Our bodies are amazing. Just think for a minute about how your muscles, bones, brain, blood vessels, and organs work together every day. Your body is one of God’s most wonderful creations.
But sometimes things go wrong and we get sick or hurt.
Jesus did many miracles to heal people. But God also works through doctors, dentists, nurses, scientists, and other people to heal us. So let’s take a look at some fun facts about the human body and the medicine that helps our bodies get better!
The Nose Virus
You’ve probably had lots of colds in your life. You get a stuffy nose and sometimes a sore throat, and it’s no fun at all. But do you know why you catch a cold?
A cold is caused by a tiny germ called a “virus.” There are about 200 viruses that can give you a cold. But about half of all colds are caused by the virus called “rhinovirus.” That word means “nose virus” (rhin is the ancient Greek word for “nose.”)
The rhinovirus floats through the air on teeny drops of water. When you breathe the virus in, you may catch a cold.
There’s no medicine you can take to cure a cold, but drinking lots of water will help your “rhin” get back to normal soon!
Weird Medicine
If you look back in history, you’ll learn that people took some pretty weird medicines until scientists discovered that those treatments didn’t work.
- Hundreds of years ago, doctors used pills filled with spider webs to treat malaria.
- Doctors used liquid mercury to treat skin diseases until people discovered that mercury is poisonous.
- Some people used to think that smoking cigarettes could cure cancer. Now we know that smoking actually causes cancer.
- People used to rub live snails on their skin when they got burns because they thought the slime would make the burn feel better.
Next time you get sick, be thankful that you don’t have to swallow spider webs or wear snail slime!
The Skin You’re In
One reason doctors wear rubber gloves when they examine patients is so that bacteria on a sick person’s body won’t infect the doctor. Think of your skin as a big stretchy rubber glove that covers your whole body and keeps harmful bacteria out.
When there’s a break in your skin, like a cut or a scraped knee, bacteria can get in and cause infection. If that happens, your doctor can use medicine called an antibiotic to help you get well again.
Your skin can also repair itself when you get a cut! To learn how this works, visit this website: tinuyrl.com/bannerskin.
Medicinal Mold
The antibiotic penicillin was discovered on September 28, 1928, by a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming. One day he found a certain type of mold—yes, the gross stuff you might find growing in a jar of food that’s been around too long—growing in a dish of bacteria he was studying. He looked closer at the dish and saw that all the bacteria around the mold had died. Dr. Fleming knew that meant that he had found a way to help patients who had infections. His accidental discovery saved millions and millions of lives.
Every day, scientists discover new medicines that can heal people. About half of those medicines are made from plants or other parts of God’s creation.
The Blind Man Sees
Jesus paid special attention to people who were hurt or sick because he cares about our bodies as much as he cares about our minds and our souls.
Jesus healed people in many different ways. Sometimes he just said, “Be healed!” and the person was healed. Sometimes he touched the person. Once he even put spit on a blind man’s eyes, and then the man could see again!
Imagine that you were that man. Read his story in Mark 8:22-25. How do you think you would feel if you were seeing the world for the very first time? Confused? Happy? Scared? Thankful?
Fun Physical Facts
Can you guess the answers to these questions about the human body? (If you get stuck, the answers are at the bottom of the page.)
1. How many bones are in your body?
a. 54
b. 85
c. 206
2. How many muscles do you have on your skeleton?
a. 640
b. 214
c. 44
3. How many times does your heart beat in one year?
a. 8 million
b. 42 million
c. 110,000
4. How many hairs are on the average person’s head?
a. 150,000
b. 450,000
c. 1 million
5. True or false? Kids have more taste buds than adults.
Fun Physical Facts
1—c
2—a
3—b
4—a
5. True
About the Author
Sandy Swartzentruber serves as the resource coordinator for Faith Formation Ministries and is a member of Sherman Street CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.
