Why do we sneeze?

Historically sneezing has been associated with everything from breath to life to omens.... but we know that sneezing works to clear the nasal passages from foreign material..or do we? There is more to the story. Read on...

Article Extract: Everybody sneezes. And that's a good thing, because it's actually one of the body's natural defenses, designed to help get rid of foreign invaders that sneak into your nose and threaten your lungs and other body parts. The medical term for sneezing is sternutation, a rather complex process that includes your brain, nerves, and muscles all over your body. http://goo.gl/WhzNqN

Rebooting the system Scientists now know exactly why we sneeze, what sneezing should accomplish, and what happens when sneezing does not work properly. Much like a temperamental computer, our noses require a "reboot" when overwhelmed, and this biological reboot is triggered by the pressure force of a sneeze. When a sneeze works properly, it resets the environment within nasal passages so "bad" particles breathed in through the nose can be trapped. The sneeze is accomplished by biochemical signals that regulate the beating of cilia (microscopic hairs) on the cells that line our nasal cavities. http://goo.gl/hEorNj

Chain of events : A sneeze seems fairly straightforward, but it’s the result of an impressive chain of events. Your abdominal muscles, chest muscles, and even eyelid muscles (think about how your eyes automatically close when you sneeze) are all in play, in concert with your lungs, which initiate the forceful air that is sent up through your windpipe, throat, and nasal passages. http://goo.gl/4FEOLx

Photic Sneeze reflex : About one in four people sneeze in sunlight, a reaction called a photic sneeze reflex. Scientists don't entirely understand why this happens, but expect that the message the brain receives to shrink the pupils in the presence of bright light may cross paths with the message the brain receives to sneeze. http://goo.gl/3o0aVo

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneeze#Common_verbal_responses_to_a_sneeze

Paper from FASEB : http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/27/1_MeetingAbstracts/lb880

Do all animals sneeze? : http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?id=3071

Additional source article : http://www.livescience.com/44362-why-do-we-sneeze.html

Counterpoint : http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/PIIS030698771200028X/abstract

Pic courtesy : Wikipedia article mentioned above.

#sneeze #biology #science