NEWSTART

Amazing Health Fact: Born in 1483, Thomas Parr is said to have lived to the incredible age of 152! If true, that means he saw 10 sovereigns on the throne of England, including the entire 50-year reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Amazing Health Fact: When Wilma Rudolph was only four years old, she contracted polio, which left her with a paralyzed leg. Her doctors said she’d never walk without assistance. But Wilma did not give up, determined to exercise her crippled limb.

Amazing Health Fact: About 100 years ago, a pile of bones was found on a sand dune in Saudi Arabia. Evidently, a man had died while lost in the desert. In one of the pockets of his tattered clothes was a scribbled note that read, “Dying of thirst. I cannot go on any longer.”

Amazing Health Fact: The sun is a colossally big, fantastically hot cosmic radiation powerhouse with a surface temperature of about 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Its interior temperature is a little warmer — estimated as high as 18 million degrees!

Amazing Health Fact: Few marine animals are as mysterious, hypnotic, and intimidating as jellyfish. These bizarre gelatinous creatures are 97 percent water and quite transparent, hence the name “jellyfish.” At first glance, it’s amazing that they are living at all.

Air

Amazing Health Fact: In the last century, man has conquered some of the most extreme environments — exploring the deepest oceans, scaling the highest mountains, and even venturing into outer space.

Amazing Health Fact: Did you know that just one hour of sleep deprivation increases the number of highway accidents by eight percent — but that an hour of extra sleep decreases them by eight percent? It’s true!

Amazing Health Fact: A placebo is something that looks like a legitimate drug but is really nothing more than colored water or a starch pill containing no medicinal value at all. These placebos are often given to a patient to reinforce an expectation that their condition will improve.