|
|
Hip fractures are the most serious consequences of osteoporosis. The incidence of hip fractures increases with each decade among patients in their 60s to patients in their 90s for both women and men of all populations. Men and women older than 80 years of age show the highest incidence of hip fractures.
The tallest man ever known was Robert Wadlow, an American, who reached the height of 8 feet 11 inches. He died at age 26 years from an infection caused by the immense weight of his body (491 pounds) and the stress on his leg bones and muscles.
The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria on it than a toilet.
Throughout history, plants containing cardiac steroids have been used as heart drugs and as poisons (e.g., in arrows used in combat), emetics, and diuretics.
It is believed that the Incas used anesthesia. Evidence supports the theory that shamans chewed cocoa leaves and drilled holes into the heads of patients (letting evil spirits escape), spitting into the wounds they made. The mixture of cocaine, saliva, and resin numbed the site enough to allow hours of drilling.
![The phosphorus cycle. Numbers are 1012 g P or fluxes as 1012 g P per year (data from Schlesinger 199](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_33_17_02_12_7_02_17_2037874.jpeg)
![The Black Death spread over much of Europe in a three-year period in the middle of the fourteenth ce](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_273688_23_02_15_7_45_11_208612424.jpeg)
![The Kingsley plantation, on Fort George Island in Jacksonville, Florida. Zephaniah Kingsley, the own](https://biology-forums.com/gallery/47/medium_375552_19_08_15_9_09_52_223231620.jpeg)