How well do you know your body?


Answer these questions to see how much you know about your body.


1. The biggest artery in your body - the aorta - is as thick as:
a) a garden hose
b) a drinking straw
c) a pencil


2. If your blood vessels were laid end to end how far would they stretch:
a) approximately 100 miles
b) from London to New York
c) round the world twice over


3. How long does it take your stomach to digest an average sized meal:
a) 4 hours
b) 8 hours
c) 12 hours


4. When you want to move a muscle how fast does the message travel:
a) 5 mph
b) 60 mph
c) 120 mph


5. How many hairs are there are on the average human head:
a) 150,000
b) 500,000
c) 1,000,000


6. How much food does the average person eat in a year:
a) 1 cwt
b) 5 cwt
c) 1 ton


7. If all your skin were peeled off, it would weigh:
a) 1 lb
b) 6 lbs
c) 12 lbs


8. How many adults have no teeth at all:
a) 1 in 2
b) 1 in 5
c) 1 in 10


9. Is it possible to catch any sexually transmitted disease by wearing infected underwear:
a) yes
b) no


10. What does the medical term bathukolpian mean:
a) a fear of water
b) small boned
c) large breasted


11. How much energy does your brain use - all the time:
a) enough to light a 5 watt light bulb
b) enough to light a 10 watt bulb
c) enough to light a 20 watt light bulb


12. How thick are the biggest nerves in your body? As thick as:
a) a pencil
b) a straw
c) a piece of cotton


13. Which of these is most dangerous:
a) living in London for 20 days
b) drinking 1 litre of wine
c) flying to New York by jet


14. A man who smokes cigarettes all his life will die how much earlier than a man who never smoked:
a) 7 years
b) 13 years
c) 18 years


15. Which of these sports is most dangerous:
a) canoeing
b) boxing
c) skiing



Check your score: the right answers are:

1 a, 2 c, 3 a, 4 c, 5 a, 6 c, 7 b, 8 b, 9 a, 10 c, 11 c, 12 a, 13 a, 14 c, 15 a

If you got 8 or more right you probably know more about medicine than most practising doctors.


Copyright Vernon Coleman 2003