Explore the causes of sneezing

Some people itch at the sight of sunlight or light and sneeze easily. Others want to sneeze but can't, and suddenly sneeze when they see strong light. What is the relationship between what the eyes see and what the nose sneezes? First, let's briefly explain the internal structure of sneezing. Sneezing refers to an unconscious "reflex" when a foreign body (such as dust, bacteria, pollen, etc.) occurs. ) I was driven away when I entered the nasal cavity. After the foreign body enters, the trigeminal nerve located on the nasal mucosa sends instructions to the respiratory muscles acting on the lungs, violently expelling the air and expelling the foreign body from the country.

So, why sneeze when there is strong light? In fact, we still can't fully understand the mystery. Because it is not an important disease, people have not made every effort to study it. In some countries in Europe and America, some people began to study reflective sneezing caused by sunlight and put forward some hypotheses one after another.

It is highly credible that the perception of eyes and nose is dominated by the same trigeminal nerve, so the defense response to strong stimulation is chaotic, leading to sneezing. Specifically, it is the strong sunlight entering from the eyes, and the nasal cavity mistakenly thinks that it stimulates itself, so it wants to discharge foreign bodies in the form of sneezing. According to relevant statistics, sneezing reflex caused by sunlight mostly occurs in infants under 3 years old. In developing babies, the division of labor of various nerve centers is not as detailed as that of adults, and it is easy to confuse some external stimuli.

Others sneeze easily when pulling out their eyebrows, for reasons similar to strong light stimulation. The phenomenon that pulling nose hair is easy to shed tears is just the opposite. When the nose is stimulated, the eyes will have a defensive reaction, so tears will be shed to wash the foreign body.

Furthermore, the constitution of sneezing caused by strong light is said to have genetic effects. If one parent belongs to this constitution, more than half of their children will inherit this constitution, but this is only a common biological genetic phenomenon, not a disease.

Sneezing itself is a complex phenomenon in which all kinds of nerves are intertwined. The research on light-induced sneezing has not been officially launched, so the above explanation is still difficult to determine. In addition, there is a saying that the nasal mucosa reacts to light and spreads to the brain, causing sneezing.

In short, this phenomenon should be just an ordinary physiological reaction, just like getting goose bumps when you are cold or scared, so don't worry.

Relevant explanation

Sneezing reflex, commonly known as "sneezing" or "sneezing", is a defensive reflex action caused by nasal mucosa stimulation. However, in traditional folk customs, it has been regarded as a sign of some abnormal behavior or the development trend of things, and various explanations for it make people fall into a fog.

Sneezing means someone is thinking about you.

This theory is proved by The Book of Songs and related explanations. For example, Mr. Chen Zizhan thinks that this poem is based on folk songs and belongs to the subject of flirting between men and women. In the poem, "I can't sleep when I talk, but I can't sleep when I want to talk", which is interpreted as "I can't sleep when I wake up and sneeze when I think". Before him, Han Zhengxuan commented on this: "I can't sleep because of worry. If a woman (you) thinks of me, I will sneeze." As if you missed me too, I sneezed. Su Shi's poem Yuan Ri in Song Dynasty said, "Who is Xiao Lai?" It can be understood according to Zheng Xuan's annotation or Chen Zizhan's literal translation. But although there is a difference between missing and being missed, there is no doubt that it belongs to family. So far, this is a common phenomenon in rural areas: a child sneezes, and his mother says, "Grandma is thinking about you", and then she plans to go back to her parents' house to visit relatives-sneezing is a sign that someone misses me.

When you say sneeze, someone is "talking about me"

Song Hong Mai's Essays on Rong Zhai, Volume 4: "Those who sneeze a lot today will spit clouds:' Some people say I am', especially women." Ma Song Yongqing's Lazy True Son Volume III: "The popular saying is that people sneeze at people." Because some people say that I want to spit out a spell, it can be seen that this "saying me" should be understood as "speaking ill of me (or gossiping)". In Yuan Kang's "jy's Shame" drama, two bachelors living near Liangshanpo pretended to be Song Jiang and Lu and robbed the daughter of Wang Lin, an old wine seller. When the truth was exposed by Liangshan heroes and they were ready to punish the impostor, the bachelors sneezed, "It's so hot that someone has to say something", which is also a sign that someone is speaking ill of me or gossiping.

Sneezing is a good sign.

For example, The Record of Yanbei said: "Empress Jung sneezed, and the attendants and servants shouted' Governing Exile' in unison, and the Jews shouted' Long live'." To this day, some people still have a similar custom: when someone sneezes, he immediately cheers and wishes Ji: "Good! Longevity! "

Others say the opposite-sneezing is an ominous sign that something bad is coming. What others call "long life" is not to wish good luck, but to pray for timely peace, similar to Hong Mai's "I will spit out my wishes". For example, Liu Dong and Yu Yi are recording in "A Brief View of the Imperial City" that on the fifth drum of New Year's Day, people sneeze in bed, so they must get up at once, or they will get sick. Getting up is a remedy. Some people have long questioned this statement: if sneezing is an ominous sign, then people who sneeze should find ways to remedy it in time, so why wait for others to pray? So some people speculate that it may be that the ancients thought sneezing was harmful to themselves, so they had to say something to eliminate the disaster. Other countries have similar customs. However, in fact, the reason for getting up immediately after sneezing may be that sneezing is caused by bacteria invading the respiratory tract. By getting up, you can adjust your physical condition and prevent diseases.

Speaking of sneezing, it is said that it is to check whether things happen well or badly.

For example, Lu of Jing said that sneezing on the second day means eating and drinking, ugly day means worrying, cloudy day means foreign affairs, Mao day means auspicious, Chen day means getting married or meeting, fourth day means talking about right and wrong, noon day means visiting happily, doomsday means no bad luck, Shen day means nothing, and unitary day means guests are coming. Is there a causal explanation? number

From the above theories and quoted materials, it can be seen that the custom marked by sneezing has existed at least in the era of the Book of Songs, and may be traced back to a longer time. Sixteen volumes of sneezing and tinnitus miscellaneous notes in Hanshu were basically lost in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, all kinds of miscellaneous sayings fabricated by people in the Tang and Song Dynasties and later may not be the reliable basis for exploring the origin, formation and cultural significance of this ancient custom. In the process of folk inheritance, various variations may occur, which are different from the original appearance, resulting in various explanations, and many related data records can also draw different conclusions. From this point of view, it is a mystery whether the custom of sneezing was formed on the basis of what kind of knowledge or experience the ancients had, and how to make a summary and infer one or more possibilities on this basis.

Sneezing divination recorded in ancient books;

At11pm-at 1 am, people are having a party.

65438+ 0- 3 a.m. Some people miss you, and some guests come to ask for something.

From 3 am to 5 am, someone came to meet for dinner.

From 5 am to 7 am, luck comes or someone asks you something.

From 7: 00 to 9: 00 in the morning, someone invited me to dinner, and something big was going to happen.

From 9 am to 165438+ 0 noon, friends will come to ask for money.

11:00-1:00 in the afternoon, you will hold a banquet for the guests coming from afar.

65438+ From 0: 00 pm to 3: 00 pm, someone invited you to dinner, and something auspicious happened to you.

3:00-5:00 pm, eat carefully.

From 5 pm to 7 pm, the opposite sex came to ask for help and ask questions.

From 7: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm, you will miss a opposite sex and hope to make up.

9 pm-165438+ 0 pm, almost had an accident, a false alarm.