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8 Health Tips From The Morgue

Refinery29
October 23, 2014

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By Stephanie Castillo for Refinery29; Illustrations

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By Anna Sudit
The people who handle your postmortem remains from the
funeral director to the (if you so choose) anatomy professor
are in a unique position to make an example of your body.
They have access to some very personal information regarding
your implants, diseases, and snack habits. Tony Weinhaus,
PhD (director of anatomy at the University of Minnesota) and
Jennifer Wright (embalmer and director of Sunset Funeral
Care) say that working with dead bodies allows them to provide
knowledge and comfort to students and the deceased persons
family members, respectively. Wright and Dr. Weinhaus also
see firsthand how peoples lifestyles and habits factor into their
overall health.
Working with the body, you realize to some degree that its a
machine, Dr. Weinhaus says. Muscles move bones, and the
heart is a pump. You can see and appreciate how everything
needs to work, [and] how things can go bad pretty easily. He
describes it almost like an eerie episode of Scared Straight:
Many of his students dont think about their own mortality,
but when they see diseases lingering in these bodies, they
realize very quickly how important it is to prevent chronic
conditions before its too late.
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Related: The Science Of Being Touched & Why Its So

Good For You
Sure, death isnt as pretty a source of health inspiration as,
say, Pinterest but, that doesnt make it any less relevant.
Here, Dr. Weinhaus and Wright pull back the morgue curtain
and share its real stories and health secrets.

Heart Disease
As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and just
about everyone else, cardiovascular disease is the number-one
cause of death worldwide. Dr. Weinhaus reports that his
students find a significant amount of plaque around
the carotid arteries of the cadavers theyre examining. These
arteries, which are located in the lower neck, are responsible
for supplying blood to the brain. Dr. Weinhaus cadavers also
reveal signs of other heart complications such as
pacemakers that have been inserted to regulate abnormal
heartbeats and rhythms.
Cadavers with pacemakers or defibrillators are great teaching
opportunities, he explains. They stay in, so students can
dissect around them and examine how blood traveled to
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regulate heartbeat.
Tip: To avoid heart problems, think preventively. According to
WHO, behavioral risk factors are responsible for 80% of
coronary heart disease occurrences. Simple lifestyle
changes (such as upping fruit and vegetable intake and
sweating it out a few times a week) can significantly lower this
risk.
READ MORE
Also See:
Health
Body
Men
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