Sneezing is not only a defensive reaction of the body, aimed at cleaning the nasal mucosa of allergens and pollutants. It turns out that sneezing can be caused by the sun, and even … sexual fantasies, and this reflex is hereditary. Is sneezing he althy? Is it possible to sneeze with your eyes open? Where did the "Cheers!" Wish come from when someone sneezes? Check out what you don't know about sneezing yet.

Sneezingis one of the curiosities of the human body (and not only…) that we most often associate with allergies or colds. There are, however, many surprises to sneezing. Check if you can sneeze "he althy" and if there is a way to stop the approaching sneeze.

Sneezing - what is sneezing?

Sneezing is a reflex that involves the rapid exhalation of air to clear the nasal mucosa of allergens, rhinitis, dust and pollution. The abdominal and intercostal muscles contracting during this process, as well as the closing of the larynx, lead to the creation of hypertension in the chest, which, after unblocking the larynx, causes a sudden release of a mist.

Fluids are released through the mouth and nose at speeds of up to 4.5 meters per second (approx. 40 kilometers per hour). And during a single sneeze, about 40,000 drops are exhaled.

Holding a sneeze, according to doctors, can increase pressure up to 38 times compared to sneezing freely. This is a powerful shock to our respiratory system!

Can you sneeze with your eyes open?Theoretically it is possible, but we strongly advise against it. Closing our eyes when sneezing is a reflex that protects our eyes from the high pressure generated by sneezing.

The high blood pressure that builds up in your chest when you sneeze can temporarily affect your heart rate. However, he is not able to interrupt this work. So the thesis that sneezing should stop the heart rate or that it may lead to artery rupture or clots in it under the influence of pressure is obvious nonsense!

An infection that causes sneezingcan be dangerous, but sneezing is only meant to help our body. The pressure that builds up in the cagethe chest is large enough to clear the mucosa, but safe enough not to kill us.

Sneezing - how do we get infected when sneezing?

Did you know that your lungs usually contain about half a liter of fluids at a time? Thanks to this, in one sneeze you canspit out a mucus volume equal to a small bottle of water !

Sneezing isone of the symptoms of the common cold . The moist mucus mist created during sneezing, saturated with your germs, can travelat a speed of 3 to even 4.5 meters per second . Impressive result!

Such a rapid spread of germs when you sneeze causes the mucus to re-form into tiny droplets inside the mist. Thanks to the courage of a group of researchers from the American MIT, we know that some of these droplets can travel evenup to 8 meters ! This means that by sneezing at work, we expose our co-workers to infection even a few desks away.

Fortunately some of them staydistance "only" 2 meters , but the remains of the mist formed as a result of sneezing, due to its lower density than air, tend to rise to mountains where they are often absorbed by the ventilation system.

As unbelievable as it sounds, the last, usually smaller than the others, drops, once they reach the ventilation shaft, "travel" further, creating a potential risk of infection even for people in other rooms. While the chance of this happening is certainly less than if someone were sitting near the sneezing person, the remaining drops may still contain pathogens such as the flu virus.

The viruses dispersed by the ventilation system cansurvive in the air for up to 10 minutes , and on a steel surface for up to 24 hours.

Handrails, desks and door handles that are strewn with germs suddenly become dangerous. According to the results of several independent studies , one sick person in the office can infect up to three people directly . That's why covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze is so important.

See gallery 3 photos

Sneezing - sneezing savoir vivre

After sneezing in company, many people start to laugh or apologize, others, after sneezing discreetly into a handkerchief, pretend that nothing happened.According to savoir-vivre rules, sneezing is a big faux-pas .

We usually apologize after sneezing, and if we fail to do so, we hear good wishes from all sides. As it turns out, this iscontrary to the principles of savoir-vivre . If it comes tosneezes in the company, you should simply ignore them and treat them as a temporary indisposition.

A real lady and a gentleman will return to the conversation after they sneeze, and the company, in order not to embarrass anyone, will pretend they have not noticed anything.

Of course, you should sneeze as quietly as possible.You shouldn't sneeze into the air or in your hands . Sneezing into the air can end up spitting on someone, and sneezing into your hands is unhygienic and extremely awkward, especially when we know that we will soon give this hand to someone as a greeting or we will touch something in a public place, e.g. a door handle.

It's best to sneeze into a handkerchief, but thenyou need to have a cloth handkerchief on hand . According to the principles of good manners, disposable wipes are inelegant and intended for the time of illness.

However, what if the sneeze is already approaching and the handkerchief is out of reach? Then you shouldsneeze into the bend between the arm and the forearm . It is the safest place to maintain hygiene in such a situation.

Sneezing - how do animals sneeze?

Sneezing occurs not only in humans, but also in some animal species. Probably everyone saw sneezing dogs and cats. But did you know that some reptiles also sneeze?

Sneezes, for example, the Galapagos marine iguana ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus ), the only lizard that feeds in the sea. The excess s alt in sea water is removed from the reptile's blood through special glands connected to the nostrils, through which they blow out a s alty mist from time to time. This looks like a sneeze.

Sneezing - don't stop your sneezing!

When sneezing in company, most of us try to be as quiet and discreet as possible.

As the case of the 34-year-old Briton showed, it is better not to suppress a sneeze. It led to a serious injury. He was hospitalized with a swollen neck, complained of pain on swallowing and loss of voice. Upon examination, it turned out that the man had a crack at the back of his throat. At the same time, air bubbles were discovered inside the tissues.

And all because of the extremely high air pressure when sneezing is h alted. The man landed on the operating table. He was treated and given antibiotics to prevent internal contamination. Eventually, he returned home instructed to avoid covering his nose either when sneezing .¹

There are more cases where the human body has not withstood the load or air pressure during seemingly trivial activities, although they are extremely rareand they have not been counted so far. For example, in 2011, a man blocked his nose and mouth while sneezing and the pressure burst his larynx.

A way to avoid sneezing

When we have broken, cracked ribs, acute discopathy or an open maxillary sinus after tooth extraction, sneezing, because it increases pressure in the chest, abdomen and maxillary sinuses, can cause severe pain.

There is a simple way to stop a sneeze. As soon as you feel the first symptom that you want to sneeze, just tear the tip of your nose firmly with the tip of your index finger (the nose looks like a pig's nose) and hold it until you feel that the urge to sneeze is over. The method is trivial, it looks funny, but it works! See for yourself.

Sneezing - the reflex to sneeze into the sun

Do you know anyone who sneezes after looking at the sun or after being suddenly exposed to very bright light? Definitely. But you probably don't know that Aristotle (or his student, researchers are not sure) has already wondered about this fact by asking the question: " Why does the heat of the sun cause you to sneeze ?" already in the 3rd century BC²

The ancient philosopher erred in assuming that the cause was in the heat, not the light. Today we know that it is the light that is responsible for the " light-induced sneezing reflex " - because that's what this reaction is called. English-speaking authors who love acronyms call itACHOO (meaning "apsik")from Autosomal Compelling Helio-Opthalmic Outburst.

ACHOO occurs in about a quarter of the population (various sources say from 18% to 35%) and our current knowledge allows us to conclude that it is an autosomal dominantreflex. This means that if one parent has it, there is a 50% chance that the child (regardless of gender) will also sneeze after looking at the sun. Scientists, however, do not yet know the mechanism linking certain hereditary traits with the observed effect.

Some research also indicates that ACHOO may be a non-inherited but acquired reflex, but detailed research is also lacking here.

What does the sun sneeze mechanism look like ? This is due to the system of cranial nerves and their "hooking" to seemingly unrelated head structures. And so: the trigeminal nerve innervates both the masticatory muscles (motor) and the nasal mucosa or the lacrimal gland (sensually). Take a look at the picture:

Many researchers believe that in people with ACHOO, intense light reaching the eye cansensually stimulate the trigeminal nerve . And the light one, stimulated by light, reacts simultaneouslyirritation of the nasal mucosa, under which it is also "hooked", and this causes sneezing [1] just like with stimuli of a different kind, such as allergens or viruses.

Some scientists base their explanation for the ACHOO syndrome on the mechanism of "parasympathetic generalization"3 .

The parasympathetic nervous system (parasympathetic system) is part of the autonomic innervation and forms its own, independent communication system over which we have no influence. Responsible, inter alia, for narrowing the pupil, secreting a large amount of thin saliva, inhibiting the heart activity or narrowing the bronchi.

Learn more: Autonomic system: sympathetic and parasympathetic

When there is a parasympathetic generalization in the body, the central nervous system, instead of issuing a precise message from structure A to structure B, "lets go" information throughout the parasympathetic nervous system, causing the pupil (on which intense light fell) to stimulate it through a generalized channel other structures as well, connected to the same system, in this case - the nasal mucosa. The nasal mucosa receives a signal that it has been irritated, which leads to a sneezing reflex.

Sneezing - reaction to erotic fantasies

Dr. Mahmood Bhutta, ENT specialist at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, says that somesneezing is triggered by sexual fantasies(Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine) .

The doctor began his research after repeatedly encountering cases of uncontrolled sneezing each time the patient thought about something related to sex. So he searched the literature on the subject. In addition, along with his colleague, Dr. Harold Maxwell, browsed the Internet. To their surprise, after typing sex and sneezing or sneezing into the search engine, an impressive list of matching results was displayed.

Although medics were unable to determine the actual extent of the phenomenon on this basis, one thing has become certain - it is much more common than it is usually believed.

Bhutta thinkssneezing at the thought of sex is hereditaryand this condition could be found in many members of certain families, as is the ACHOO syndrome and explains it similarly. According to him, this reaction is a manifestation of the existence of evolutionary relics within the pathways of the vegetative nervous system. Sometimes the signals get "crossed", hence sneezing during sexual fantasies.5

Sneezing - in English or Polish?

Probably many people have pointed out that the way people react to sneezing is different in different countries. InWe wish the sneezing Poland good he alth. The same is true in many other countries: in Germany the form "Gesundheit" is used, in Italy "Salute!". In Anglo-Saxon countries like the USA or Great Britain - believers or not - wish for God's blessing (English [God] bless You-, or - less often - God, beware! - God beware!). the vanishing tradition of responding to each sneeze differently today. Namely, after the first sneeze, it was said - cheers! Second - for love! After the third option, there were more: for children !, for money !, for he alth and love!

In Poland, when someone sneezed more than twice, they said "Not for the water", which suggested an expected, good and … heavily drunk fun.

Sneezing - what was once believed?

According to tradition, the origin of the Anglo-Saxon custom of blessing after sneezing is associated with the figure of Pope Gregory the Great (6th century).

The first theory goes back to the time when the first great plague epidemic (541-542 CE) reigned in the Byzantine Empire. One of the first symptoms of this disease was coughing and sneezing.

Pope Gregory the Great was then supposed to order you to say "God bless you" after someone sneezed in order to save this person from death. As they said this, people bowed low and their hat was lifted, which was probably meant to be a polite, but perhaps the last, goodbye to the sneezer.

At the beginning of this saying may also lie old superstitions. Sneezing has long been considereda sinister phenomenon . According to Władysław Kopaliński, a significant part of the population believed that a sneeze is a kind of a little thunder in the head and isa direct sign from the gods, prophesying good or bad fate .4

The Romans greeted the sneeze with the words: Absit omen! - lest it become a harbinger of misfortune! In Persia and India it was believed that sneezingcasts demons and demons out of the body .

In antiquity, many people believed that the human soul took the form of air and was inside the head. So when sneezing, there was a great danger that it would "escape" through the nose. Only a divine blessing could have prevented this.

Spaniards used to recall the name of Jesus (Jesús!) When they sneezed, which is still the custom today. And it's also associated with an epidemic - flu this time - and, you guessed it, high mortality. The invocation of God's name and the sign of the cross were to protect against illness.

According to another superstition, sneezing spewed out evil spirits that could enter other people's bodies. The blessing was to protect both the sneezer and the evil onepeople around.

Do you know that…

A clear lack of sneezing or an inability to sneeze may appear as one of the somatic symptoms in people with psychological difficulties? In one of the issues of the "British Journal of Psychiatry" we read that " asneezia " appears mainly in people suffering from endogenous depression or schizophrenia, but this symptom was also noticed in people diagnosed with neurotic depression and hypochondria.6

About the authorKatarzyna TerentiewManaging editor of Wformie24.pl. A graduate of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw. As an editor, she co-created many entertainment TV programs, in the literary monthly "Bluszcz" and the biweekly "Viva!" she was the editorial secretary. Mother of two full of energy children. He has been spending his holidays sailing for many years.

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Category:

Respiratory system