8 Mysteries About the Human Body That You’ve Probably Never Thought About

Despite the advances science has made, there are still new parts of the body we are discovering, such as saliva-producing organs that were only recently looked into. There are numerous features of the human body that are only found in a small number of people, proving that our bodies are truly unique.

1. A split uvula

The piece of flesh that hangs in the back of our throats is called a uvula and serves the important function of helping us eat and drink. However, 2% of the population has the rare occurrence of a forked or split uvula. Known as a bifid uvula, it is often hereditary and can result in difficulties in digesting food and speaking. For more severe cases, therapy or surgery is recommended.

2. Extra taste buds

Some people are born with more taste buds than regular people and are called supertasters. People born with this ability are sensitive to bitter flavors in foods like coffee, chocolate, broccoli, etc. About 25% of the population is born with this ability, and women are more likely to be supertasters than men.

3. Fingers and toes without nails

Imagining ourselves without fingernails and toenails is a scary thought, but some people are born that way. Anonychia congenita is a rare condition that results in a person being born without fingernails and toenails. However, this condition doesn’t impact their health in any way, and sometimes only some toenails or fingernails are missing.

4. Unbreakable bones

A very small number of people possess extremely dense bones. This genetic mutation, called LRP5, was discovered after a man survived a car accident with no injuries in 1994. People with this condition have bones that are resistant to breaking and can even replace old bone minerals in response to new functional demands as well.

5. A small hole near the ear

A strange occurrence in the human body that some people can have is a small hole near the ear. Known as a preauricular pit, this is mostly harmless and doesn’t have any particular purpose.

6. Seeing more colors

People with tetrachromacy have the rare ability to see extra colors. All of us have photoreceptors in our eyes that help us see light and colors.

The average person can only see colors through 3 photoreceptors, namely blue, green, and red. But people with this condition can see through 4. Women are more likely to have this condition, and around 12% of them have this extra one.

7. Constant body odor

Constant body odor, also known as trimethylaminuria, is a rare condition with only around 100 cases reported. The human body contains a chemical called trimethylamine, which has a fishy odor. While the average person’s metabolism is able to process this chemical easily, some people’s bodies are unable to. This results in the chemical accumulating in a person’s body and emitting a fishy smell through their sweat or breath.

8. Excess hair growth

Werewolves are just something we hear about in scary stories, but this condition will make you believe they exist in real life. Also known as werewolf syndrome, hypertrichosis is excessive hair growth all over a person’s body. It’s so rare that only 50 cases have ever been documented. The causes of this are not well known, but it frequently runs in families and can be present at birth.

Do you or someone you know have a rare and unique body part? Tell us about it in the comments.