8 strange body parts and their surprising purposes

Nobody pays much attention to that dangly little thing at the back of the throat, except perhaps some comic animators. The uvula – which is particularly well developed in humans – has puzzled scientists for years. Some theories suggest it may have played a role in speech or helped our ancestors drink while bending forward, although neither idea has been proved. What we do know is that the uvula contains glands capable of producing and secreting saliva, helping keep the mouth and throat moist. It may also be involved in snoring: an Italian study found significantly fewer nerve fibres in the uvulas of people with sleep apnoea who snored than in those of non-snoring controls

Though the hairy strips are especially useful for communicating those “say what?” moments, their main purpose is to protect our eyes from debris, water, and sun. Eyebrows are also a crucial factor in face recognition. When volunteers in an MIT study were asked to identify photos of 50 famous faces with their eyes digitally removed, they could recognise the individuals 60 per cent of the time. When the faces lacked eyebrows, however, participants could only ID them 46 per cent of the time. In other words, eyebrows are incredibly important for facial recognition.

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This often-unwelcome hair may do more than simply grow there. Armpit hair surrounds the apocrine sweat glands, which produce substances that are transformed by skin bacteria into many of the compounds responsible for our individual body odour. Some researchers believe axillary hair may help retain or disperse these scents, potentially playing a role in social or sexual signalling — although exactly why humans evolved underarm hair remains uncertain. Today, however, many people choose to shave or trim it for cosmetic reasons.

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Surprise! Everybody starts off as a woman in the womb. For 60 days, all embryos follow the same genetic activity, until testosterone changes the course of action for those with a Y chromosome. Men’s nipples are the remaining, non-functional product of those first two months. Not everyone’s a fan: in a the Huffington Post Japan poll of 750 adult women, over 84 per cent thought it was unacceptable for men’s nipples to show under shirts. This attitude may explain the country’s booming trade for ‘shields’ that disguise the genetic leftovers.

If you’ve ever inspected a sore throat, you’ve likely noticed the spongy, almond-shaped tissue toward the back of the mouth looking slightly swollen, red, or laden with white spots. As part of the lymphatic system, tonsils defend the body from infections that enter through the nose and mouth. But they can also become infected themselves when overloaded with bacteria or viruses. Since they’re just one component of the body’s powerful defences, tonsils can be removed if they contribute to chronic sickness or breathing problems. However, today’s doctors are more conservative when recommending surgery to control infection.

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Fingernails help highlight a key difference between primates and other mammals. Most mammals have claws – our nails are just a flattened version. Where our ancestors used fingernails to grasp fruit and branches, today, we use them to snatch little things like coins or paper. Fingernails may also serve as a window to our health: discoloration or small pits can signal trouble like malnutrition or certain skin conditions.

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The appendix, an 8-10-centimetre-long tube extending from the large intestine, seems to be more of a pest than have a purpose. When inflamed (such as from injury or infection) it can eventually burst and fatally spill infectious materials into the rest of the body. The inflammation, called appendicitis is most common in children. When the appendix is removed, it causes no noticeable effects on the body. However, recent Duke University Medical School research suggests that the appendix houses good bacteria, information that may be useful in rural areas or less developed countries. In modern industrialised societies, if someone’s good flora dies, it can more easily be replenished from others, researchers say.

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Best known as a surgical inconvenience, wisdom teeth are actually a third set of molars, which helped our ancestors munch on rough food like roots, nuts, and meat, especially when other teeth fell out. About 35 per cent of people never develop wisdom teeth, but the rest begin developing them around age 10, and the grinders erupt in the mouth between ages 17 and 25. This age bracket gives the molars their name: It refers to the time when young adults become wiser (ostensibly). Though fully-grown or healthy wisdom teeth may not need to be removed, if left in place they may cause gum disease, cysts, or damage to nearby teeth. According to a 2007 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, 10 million wisdom teeth are extracted from about 5 million people in the United States each year.

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Source: RD.com