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The largest baby ever born weighed more than 23 pounds but died just 11 hours after his birth in 1879. The largest surviving baby was born in October 2009 in Sumatra, Indonesia, and weighed an astounding 19.2 pounds at birth.
As many as 28% of hospitalized patients requiring mechanical ventilators to help them breathe (for more than 48 hours) will develop ventilator-associated pneumonia. Current therapy involves intravenous antibiotics, but new antibiotics that can be inhaled (and more directly treat the infection) are being developed.
The longest a person has survived after a heart transplant is 24 years.
Nearly 31 million adults in America have a total cholesterol level that is more than 240 mg per dL.
Human stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve small pieces of metal such as razor blades or staples.