In the popular British comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur duels with the mysterious Black Knight who blocks his path. Arthur skillfully dealt with his opponent, cutting off his limbs, but the knight stubbornly refused to admit defeat. Like, this isn't a wound but a scratch. But don't joke, how many body parts can a person lose without dying? Portal livescience.com found it in question.
Of the approximately 80 organs in the human body, only 5 are considered important. First of all is the brain, the organ that regulates the body's functions; lungs and heart, which receive and distribute oxygen throughout the body; liver, which plays an important role in digestion and cleansing the blood of toxins; and the kidneys, which filter waste and excess fluid. Other important organs that are not traditionally considered vital are the intestines and skin.
In fact, scientists are still not sure whether certain parts of the body, like the coccyx or wisdom teeth, have any function at all. Other organs, such as the eyes and tongue, greatly affect a person's quality of life, but are not absolutely necessary for survival.
Limbs can be useful in daily life, but people can survive without arms and legs if amputation is necessary. As a rule, doctors try to save the arm more than the leg, since it is easier to use a prosthesis, especially if it is amputated below the knee. But working hands are much more important to everyday life.
In other words, the Black Knight in the legendary comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail could survive if he was quickly taken to a modern hospital. The problem will bleed – both in reality and in the movies. When treating patients in the emergency room or emergency room, stopping bleeding is always the top priority. Thresholds vary, but losing about 3-5 liters of blood can be fatal for adults.
A person can also survive by losing parts of vital organs. For example, it is entirely possible to live without most of the liver and a significant portion of the brain, as long as the brainstem is not affected – it regulates reflex functions such as breathing. The body only needs one kidney, and donors often donate a second kidney to a relative, for example. Although it would be difficult to recover from an injury that could damage these organs at the same time, there is hypothetically a chance.
Additionally, vital organs can be replaced. Either through a transplant from a donor or through various life support technologies such as kidney dialysis or an ECMO machine that performs the functions of the heart and lungs. There are only two organs that cannot be compensated technologically – the liver and the brain.
It is worth remembering that, although medicine has developed, not all such machines can be used for a long time. Ventilators and dialysis also help, but other alternatives, such as ECMO, are used as short-term measures before an emergency transplant.
