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Health Trivia
Test your wellness know-how with 150 health trivia questions covering nutrition, vitamins, sleep, exercise, the human body, medical breakthroughs, and public health history.
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Questions (150 of 150)
๐ขeasy
Which simple sugar is the brain's main source of fuel?
๐ขeasy
Sailors on long voyages once died of scurvy because they lacked which vitamin?
๐กmedium
Lyme disease, spread by ticks, is named after a town in which U.S. state?
๐ขeasy
The Snellen eye chart, with a big 'E' at the top, tests what?
๐ดhard
Iowa farmer Charles Osborne holds the record for the longest attack of hiccups. How long did it last?
๐ขeasy
Which feel-good chemicals released during exercise are credited with causing a 'runner's high'?
๐กmedium
In 1854, John Snow removed the handle of a London water pump to stop an outbreak of which disease?
๐ดhard
The Framingham Heart Study, which coined the term 'risk factor', began in 1948 in which state?
๐ดhard
Sneezing when suddenly exposed to bright sunlight is known by what playful acronym?
๐ขeasy
Which type of cholesterol is commonly called 'good cholesterol'?
๐ขeasy
What has traditionally been considered normal human body temperature in Fahrenheit?
๐ดhard
Paul Ehrlich's 1910 'magic bullet' drug Salvarsan was the first effective treatment for which disease?
๐ขeasy
According to the CDC, how long should you scrub your hands with soap when washing them?
๐ขeasy
Hepatitis is an inflammation of which organ?
๐กmedium
Although it is only about 2% of body weight, roughly what share of the body's oxygen does the brain use?
๐กmedium
Which French physician invented the stethoscope in 1816, reportedly to avoid putting his ear to a woman's chest?
๐กmedium
How many bones are in the typical adult human body?
๐กmedium
In what year did the landmark U.S. Surgeon General's report officially link smoking to lung cancer?
๐ขeasy
Roughly how many times does the average adult heart beat in a single day?
๐ขeasy
On sunscreen bottles, what does SPF stand for?
๐ขeasy
Which Scottish scientist discovered penicillin in 1928 after noticing mold killing bacteria in a petri dish?
๐ขeasy
What is the most common blood type in the United States?
๐กmedium
Which vitamin, essential for blood clotting, takes its letter from the German word 'Koagulation'?
๐ขeasy
Which Bee Gees song has the right tempo to guide chest compressions during CPR?
๐กmedium
Which hormone, made by the pineal gland, signals your body that it is time to sleep?
๐กmedium
What nickname did Florence Nightingale earn while making night rounds during the Crimean War?
๐ขeasy
Which nutrient, found in eggs, meat and beans, is the main building block of muscle?
๐กmedium
What is the most abundant protein in the human body?
๐ขeasy
Which blood type is known as the 'universal donor' for red blood cells?
๐กmedium
Which organization did nurse Clara Barton found in 1881?
๐ขeasy
The popular daily step goal traces back to a 1965 Japanese pedometer called the 'manpo-kei'. How many steps is it?
๐ขeasy
A cardiologist specializes in which organ?
๐กmedium
Which hormone, released by the adrenal glands, is often called 'the stress hormone'?
๐กmedium
In 2011, the USDA replaced its food pyramid with which simple icon?
๐ดhard
The medical maxim 'primum non nocere' translates to what?
๐ดhard
Iodized salt first went on sale in the U.S. in 1924 to prevent which condition?
๐กmedium
Which ancient Greek physician is known as the 'Father of Medicine'?
๐ดhard
Whose laboratory at Rockefeller University discovered the appetite hormone leptin in 1994?
๐ดhard
Approximately how many tiny filtering units called nephrons does each human kidney contain?
๐ดhard
Which Canadian psychiatrist served as the very first Director-General of the World Health Organization?
๐ขeasy
How many chambers does the human heart have?
๐ดhard
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus served as health minister of which country?
๐ขeasy
Which mineral, abundant in milk and cheese, is essential for strong bones and teeth?
๐ดhard
In 1984, at age 70, fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne swam handcuffed and shackled while towing how many rowboats?
๐กmedium
In the 1840s, Ignaz Semmelweis was ridiculed by fellow doctors for urging them to do what?
๐ขeasy
In the FAST acronym for spotting a stroke, what does the 'A' stand for?
๐ขeasy
In 1796, Edward Jenner created the world's first vaccine to protect against which disease?
๐กmedium
U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend adults limit sodium to less than how much per day?
๐ขeasy
Dentists recommend brushing your teeth for how long each time?
๐กmedium
What does the glycemic index of a food measure?
๐กmedium
Which cells use hemoglobin to carry oxygen throughout the body?
๐กmedium
A DEXA scan measures bone density to diagnose which condition, nicknamed the 'silent thief'?
๐ดhard
Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize for studying autophagy, the process of cells doing what?
๐ดhard
In which city did Christiaan Barnard perform the world's first human-to-human heart transplant in 1967?
๐กmedium
Which butterfly-shaped gland in the neck controls your metabolism?
๐ขeasy
How many minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week does the WHO recommend as a minimum for adults?
๐ขeasy
Which body system defends you against bacteria, viruses and other germs?
๐กmedium
In 2004, which country became the first to ban smoking in all enclosed workplaces nationwide, including pubs?
๐ดhard
Robert Koch's 1882 discovery of the bacterium behind which disease is commemorated every March 24?
๐ดhard
Which extremely rare blood type, found in fewer than 50 known people, is nicknamed 'golden blood'?
๐ดhard
Corn flakes were invented as a bland health food at which Michigan institution run by John Harvey Kellogg?
๐ขeasy
What is the largest organ of the human body?
๐กmedium
Which fat is the cornerstone of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet?
๐กmedium
A cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of which organ?
๐กmedium
Which part of the brain acts as the body's thermostat, regulating temperature?
๐กmedium
In what year did the World Health Assembly officially declare smallpox eradicated?
๐กmedium
Which disease is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine)?
๐กmedium
Vegans are often advised to supplement which vitamin, found almost exclusively in animal foods?
๐ดhard
In 1978, The Lancet called which simple treatment 'potentially the most important medical advance this century'?
๐กmedium
A normal fasting blood sugar level for adults is below what number?
๐ขeasy
Which vitamin does your skin produce when exposed to sunlight?
๐ดhard
Karl Landsteiner won the 1930 Nobel Prize for which 1901 discovery that made safe transfusions possible?
๐ดhard
The last naturally occurring case of smallpox, in October 1977, was in which country?
๐กmedium
Which French scientist created the first rabies vaccine for humans in 1885?
๐กmedium
In what year was Britain's National Health Service (NHS) founded?
๐ดhard
World Health Day, marking the founding of the WHO in 1948, is observed on which date?
๐ขeasy
What is the medical term for a bruise?
๐กmedium
The word 'hygiene' comes from the name of which Greek goddess of health?
๐กmedium
People with celiac disease must avoid which protein found in wheat, barley and rye?
๐ดhard
The 'iron lung' respirator, vital during polio epidemics, was invented in 1928 at which university?
๐กmedium
Pellagra, marked by the 'four Ds' including dermatitis and dementia, is caused by a lack of which vitamin?
๐กmedium
During which stage of sleep do most vivid dreams occur?
๐ขeasy
Which organ, tucked behind the stomach, produces insulin?
๐ดhard
In 1964, high schooler Randy Gardner set a famous sleep-deprivation record by staying awake for about how long?
๐ดhard
How many days did Louis Washkansky, the first heart transplant recipient, survive after his 1967 operation?
๐ดhard
What is the medical term for a resting heart rate below 60 beats per minute?
๐ดhard
Roughly what percentage of the body's serotonin is produced in the gut rather than the brain?
๐กmedium
Which Japanese island is a famous 'Blue Zone' where people often live past 100?
๐ขeasy
What type of doctor specializes in caring for infants, children and teens?
๐ดhard
Which two University of Chicago researchers discovered REM sleep in 1953?
๐กmedium
The Rod of Asclepius, the true symbol of medicine, shows a staff entwined by how many snakes?
๐กmedium
The saying 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' began as an 1866 proverb from which country?
๐ขeasy
What is considered a normal resting heart rate for adults, in beats per minute?
๐ดhard
Which Polish biochemist coined the term 'vitamine' in 1912?
๐ดhard
In the Tabata interval protocol, each 20-second all-out burst is followed by how much rest?
๐ดhard
In what year did Barry Marshall and Robin Warren win the Nobel Prize for their ulcer discovery?
๐ดhard
What was the real name of 'Typhoid Mary', the cook who infected dozens of people in early-1900s New York?
๐ขeasy
Which waste gas do your lungs breathe out?
๐ขeasy
Because it often has no symptoms, high blood pressure is nicknamed the 'silent' what?
๐ขeasy
What is the longest and strongest bone in the human body?
๐ดhard
What is the medical name for an ice cream 'brain freeze'?
๐ดhard
Which author's 1906 novel exposing the meatpacking industry helped spur the Pure Food and Drug Act?
๐ดhard
In total, roughly how long was Typhoid Mary forcibly quarantined on North Brother Island?
๐ดhard
Jeanne Calment of France, the oldest verified person in history, lived to what age?
๐ขeasy
How many teeth are in a full adult set, including wisdom teeth?
๐ขeasy
Rhinoviruses are the most frequent cause of which illness?
๐กmedium
Which Canadian surgeon co-discovered insulin with Charles Best in 1921 and won a Nobel Prize for it?
๐ขeasy
A podiatrist is a doctor who treats which part of the body?
๐ขeasy
In the RICE method for treating sprains, what does the 'E' stand for?
๐ดhard
In 2011, which disease became only the second ever to be declared eradicated, after smallpox?
๐ขeasy
Roughly what percentage of an adult human body is made up of water?
๐ดhard
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honored discoveries about what?
๐กmedium
In 'LDL cholesterol', what does LDL stand for?
๐ขeasy
What does the abbreviation WHO stand for?
๐กmedium
Which disease is named after a deadly 1976 outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia?
๐กmedium
Under Otto von Bismarck in 1883, which country created the world's first national health insurance program?
๐กmedium
What BMI range is classified as a 'healthy weight' for adults?
๐กmedium
How many calories does one gram of fat contain?
๐ขeasy
The Heimlich maneuver is used to help a person who is doing what?
๐ดhard
Who became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, in 1849?
๐ดhard
Which Hungarian scientist won the 1937 Nobel Prize partly for isolating vitamin C, some of it from paprika?
๐ดhard
The original Mayo Clinic is headquartered in which city?
๐ขeasy
Insulin injections are a common treatment for which disease?
๐ขeasy
Carrots are famously linked to good eyesight because they are rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts into which vitamin?
๐ดhard
In 1945, which city became the first in the world to add fluoride to its public water supply?
๐ขeasy
A lack of which mineral is the world's most common cause of anemia?
๐กmedium
In what year was Jonas Salk's polio vaccine announced as safe and effective?
๐ขeasy
The name COVID-19 is short for what?
๐ดhard
Which German physician analyzed over a million readings to establish 98.6ยฐF (37ยฐC) as normal body temperature in 1868?
๐ขeasy
How many hours of sleep per night does the CDC recommend for adults aged 18 to 60?
๐ดhard
Which German physicist discovered X-rays in 1895, launching medical imaging?
๐ดhard
Which 19th-century Presbyterian minister and diet reformer inspired a famous cracker that bears his name?
๐กmedium
Which hormone, produced mainly by the stomach, is nicknamed the 'hunger hormone'?
๐ขeasy
What does a sphygmomanometer measure?
๐กmedium
According to the American Heart Association, normal adult blood pressure is below what reading?
๐ดhard
In 1747, James Lind ran one of the first clinical trials, testing scurvy cures aboard HMS Salisbury on how many sailors?
๐กmedium
The mouthwash Listerine is named after which British surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery?
๐ขeasy
Which pair of bean-shaped organs filters your blood and produces urine?
๐ดhard
In December 2012, which country became the first to require plain packaging for all cigarettes?
๐กmedium
Folic acid, recommended before and during pregnancy, is the synthetic form of which vitamin?
๐ขeasy
What type of doctor specializes in pregnancy and delivering babies?
๐ขeasy
What does the health measurement BMI stand for?
๐กmedium
Which pea-sized gland at the base of the brain is known as the 'master gland'?
๐ดhard
In 1984, Australian doctor Barry Marshall drank a culture of which bacterium to prove it causes stomach ulcers?
๐ดhard
What is the smallest bone in the human body, located in the middle ear?
๐ขeasy
According to the WHO, what is the leading cause of death worldwide?
๐กmedium
Alcohol packs how many calories per gram, nearly as many as fat?
๐ดhard
Which former U.S. president's foundation has led the global campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease since 1986?
๐ดhard
The Apgar score, devised by anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar in 1952, quickly assesses the health of whom?
๐ดhard
Cells taken without consent from Henrietta Lacks in 1951 became the first immortal human cell line, known by what name?
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