The Gross Science of Sneezing, Coughing, and Vomiting
6 THE GROSS SCIENCE OF SNEEZING COUGHING AND VOMITING The connection too between the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal gastrointestinal tract is important to understand Perhaps sneezing alone isn’t a sign of anything serious But if too much snot is being produced the post nasal drip can irritate the throat enough to start some serious coughing especially when you’re lying down Acid reflux can have an effect on the color of the mucus and enough coughing can trigger a bout of nausea that starts bringing up the bile That bile is so acidic it can really damage the tissues of the respiratory system which leads to affecting the production production of mucus What might seem like an isolated symptom can lead to a whole chain reaction throughout the body It’s almost like a traffic jam Ultimately the body will benefit from ridding itself of outside bacteria bacteria physical particles or ingested irritants The process however can be painful It can be embarrassing It can be very very gross But there’s a science behind all the tough times of nose-blowing cough syrup induced bedtimes and days of eating only saltines and drinking ginger ale And it’s fascinating And also gross
SNEEZING There's a tingling in your nose It’s itching and rubbing it just makes it worse In fact a lot of pressure is building up behind your face Oh no what’s happening The process of sneezing is the same whether it’s a buildup of germs or a buildup of physical foreign objects in your respiratory system Eventually your body wants to get rid of the irritants But do you even know what’s getting irritated in your body By learning about what the respiratory system does it will make more sense as to why your body would need to sneeze at some point WHY DO I SNEEZE The nose is crucial in providing a pathway for the essential oxygen in the air However with every breath in dust and other foreign particles including germs are being inhaled too Inside the nasal passages are lined with nose hairs which do more than just look unattractive These hairs are known as the cilia They act as filters trying to keep the contaminants contaminants from reaching the more sensitive areas of the respiratory system Meanwhile you don’t even have to be sneezing to be producing snot The human body produces over a quart a little bit under a liter of snot every day WebMD compares mucus to the oil in the engine 7 CHAPTER ONE
8 THE GROSS SCIENCE OF SNEEZING COUGHING AND VOMITING Mucus may be gross but it’s essential to help keep the body’s machinery running smoothly It’s the oil that coats the engine of your respiratory system Without it the engine seizes Snot coats all the delicate internal areas of the body including the mouth nose sinuses throat lungs and gastrointestinal tract This protective lining ensures that the tissues don’t dry out If the cilia are the filters the mucus is the flypaper catching bacteria virus germs and dust particles before they advance deeper into the body Eventually the irritants build up too much in the upper respiratory system for the body to tolerate their presence any longer Ever notice that you take a deep breath in before you sneeze That inhalation triggers the flap at the back of throat known as the epiglottis to close up All the muscles in the chest begin tightening As a result there’s so much pressure on the air in the lungs that it will have to explode out at tremendous tremendous speed How fast If the sneeze is powerful enough it can be as fast as 525 feet 160 meters per second
SNEEZING 9 The act of sneezing is powerful A big sneeze can be so forceful that it’s hard to believe your head stays intact afterward According to Magill’s Medical Guide the air and neighboring mucus comes out the nose instead of the mouth thanks to the contraction of the pharynx muscles which are the throat’s muscles The tongue presses against the roof of the mouth which helps seal up the mouth and keeps the air pushing up and out the nasal passages GERM WARFARE OR BAD ENVIRONMENT Sneezing isn’t always a sign of being sick It’s easy to connect it with a cold or the flu But allergies are generally not caused by viruses or contagious contagious bacteria so sometimes often a sneeze is the reflex triggered by the environment around a person instead It’s how one sneezes and what one produces that can be the real test of whether or not a sneeze
