# backwards people(?)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 21, 2000, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764 "2000-10-21T06:34:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764/1 "2000-10-21T06:34:37Z")

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OK, so my grandmother was backwards. As in, her heart was on the right side of her chest–biologically, everything was a mirror image of a normal person.

–I’ve heard this only happens with twins–is that true? Did she have to have been a twin (her parents probably would never have mentioned a stillborn baby, or maybe it died and was absorbed early on in the pregnancy)? Does this ever happen with single births? I got this from a Lord Peter Wimsey story, so it’s not like the source is foolproof.

–Was her brain also wired backwards? Was her right brain on her left and vice-versa? Was she more likely to be left-handed?

–Is there a name for this condition besides the admittedly pretty lame ‘backwards?’ (YOU try describing it in one word.)

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**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764/2 "2000-10-21T13:11:16Z")

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It’s called _dextrocardia_ when the heart is on the right. And it can occur in single births. I think I’ve heard about one’s brain hemispheres being reversed, but I don’t know if it’s in conjunction with dextrocardia. And I don’t know the name of _that_ condition.

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**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764/3 "2000-10-21T13:19:05Z")

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The name for this condition is situs inversus. I looked at a couple of websites about it, like the one below, and they don’t say that it only happens in twins.

[http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/901226430.html](http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/901226430.html)

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backwards-people/37764/4 "2000-10-21T14:00:48Z")

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There was an article in “New Scientist” (17 June 2000) that described this condition.

What I found interesting was that there are 3 variations of this condition.

1. Situs Inversus - All the organs are simply reversed, and a person with this condition may never even know they have it.

2. Right Isomerism and 3) Left Isomerism - The organs or not reversed, but **symetmetrical**. This results is “serious plumbing problems”.