Your skull,
femur and rib cage are now gone,
along with the rest
of your skeleton.
Welcome to your body
without bones.
This essential
part of your anatomy
has suddenly gone poof.
What happens now?
How would losing your bones
make you incredibly sick?
Why would you lose all your teeth?
And how long would you last
as a boneless blob?
This is What If,
and here's what would happen
if you had no bones.
OK, so why are your bones
so important?
Well,
your skeletal system is made up
of tendons, ligaments and cartilage.
And it's not
just a sturdy structure
that keeps you standing straight.
Your bones produce
blood cells,
fats and minerals
that support your entire body.
But now
we're going to take
all these essential bones
out of you,
from your skull
to the phalanges of your toes.
Forget keeping
your feet on the ground.
You're now a human jellyfish,
and you won't last very long.
You don't have to become
a shapeless blob
to know
that life can sometimes
feel unstable.
Let's be real.
Mental health challenges
can seriously distress
you and prevent you
from achieving your goals.
It could be anxiety or depression.
Or maybe you're just
a human going through a hard time.
But just as your skeletal system
provides you
with structure and support,
therapy can equip you
with the tools
to navigate these challenges.
That's why I'm thrilled to tell you
about the sponsor of this episode,
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And thanks again,
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So what exactly would
your boneless life be like?
Well, for starters,
you wouldn't be able to move.
Now you can just watch
What If videos in bed all day.
Guilt free!
And don't panic.
Just take a deep breath.
But not too deep,
because you don't have a rib cage.
And without a ribcage,
your lungs won't be able to expand.
Not having bones
means you'd need to be hooked up
to a ventilator 24/7.
And now you're way more susceptible
to infections
because your airways
are always open.
This would let
all sorts of nasty germs in.
A common cold
could quickly become pneumonia.
But pneumonia would be
the least of your worries.
That's because without your bones,
you don't have any bone marrow.
Yeah, OK,
so why is this such a big deal?
Well, because your bone marrow
is the main part of the body
that produces your white
and red blood cells.
And without new blood cells,
your immune system will be weaker.
You'll be susceptible
to diseases like leukemia.
But at least you could try
to enjoy a nice meal
without any bones, right?
Wait, no,
scratch that.
You wouldn't have any teeth.
Your teeth aren't bones,
but they're anchored
in your jawbone.
And without a jawbone,
nothing would be holding
your teeth in place.
You wouldn't be able to chew.
And you'd need to be fed
through a feeding tube.
So there aren’t
many positives
when it comes to a life
without bones.
Sure, you could avoid
bone-related diseases
and you wouldn't have to worry
about breaking
any of your bones again.
But that's about it.
The worst part is,
you wouldn't last very long.
Without the structure
and support that bones
give to your body,
and with no bone marrow
to produce blood cells,
your survival
would be measured
in minutes to a few hours.
OK, what if,
instead of instantly
removing our bones,
we just evolved without them?
Yeah, well,
if we evolved without bones,
we would’ve never made it
out of the ocean.
We'd be living our lives
like human jellyfish.
Or we might have evolved
to have an exoskeleton like a clam.
Sounds gross,
I know.
But the good news is
that you wouldn't have
to deal with it for very long.
Your lifespan would decrease
significantly
since the skeleton provides
much-needed protection
for your organs.
Yeah, your squishy brain would be left
without its hard helmet,
leaving your noggin
extremely vulnerable.
And not to mention
your heart, lungs and liver
would also be in danger
without your rib cage.
Yeah, OK,
this was a bad idea.
Our bones do way
more than we give them credit for,
and we shouldn't
take them for granted.
Did you know that
some people have a rare
genetic disease similar
to having no bones?
It's called hypophosphatasia,
and it affects one
in 100,000 babies born.
People with this condition
have bones
that have difficulty absorbing
calcium and phosphorus,
making them extremely weak
and prone to breaking.
Thankfully,
doctors are working on
unique enzyme treatments.
These allow the bones
to slowly grow back
so patients can move again.
Our bones are essential.
Sure, they can break
and they might
get in the way of things,
but without them,
we wouldn't be able to live.
OK, so now,
instead of having no bones,
what if your stomach acid
suddenly disappeared?
Well,
that sounds like a story
for another WHAT IF.