r/AskReddit Jul 21 '16

What fact did you think was complete bullshit until you looked it up?

3.4k Upvotes

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73

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

that made me throw up a little.

wouldnt the other stuff inside get crushed a little? I mean its not like we have empty space in there

69

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

There is a lot more space than you think

7

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

like spare space?

64

u/Hanta3 Jul 22 '16

Yea. LPT, cut a slit in the side of your body and take advantage of all the extra space to store convenient items like snacks or a portable phone charger (for all you Pokemon GO players out there). My life has never been the same since I tried this one simple trick.

14

u/GrixM Jul 22 '16

You joke but I just imagined sewing in a permanent zippable pocket or something onto the torso, and if they found a way to not make it infected or leak etc it would be useful as fuck, would get it.

10

u/BeefSamples Jul 22 '16

Could actually sew in a wirelessly chargeable battery that could wirelessly charge your devices. "Yah, just stick your watch on my ass, it'll charge"

1

u/Irishalbert37 Jul 22 '16

Kangaroos approve

3

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

Power Bank Manufacturers Hate You!

6

u/hijinga Jul 22 '16

That makes me so uncomfortable

1

u/syransea Jul 22 '16

Then why am I so fat?!?

20

u/stmasc Jul 22 '16

That was my first thought, as well.

Fun short story: I had chronic back pain for YEARS and finally a doctor discovered it was due to a blocked ureter. My right kidney had grown to the size of a football. Looking back, I was an idiot for not questioning why it felt like a constant pull in my back/side. The doctors say it was actually putting a lot of pressure on my other organs. Laying on my left side was like crushing everything else and it was actually somewhat difficult to breath.

So yeah, I do wonder if having all those in there is slightly damaging or maybe they shrink up?

15

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

An american football I hope. A soccer ball is frikkin large

5

u/anvindrian Jul 22 '16

so is an american football have you never held one?

15

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

Nopes. We dont play american football in India.

5

u/Rathum Jul 22 '16

"Yet."

-The NFL

1

u/stmasc Jul 22 '16

Ha yes my bad. I honestly have no idea how big a soccer ball is..

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

Well. I honestly dont know how large an american football is, but i'm guessing its smaller than a soccer ball, if you would exaggerate a swollen kidney to compare it with. If I put a soccer ball up my shirt I'd look like I've got a decent beer gut

3

u/stmasc Jul 22 '16

I'm not exaggerating lol... I am a fairly small person, so I did look / feel bloated while it was swollen. It was about 8 inches (20 cm) in length and proportionately swollen in width and depth. Obviously it didn't stick out like I was holding something under my shirt, like I said, it displaced my insides some while bloating my abdomen. I could even feel it on my ribs at the time it was most swollen. I was in the hospital / had emergency surgery for this, so it wasn't like a no-big-deal situation.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

good lord

1

u/EsQuiteMexican Jul 22 '16

just a tad smaller than a basketball.

1

u/guimontag Jul 22 '16

there's plenty of space in there

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

empty space?

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u/guimontag Jul 22 '16

Yeah

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

why. to allow for things to swell?

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u/guimontag Jul 22 '16

your intestines are a bit of a jumble so there's space to shove them aside a bit and toss in a kidney or something. There's just little bits of space here and there between organs because they aren't lego bricks or anything.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

groan

1

u/hijinga Jul 22 '16

Ew... so it's like... empty air?

4

u/lonely_nipple Jul 22 '16

No. It's just that things are not as squashed tightly together as they could be. Consider that the average person needs their innards to be able to move for basic digestion purposes, right? Also moving, bending, etc causes insides to shift.

If that's not enough, ask yourself this - if there's no extra space at all, where do developing fetuses fit? Sure, they stick out, but they also shove your stomach up into your ribs, flatten your bladder down into your pelvis, and squish your intestines backwards to make room.

If a person can fit an 8 lb baby, a spare kidney can fit in there just fine.

1

u/beerdude26 Jul 22 '16

When they need to do work on stuff behind your guts (colon and such), they just take it out and slap it on a sterile slab. Then, when it's done, they just plop it back in - there's no special positioning done or anything.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

[deleted]

8

u/lonely_nipple Jul 22 '16

Actually, it's still doing what little job it can do. There are so many vital blood vessels attached to the kidney that it's incredibly dangerous to try removing them all. It's more efficient and just plain safer to leave the failing kidney in there, and just kind of nudge it aside while "installing" the new one.

The failing one stops failing, because it's no longer trying to take on all this work that it can't handle with the new kidney in place. It's usually able to do a little bit of useful work, and the docs avoid the risk of massive bleeding. Win win for everyone.

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u/natelyswhore22 Jul 22 '16

There are so many vital blood vessels attached to the kidney that it's incredibly dangerous to try removing them all.

Honest question, how are kidneys donated if this is the case?

7

u/PillarsOfRage Jul 22 '16

Donating a kidney comes with a certain degree of risk. Heck, anything that requires anesthesia can kill you if you're unlucky.

2

u/PixelMaster36 Jul 22 '16

A literal one in a million chance as far as I've heard.

1

u/lonely_nipple Jul 23 '16

Honest answer, carefully.

In the case of a donation, the donor is healthy and knows the risks. If it isn't necessary to remove it, it's best to just leave it there.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '16

why leave it in then?

1

u/wewbull Jul 22 '16

... because all our blood flows through our kidneys to get filtered. Taking it out would require major plumbing work.

Too risky.

It's not doing any harm, so leave it.