Brits can't tell their heart from their elbow A good proportion of Brits have almost no idea where their major organs are located, with just 50 per cent able to identify where eight key internal body parts lie. That's according to research by a King's College London team which quizzed 722 people from the out-patient departments of Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s hospitals …
When you take Physics, Chemistry and Biology out of the national curriculum and put in some half hearted combined 'Science' thing because apparently years of daytime TV and reality TV have dumbed down the UK so much that anything hard core like oh I don't know, Ohm's Law is too difficult.
Get education sorted out!
...the diagrams in that paper are different to the ones on the BBC news website (despite BBC news citing Biomed central as the source).
On their image for the pancreas I'd confidently answer if it were a who wants to be a millionaire question, but the one in the paper might give a little more pause for thought.
It concerns me if the BBC news image is the actual image that lead 50% of respondents to incorrectly locate the heart - do they not realise the heart is not just under your adam's apple??
I can't think of any day to day reason why i'd *need* to know where my internal organs are. Although i have a fair idea from school. I don't need to tell a doctor i've got a pain in my kidneys, i tell the doctor where the pain is in relation to things i do know and they tell me what's causing it, thats what they're there for.
It's the same as a computer, you don't need to know about the internals of it to type a letter in word, but if you want to program one, it becomes more important.
The fact that 25% of people suffering liver disease cannot identify the liver compared to 50% for healthy people means that only half those who didn't know bother to actually pay any attention once they are diagnosed.
I wonder how large the overlap is between that group and the ones who bitch about the quality of NHS care in the Daily Wail etc?
I also wonder what the figures would be for the car-equivalent: "Please identify the transmission/engine/driveshaft on the following vehicle outline."
"a King's College London team which quizzed 722 people from the out-patient departments of Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s hospitals"
Why not go the whole hog and say its a worldwide figure rather than UK? I would expect a survey which claimed the whole of the UK is stupid to take it's sample population from more than one city in one corner of the country.
I know where they are (hey how many know what side the liver and heart are on?), it's pretty pointless. it's not like I'm going to say.
Hey doctor, I have a intense pain in my duidenum, infringing slightly into my jejunum, do you think that my chyme may be to acidic, due to a lack of akaline in my Brunner glands??
more likely.
Doctor, i have gut ache. oooo aaaaa....
"It's the same as a computer, you don't need to know about the internals of it to type a letter in word, but if you want to program one, it becomes more important."
Err... not in most cases. If you're programming kernel-level code, maybe, but in most situations people who write various types of software (including operating systems) haven't the foggiest about what's actually inside the magic box they're using, and how it works.
it's no wonder people failed with diagrams like those, they're anatomically incorrect. The 1st is presumably lungs, which are shown the wrong size and too way low. The 2nd, presumably kidneys, slightly low and wrong orientation. The 3rd, WTF!! is our species evolving, or did this guy just eat someone elses kidneys? The 4th, Gonads!!
What was the next diagram? a circle !! with the question "Where's the corner ?"
"I can't think of any day to day reason why i'd *need* to know where my internal organs are. Although i have a fair idea from school. I don't need to tell a doctor i've got a pain in my kidneys, i tell the doctor where the pain is in relation to things i do know and they tell me what's causing it, thats what they're there for."
That's disturbing. It's a life skill knowing where at least some of the important organs are located.
Regarding kidneys, it's pretty obvious when they are tender, often because you're dehydrated. In your case, you'd be trudging off to the doctors, pointing out where it hurts and being told to go home and drink more fluids.
I wouldn't think pancreas would be that difficult, any organs which aren't obvious are in the same rough region..looking at the BBC pics it isn't difficult to discount the pancreas being somewhere in your chest. Surely? And I thought everyone knew where the kidneys were..
I'd find it more interesting to know what the proportion of people who guessed each answer was, such as, did anyone pick answer D in the heart one on the BBC article?
Obviously, lardo britain probably though this was som sort of alien...
I mean...what are all those things sitting where his stomach should be? And why doesn't his stomach extend 4 inches out each side before it joins his hips? And only 1 chin? And why aren't his thighs rubbing together?
Alien. Must be.
Hmmm Alexis I know idenitification of *some* organs is probably pretty important for enjoying life, but i'm not sure if people are necessarily wielding those with skill ...
And next time I have pain in my kidneys I will be sure to self-diagnose and just drink some more fluids. What's the worst that could happen if I don't go to a Dr ...
Sadly, anatomically speaking, our abs should go up to our pecs (the top 2 curve nicely around the bottom of our pecs).
Mine don't quite because I get bored doing situps, and where I should have a nice set of lower abs I have a reminder that I drank quite a lot of beer last weekend (and the weekend before, and before, and before). And that's with going to the gym 4 times a week. So depressing.
Two suggestions:
1. The diagrams are not "anatomically accurate" for an average (unfit) person, the scores might have been a lot better if they'd used a typical body-shape.
2. When presented with a diagram of a naked female, males start thinking with option 4 on the kidney diagram, and the scores reflect this.
"What's the worst that could happen if I don't go to a Dr"
Those of us without medical phds aren't really entitled to comment on this stuff at all — in fact I don't know why I read the article. As a civilian it's irrelevant to me.
Come to think of it, I think it's pretty outrageous that I should be expected to have any basic life skills or wherewithall whatsoever. Isn't there a king/supercomputer/alien-overlord/God taking care of all the complicated stuff anyway?
Leave it to the professionals, I say.
Paris, because she gets by without several major internal organs but knows how to use at least one.
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