Somebody asked doctors what we still don’t know about the human body – 21 answers to make your existence even more of a mystery

The advances in medical science throughout human history have been absolutely amazing. We’ve come from applying leeches and drilling holes in skulls to release evil spirits to mRNA vaccines and lab-grown body parts phenomenally quickly, when you look at the big picture.

However, there are still plenty of things we don’t know. Reddit user Immediate_Hair_3393 posed this question:

‘Doctors of Reddit, what do we *not* know about the human body?’

And lots of medical professionals were happy to point out the things we still haven’t figured out.

1.

‘OBGYN here: we still don’t know exactly what makes labour start. We know all about the mechanics and physiology, but we don’t know what makes the average uterus say it’s ‘go time’.’
–_mcr

2.

‘We still aren’t exactly sure how anesthesia works. We just know it causes certain effects, and they are useful so we use it.’
–YoungSerious

3.

‘We haven’t figured out autoimmune diseases (e.g. MS, lupus). We know that for whatever reason something(s) flip a switch in people, but we haven’t fully figured it out yet.’
–lemonbiatch

4.

‘One I didn’t see mentioned: we apparently don’t know precisely how our bodies can distinguish gas from poop. We have some ideas, we know there are a ton of nerve endings in the area, but the precise mechanism of our bodies telling our brains ‘this is a fart, let loose’ isn’t really understood.

‘What blows my mind is, it’s distinct enough that we even pass gas while asleep. That difference must be wired DEEP!’
–BIGJFRIEDLI

5.

‘One of the few ABSOLUTES in medical science is that nobody born blind has ever developed schizophrenia.’
–beboleche

6.

‘I’m a sleep specialist. While we do have some good theories about some of the functions of REM as far as how it affects the brain and health, we still don’t fully understand the purpose of dreaming.

‘Like, why do we dream at all and why do dreams have a narrative instead of random incomprehensible imagery? Unfortunately this is unlikely to even be solved.’
–3Magic_Beans

7.

‘Not MD but PhD, right now we are working on the connection between our intestinal microbiome and neuropsychiatric disease and brain aging. For instance, people with inflammatory bowel disease are more likely to develop dementia and experience co-morbid anxiety and depression, but we don’t know why.’
–uncle-chewie

8.

‘How basically any of medical science works in relation to women and their bodies. Almost all the data is based on men, and a lot of it almost exclusively.’
–vegandeath

9.

‘Have you ever had a muscle knot? Well apparently they’re undetectable by any test or machine, and medicine hasn’t yet figured out what’s going on in our bodies when we experience them.’
–beulahbeulah

10.

‘Another, how babies/young children assimilate so much information so quickly. It cannot (as far as I know) be replicated by a computer.’
–stuntedmonk

11.

‘I’m a derm. We don’t know what exactly causes itching, like the molecular pathways for it. That’s why it can be so hard to find a good treatment when a patient comes in for itchy skin.’
–criduchat1-

12.

‘The ‘uncanny valley’ fear. Why are humans unnerved and/or afraid of things that sound like, mimic, look like or act like humans but aren’t human?

Think of seeing human-shaped shadows, dolls, robots, animals walking on two legs vs their usual four, AI… it’s fascinating how we all have that feeling about some of the same things.’
–ms_use_me

13.

‘Allergies, specifically food allergies. And why do adults develop them after never reacting to them before?’
–saturnbunny1

14.

‘The placenta is the only human organ grown for a specific purpose then discarded when it is no longer needed.’
–bourbonmangattan

15.

‘There’s still a lot unknown about hunger and satiation. Nobody really knows what causes eating disorders, especially anorexia. It’s scary how much hunger cues impact all of us.’
–scarmbledeggs

16.

‘Yawns. Still guessing on why that happens. There’s some theories, but that’s the best we got.’
–YoungSerious

17.

‘I had a lecturer at medical school say ‘half of medicine is made up, we just don’t know which half’.’
–aloadofguff

18.

‘The Gut Microbiome: While it’s well-known that the gut plays a huge role in digestion, researchers are discovering just how much our gut bacteria affect other parts of our health, like mood, immunity, and even brain function.’
–VictoriaFaith14

19.

‘The biggest one I want solved: how we remember things, how does our memory work? Some headway has been made at MIT but it hasn’t been completely cracked yet.’
–noobwithguns

20.

‘Not a doctor but I study cell and molecular biology. The immune system is wildly complex and right now feels as though we’re staring down into Mariana’s trench.’
–mk4jetta514

Plenty of fascinating stuff there, and we’ll leave you with this to ponder on…

21.

‘If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we wouldn’t be able to understand them.’
–AussieGirlHome

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