‘Terrifying’ video shows how long blood vessels are if they were outside the body

Have you ever wondered how far your blood vessels could stretch if you tied them all together one after another?

No? OK, you're normal.

But if you have, there's nothing wrong with that - I'm sure Hannibal Lecter has thought it in the past.

The human body is made up of thousands of blood vessels. (Getty stock image)

Well, a YouTuber has uploaded a short animation to his channel showing people just how long blood vessels are if they were outside the body - and it is fascinating, albeit terrifying.

The unsettling video is the creation of Zack D. Films and it has got people talking online.

Speaking in the video, he says: "If you somehow removed all of the blood vessels in your body and tied them together, you might think it would be about this long [the length of a football field].

"But the human body has thousands of these tiny vessels that weave in and out of every body part and with all of them combined, if you started in New York your blood vessels would make it all the way to the Grand Canyon."

OK, I'll butt in here - you're telling me that with a bit of modification I could be thousands of miles tall?

Well, I could be really tall, but really dead.

But Zack wasn't finished there, and just so we all know the distance between New York and the Grand Canyon is over 2,000 miles.

He went on: "It would go on to reach all the way across the Pacific Ocean over Japan, Asia and all of Europe and not only would it make it all the way back to your starting point, but it would be able to make this trip two to four times over."

No way can all this stuff fit in our bodies.

There has to be an error here somewhere... surely?

Not according to the British Heart Foundation, which confirmed adults have around 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies - enough to circumnavigate the globe at least twice.

One of Zack D's fan explained how this is possible in the comments.

They wrote: "For anyone thinking how this is possible: It is because our body has some capillaries which are about [three to four micrometers] thick and they are literally everywhere in the body in every corner of every organ, muscle, glands etc."

For those of us who aren't in the know, a micrometer is one millionth of a meter.

We have so many blood vessels that if tied together and extracted from our bodies they could wrap around Earth up to four times - that's crazy. (Getty stock image)

It baffled many in the comments, with one user adding: "It’s absolutely terrifying to think that all of this can fit in us."

But it didn't take long before the jokes rolled in - some of which were hilarious.

One wrote: "'Hey! How tall are you?'

"'4 Earths'."

While another quipped: "'WE NEED A LONG ROPE'.

"'I AM THE ROPE'."

However, one person had an interesting take on the whole thing.

They commented: "And yet doctors somehow manage to find these vessels and fix the broken ones, and here I cannot even untangle a pair of earphones."

It just goes to show you how amazing the human body is - and doctors too!

• Expert reveals exactly how long it should take to fall asleep at night and when it could be a more serious problem
• Exactly what happens to your body when you don't sleep for 24, 36 and 72 hours explained
• Shocking simulation shows exactly what happens to your body if you stop eating sugar for 2 weeks
• Terrifying simulation shows what would happen if humans spent just five seconds on Uranus