27 Weird Facts About Something You Do Every Single Day

We all need to sleep. If we didn’t sleep, we’d die. The number of hours we need per night is always up in the air, but the fact of the matter is that those who don’t get enough sleep are usually pretty miserable.

While it seems like a pretty simple activity, so many things happen while we sleep. Don’t believe me? Check these out.

1. Humans spend an average of 25 years sleeping over the course of a lifetime.

2. Parents of newborn babies miss out on roughly 6 months of sleep during the baby’s first 2 years of life.

3. The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days.

4. Sleeping less than 7 hours each night reduces life expectancy.

5. Some deaf people sign in their sleep.

6. Lack of sleep can cause people to gain about 2 pounds a week.

7. It’s impossible to sneeze in your sleep.

8. Work hours are so insane in Japan that it’s normal for people to fall asleep on the job.

9. If you have trouble getting out of bed every morning, you’re suffering from something called dysania.

10. People sleep differently depending on the moon’s phases. We tend to sleep best under a new moon, and worst under a full moon.

11. Tibetan monks have been known to sleep standing up.

12. Pilots surveyed in the U.K. have admitted to falling asleep while flying passenger planes.

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13. Believing that you’ve slept well improves performance, even if you didn’t get that much sleep.

14. Memories take hold better during sleep.

15. John Lennon used to sleep in an old coffin from time to time.

16. Studies show that students at schools with later start times perform better.

17. You burn more calories while sleeping than you do while watching television.

18. Sleep deprivation can impair judgment and slow reaction time.

19. Neuroscientists believe that babies don’t dream for the first few years of their lives.

20. Women experience more nightmares than men.

21. When in complete darkness, most people adjust to a 48-hour cycle: 12 hours of sleep, and 36 hours of activity.

22. Contrary to popular belief, the likelihood of eating even one spider in your lifetime while sleeping is slim to none.

23. About 8% of Americans sleep naked.

24. The average person in France sleeps 8.83 hours a night — the most in the developed world.

25. Morphine got its name from Morpheus, the God of Sleep, because morphine has a tendency to make people lethargic.

26. A baby’s brain can use up to 50% of its glucose in a day, which explains why they need so much sleep.

27. People who suffer from migraines, heart conditions, and sleep deprivation often experience nightmares.

(via Fact Slides)

I bet you didn’t know all of that! Now you’ll have a better appreciation for what’s going on while you’re sleeping.

Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/weird-sleep-facts/

10 Confessions That Show Just How Heartbreaking Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Can Be

Approximately two percent of people over the age of 18 in the United States suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

And we all have that one picky friend who constantly says they have OCD because they can’t mix green M&Ms with red ones or handle the thought of peas touching mashed potatoes on their plate. What real sufferers deal with, however, has nothing to do with an odd desire to eat red M&Ms first, although strict organization can certainly be one of many crushing symptoms.

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The fact of the matter is that your friend would be able to go about their day if they accidentally ate a green candy first. People dealing with OCD do not have the luxury of messing up a ritual and moving on.

News of a teenager named Alicia Falconer recently broke on Metro’s website. The young woman, who struggles with OCD, feels compelled to tap on surfaces 100 times to ensure that her family stays alive.

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Although that might sound bizarre to most of us, the fact of the matter is that these fears are very real to people dealing with the condition.

In many cases, people struggling with OCD find themselves confined to their homes because their compulsions and rituals take over their lives. You can imagine the emotional and psychological toll that would take on a person. To better understand what it feels like to be trapped by such a serious mental illness, take a look at these real-life confessions.

1. “Someone who I admired and respected passed away some years ago, and I feel like it’s my fault. We never met, and I didn’t know them personally at all.”

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(via Reddit / ComputerLoadUpCelery)

“I keep thinking that through my actions, like buying tomato soup instead of spinach soup on a certain day or whatever trivial nonsense, I caused his demise.”

2. “I started to think I was going to veer off the road and hit some pedestrian, so for about a year, driving got really tedious. A trip that normally took me about 20 minutes started to take me around an hour because of the constant checking and re-checking.”

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(via Reddit / otherdudename)

While he was out driving one day, the Redditor used everything in his power to pass a woman on the sidewalk without circling back to check on her. When he got home, he was consumed by guilt. In his words, “I had put it out of my mind for months until one day it hit me. ‘What if I’d hit that woman? What if she was dead and I did it?’ Ever since then, this has been haunting me. The guilt I feel gets really bad sometimes. I know in my head I didn’t actually hit someone, but since I can’t prove it, the guilt remains.”

3. “I generally refuse to discuss my obsessions in depth because of concern that they are somehow contagious.”

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(viaReddit / panrestrial)

“I worry that the things I obsess over are things that would disturb anyone who really thought about them, and I can’t bear the idea of anyone else feeling this way so I can’t discuss them for fear I’ll pass them on. Are any of you worried that if you talk in too much detail about your obsessions that listeners will become similarly obsessed?”

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4. “Nobody really understands. To be in this cage you can’t break free from. The misery. The things you get used to that would appall normal people.”

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(via Reddit / TurnTheValve)

“I can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t rest my arms on anything, and can’t sit down. I have to wait hours before I can sit down and longer before I can sleep. I’m depressed, dizzy, thirsty, and my body hurts. Once I go to sleep, I know that I’ll just wake up and do it all over again. I need out so badly.”

5. “I’ve recently had this awareness of swallowing due to a recent post-nasal drip and I can’t get rid of it. The more I think about it, the more saliva my body produces, the more times I swallow.”

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(via Reddit / daszeus1)

“It bothers me when I’m trying to sleep or when I wake up in the middle of the night, and sometimes I can’t go back to sleep due to the constant need to swallow. It causes me insomnia.”

6. “I’ve been having a problem as of late where I get stuck having an argument with myself in my head. That argument just repeats over and over and I can’t make it stop.”

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(via Reddit / Vethar)

“It’s an absolutely terrible feeling. I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve always had to deal with intrusive thoughts and obsessing over particular things, but this is some next-level stuff.”

7. “I have a big fear of schizophrenia and demonic possession, so I have this image of some human guy in my head and I constantly try to push it away and then accept it. Then a thought will say it’s a demon.”

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(via Reddit / SugarPupPups)

“So tired of all these intrusive thoughts of demonic possession. So tired of it. It’s so tiring trying to deal with all this. I’m stressed out.”

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8. “I have developed some fears about whether or not I’m losing my cognitive abilities, and as a result of that, I constantly check my intelligence by doing some incredible logic-based gymnastics in order to reassure myself that I’m not becoming stupid or worse, going crazy.”

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(via Reddit / Sirearthure)

“If I had to sum up this phenomenon in few words, I would say it’s some sort of fear of not understanding something. Because in my poor mind, I automatically associate this fear with stupidity, and stupidity means losing myself as a human being and facing rejection from others.”

9. “I count everything and add, multiply, and subtract until I get nine. Digital numbers, sides of things, everything.”

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(via Reddit / Ziasauruswrecks)

“Examples: It is currently 8:25 p.m. 8+2+5=15. 1+5=6. 6+3=9. Those arrows painted on the road…seven sides plus two equals nine. Stop sign, eight sides plus one equals nine. TV, four sides plus four outer edges, sometimes four more edges, equals 12. 1+2=3. 3 x 3=9. I do it all the damn time. It drives me absolutely crazy.”

10. “Since the third grade, I have had an irrational fear that I’m being watched or spied on with cameras.”

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(via Reddit / Disirai)

I’m 28 now and still have a fear of cameras watching me. Dressing rooms, public bathrooms, the rental house I’m living in. What if the landlords installed cameras?”

If you or someone you know is struggling with OCD, please reach out. Click here for more details about how you can find the support you and your loved ones need.

Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/ocd-confessions/

A Dentist Once Wrote About A Condition That Caused People’s Teeth To Explode

We often associate sitting in the dentist’s chair with annoyance and pain, but dentists never get enough credit for making that experience much less painful than it actually could be.

Thomas Morris, a writer and avid researcher of medical history oddities, wrote a piece about the history of dental explosions that’ll make your skin crawl. (Yes, seriously.)

In the 19th century, a dentist by the name of W.H. Atkinson wrote about a bizarre condition that caused people’s teeth to explode in their mouths. (And you thought getting cavities filled was painful!)

In 1817, Atkinson recorded the case of a reverend in Springfield, Pennsylvania, who suffered from a painful toothache.

One morning, he heard a loud crack in his mouth that sounded “like a pistol shot.” After his tooth shattered into tiny pieces, the pain went away.

In 1871, a young woman’s tooth blew up from a similar affliction.

Some say the sound that came from her mouth was so loud that she went deaf for a few days after the fact.

No one is quite sure if this condition actually existed, but one of its causes could have been that severe tooth decay often leads to gas buildup at the root.

When the tooth is filled with too much gas, it explodes like a balloon.

Another theory is that two different metals used for fillings back then reacted to each other by producing hydrogen.

That could explain the bizarre explosions.

(via Thomas Morris on BBC | Unexplained Mysteries)

But these are only theories, of course. Most modern dentists have little faith that this syndrome was ever actually a thing. Did Atkinson really treat a man with an exploding tooth problem, or was this just part of a sophisticated ploy to get his patients to floss more? We may never know.

To read more about the weird history of medicine, follow Thomas Morris on Twitter.

Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/exploding-teeth/

Yes, This Is A Boy Chained Up Like A Dog. And The Reason Why Is Even More Heartbreaking.

This is the heartbreaking, true story of a little boy in China named He Zili. He’s 11 years old, and he spends most of his days chained up like a dog in the province of Zhejiang. The reason why is tough to handle.

When Zili was only 1 year old, he suffered a head injury that sparked mental problems.

He is often shackled to his father – like a dog.

This story really highlights the problems with how mental disorders are handled in rural China.

Zili is currently being looked after by his physically disabled grandfather and his intellectually handicapped father after his mother died of cancer.

They stated that there was no choice but to chain Zili up because he was attacking people around him.

The horrifying photos are tough to look at it. He’s a small boy without a chance.

His partially paralyzed grandfather struggles every single day with Zili, unable to truly help him and resorting to this slave-like method of treatment.

A neighbor cautiously looks through her door as Zili runs by…still shackled.

He even sleeps with the chain around his leg. The conditions they live in are terrible enough, even without the chain.

His grandfather wipes away tears, thinking about Zili’s condition and their terrible struggles.

Source

There’s only 1.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in China. In rural China, those with mental disorders don’t even stand a chance. People, even young boys like Zili, are forced to live lives worse than some dogs because of this ongoing problem.

It’s difficult to help children like Zili, but several organizations do exist to aid rural China. One is called Free The Children that you can check out if you’d like to help. If you know of any others, feel free to e-mail us the links.
Share this article if you’d like to raise awareness of Zili’s struggles. He, and others like him, need help.
Read more: http://viralnova.com/boy-chained-up/

Obesity linked to brain function

Researchers at Aalto University and University of Turku have revealed how obesity is associated with altered opioid neurotransmission in the brain.
New research reveals how obesity is associated with altered functioning of brain’s opioid system, which is intimately involved in generating… http://goo.gl/4fYKgX #BodyMassIndex, #CardiovascularDisease, #Disease, #Food, #Health, #Hypertension, #Obesity, #PhysicalExercise, #PositronEmissionTomography, #UnitedStates

Your Stop by at a Denver colorado Day Health spa

Now you have eventually discovered the full time going visit a Denver night salon, there are a few suggestions that will help move you to more relaxed.
When witnessing per day spa, you’ll be provided a locker for all your things, slip-ons and a dress.
Time spas offer facilities regarding showering including soap, scrub, tresses locks conditioners, hair straightening irons as well as hair hairdryers, on top of other things.
Basically, what you need to adopt along with your whenever you go to each day day spa id your comb and hairbrush.
If you need unique products for instance makeup products, encounter lotion or simply certain tresses services and products, you are invited to simply take these kind of to you.
For folks who have chose to get a toenails done at day time spa, you’ll want to either use available toed footwear to you.
If you should be coming from the workplace and so are around shut shoes, it is important to deliver a pair of thong home slippers or sandals with you considering the fact that toenails could possibly get damaged in case you stick your toes in shut shoes too-early once you have the fingernails completed.
In addition three to four levels with regards to toenail shine don’t dried up as quickly as fingernails on your own hands.
For this reason, it might appear such as the the best option surface of one’s toenail will soon be dry to discover the nail enamel is actually damaged once you take your feet from your sealed footwear afterwards that time.
Generally speaking, it can take about an hour approximately to dry out toenails but usually, it’s an extremely great thought to use flip-flops after having a pedicure.
Anytime getting a massage, there is no need to use anything under it considering the fact that putting on undies sometimes get oily making use of the therapeutic massage oil used.
Yours licensed massage therapy specialist will typically understand how to help you stay covered in the appropriate areas while you get your very own therapeutic massage.
You don’t have to alter clothing for businesses like toenail polish but it is important to alter clothes so you can get a face or a therapeutic massage.
Leave your whole precious jewelry as part of your locker as well as those who wear associates, there was saline option supplied by numerous day spas.

Your first-rate alternative in spas Denver Day spa

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Better Health with Denver Acupuncture

 

Acupuncture is a tradition Chinese medical treatment. Its origins are somewhat uncertain, but the earliest recorded example of the practice is circa 200 BC. Acupuncture Denver involves the insertion and manipulation of thin needles into the skin at specific points. Despite its ancient origins, acupuncture is becoming increasingly common in modern times as a form of alternative medicine.
 
The exact date on which acupuncture was first practiced has been lost to history. Needle-like stone implements dating to the Neolithic have been discovered in China, leading to speculation that some form of acupuncture may have been practiced during the Stone Age. More concrete evidence exists in pictographs from the Shang Dynasty, sometime between 1600 and 1100 BC. The first written description, however, does not surface until roughly 200 BC. Acupuncture spread from China to the surrounding region. Traditions of acupuncture exist in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and other parts of Asia. Western nations were first introduced to the practice by Portuguese missionaries and traveling Dutch surgeons during the 16th century. In modern times, acupuncture gained its widest exposure in western countries as a result of demonstrations performed during U.S. President Nixon’s visit to China.
 
Acupuncture Denver, like much of Chinese traditional medicine, attempts to address problems with bodily energy. This energy is known as Chi or Qi, and is related to the Japanese concept of Ki. Within this framework, the free flow of energy along pathways is very important. During an acupuncture treatment, needles are inserted into acupuncture points. The points are believed to be found along important pathways of Chi flow. Once the needle is placed in one of these points, it is manipulated in a manner to clear any blockage of Chi. With the blockage removed, Chi is free to once again flow in an unobstructed way; this is believed to promote health and overall well-being. Further, there are thought to be several different types of Chi. The most recognizable of these are yin and yang. According to traditional Chinese medicine, energy imbalances also cause poor health. Acupuncture Denver, in addition to removing blockages, is thought to play a regulatory role regarding these types of energy.
 
With the rise of interest in alternative medicine, it is only natural that acupuncture should gain a broader following. This increase in modern interest has led to scientific scrutiny of acupuncture. The results are as yet inconclusive; however there are some findings that are favorable to the practice. Acupuncture is commonly used to treat pain. Findings are mixed on that front; some studies find acupuncture to be beneficial, others show little benefit. However, when used to treat severe nausea and vomiting, for instance in patients undergoing chemotherapy, acupuncture was found to have a beneficial effect. In 2011, a Cochran Review on people undergoing chemotherapy found that those receiving acupuncture treatments vomited fewer times per day than those given either no acupuncture or “fake” acupuncture. Even though the practice arose from traditional folk medicine in China, acupuncture Denver still retains some value as a therapeutic treatment even in modern times.
 

Alan Smith is an expert on health and wellness.  He has been writing articles on acupuncture Denver for several years.

Improving Health with Massage Denver

 

Every day, hundreds of new people are experiencing the healing miracles massage Denver has to offer for themselves. Massage is a wonderful thing; it can help with relaxation, muscle soreness, stiffness, overall flexibility, among other benefits. Massage therapy is a technique that helps anyone get in touch with themselves and be at peace. There are many different reasons to seek out massage, and many techniques that help someone get what they need out of it. 
 
The most common reason an individual will seek out massage is to relax, and for good reason. Massage therapy has been proven to help calm individuals down, lowering blood pressure and relaxing the muscles. Massage Denver is a great way to deal with tension. Muscle tension is a second reason for massage. Massage stimulates the muscles and helps people’s muscles relax. It is fantastic for athletes, reducing the chance of injury on the field due to hyperextension or preexisting tension. Massage can also be used to treat anxiety and depression, something not often considered when deciding on a technique. Depression and anxiety can be caused by hormone imbalances, and massage is specifically designed to get these parts of the body working in harmony again. The relaxation provided by massage can also be used to hep cure insomnia, providing for better nights of sleep and a dramatic increase in overall health. Massage can also improve circulation, with the specific types of muscle stimulation providing a great deal of help to the circulatory system. This improves the immune system as well. That’s right, massage therapy will not only relax you, but help keep you from getting sick as well.
 
There are many main techniques of massage Denver. One main method is kneading. This is an important part of the traditional Swedish massage, and helps stimulate circulation and relax aching muscles. The depth and intensity of the kneading can be varied from simple Swedish massage to deep tissue massages, that often leave people aching but ultimately feeling better. Kneading can be performed with the fingers in Shiatsu massage, a Japanese technique developed over hundreds of years. Some massage techniques, such as the Hilot technique from the Philippines, include joint manipulation to help relax. Some massage techniques also use pressure points, parts of the body that directly interact with other organs and systems. Aromatherapy uses essential oils to help put the person being massaged in a certain state of mind. Many methods of massage therapy combine these techniques to use them in tandem, allowing for the advantages of many techniques to be combined. 
 
Ultimately, massage therapy is a brilliant way to stay healthy and happy. It can be a great way for someone to get in tune with their body and feel better about themselves. It provides many more benefits than simple relaxation, including a potential boost to the immune system, allowing people to stay healthy for longer. Whichever method of massage is selected, the benefits are too many to ignore. Massage Denver is an excellent option for anyone looking to try alternative medicine.
 

Alan Smith is an expert on health and wellness.  He has been writing articles on  massage Denver for several years.

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