely deadly especially when injected or inhaled. As a powerful alpha emitter, it causes acute tissue damage and cancer

• Highest human temperature:
Life is supported within the narrow temperature range of 36.5-37.5°C. deviations from this can cause fever, fatal hyperthermia, or fatal hypothermia.

Temperature above 44°C leads to brain damage, convulsions, shock, and death. Some people have been recorded to have survived body temperatures of 46.5°C.

• Lowest (hypothermia): a temperature of 11.8°C was recorded rectally in a 27-month-old boy called Adam. He survived neurologically intact.

• Most radioactive: the most radioactive human ever is Albert Stevens who had 131KBecquerel of Plutonium injected into him without his consent on 14 May 1945. The Plutonium remained in his body being eliminated only slowly by radioactive decay and biological elimination. throughout his life. He accumulated a total of 64Sv in his life. (Total lifetime exposure to radiation must not exceed 400mSv). He died 21 years later of heart disease.

Photo Courtesy: istockphotos.