AH-CHOO! An involuntary action, such as a sneeze, has many effects on the body that one would not initially think about. One myth about sneezing concerns your heart rate. It is thought that when a person sneezes, their heart stops. Whether this is true or not, I hope to clarify some of the questions and if not prove the myth to be right or wrong.
A sneeze starts in your nerves and makes its way through your body and out your nose. There are chemical messages sent to the brain saying that there is something in the nose that shouldn’t be, which results in a sneeze.
Traveling at 100 miles an hour, sneezes are one of the most effective ways that your body fights off infections. It is hard to think that our body would put itself at risk with potential heart stoppings when it it trying to fight off diseases and infections that enter through the nose.
The myth comes from the observation that when a person sneezes their heart rhythm changes pace. The common suspicion of a persons heart stopping comes from the rhythm changing. When your body is going through the process of sneezing, it goes through six basic steps. First, there has to be an irritation in the nose which then tells the medulla what is going on. The next step is the brain tells the muscles in the throat and chest to contract and then it tells the eyes to close. It then tells the palate to close and then the chest and throat contract to send air throughout the respiratory tract to get rid of the irritants in the nasal cavity,
When the body goes through the process of sneezing, the heart rhythm changes when the initial intake of air fill the lungs. This causes the blood flow to be momentarily restricted, which makes people thing that the heart stops when a person sneezes.
It is so interesting to think about all the different ways in which the body fixes itself. Sneezing is an everyday occurrence and most people think nothing of it, but in reality, it is the bodies way of protecting itself. I’ve never really thought of my heart as stopping when I sneeze, but now that I do think about it, I can see how some people would wonder about that and be concerned. Thanks to your article, now we know that its just a rhythm change. Which is also interesting to think about. Again, the way the body speeds up, slows down, restricts, or expands in particular situations and is always so aware of what needs to be done is fascinating. There is always something new to learn when it comes to the mechanics of our bodies, and the good part is that our bodies are always evolving so there is always something new to discover. However, back to sneezing. Not only is it good to know what the process behind sneezing is, but what makes you sneeze in certain situations while it is impossible in others, and the cultural views on sneezing. That can all be found here if you’re interested! 🙂 http://www.everydayhealth.com/allergy-pictures/why-we-sneeze-and-other-fun-facts-about-sneezing.aspx