The "Why Your Body Does Strange Things!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting with my fingers on the keyboard of my MacBook Air and reading the headline on a link that I found a day or two ago that tries to explains why we sneeze, have goosebumps, yawn,...there I did it again.  When I read or even type the word yawn...did it again.  I just can't seem to not yawn when I see or even type the word.  The story I was reading was titled, "Weird Things Your Body Does, Explained."  So, why did I yawn...  Well, when your body is running low on oxygen, a yawn is triggered to force a deep inhale and exhale.  This increases oxygen levels in the bloodstream, and the yawn itself raises your heartbeat to pump the oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.  

Does this guy make you want to yawn?  It does me!

But, that's not the only reason we yawn.  Instead of oxygen intake, researchers now believe that the primary function of yawning is regulating temperature.  The brain is the most energy-hungry organ in the body, using about 40% of your total metabolic energy.  All that work means that your brain tends to run hot and needs a way to cool down.  Therefore, the brain used yawning like a computer uses fans.  When the cold air is brought in through the mouth, the muscles in your jaw and around your skull contract and stretch, which increases blood circulation in the area.  The air cools the blood, and the increase in heart rate pumps the cooler blood to your brain. A cooler brain is a more alert brain.  If the surrounding air is cooler, yawning will be more effective.  You tend to yawn more in cooler temperatures.  Yawning can also be triggered by other events like anxiety, hunger or even a change of activity.  Any time your brain needs some extra focus, it may trigger a yawn.  But, for me...it seems like reading or typing the word triggers a yawn....there it goes again.  So what about sneezing.  The primary purpose of a sneeze is to remove irritants from the nasal passage.  Things such as dust, dirt, pollen or even smoke can trigger a sneeze.  Are you the type of person who when they sneeze, it comes in pairs or more.  Some people have a specific number of sneezes that they produce each time.  If you have to sneeze more that once, than your sneeze isn't as powerful as a single-sneezer's sneeze.  Is this making you yawn yet?  Actually sneezing is one way that we fight the spread of bacteria when we're sick.  The body's natural reaction to infection is to produce mucus in an effort to trap the bacteria.  Once trapped, it's time to get rid of it and the sneeze will occur.  Good way to distribute the bacteria to everyone close to you.  Another reason some people sneeze is when they look into a bright light.  This is called a photic sneeze reflex and it is an inherited genetic trait.  The theory is that certain stimulation of the optical nerve causes the same sensation in your brain as irritation in the nose, but the true cause still eludes researchers.  And finally, why do you blink.  Did you know that you blink on average about 12 ties per minute.  That's 10,000 per day and 4.2 million times a year.  It's a wonder that we don't wear out our eyelids with time!  The most obvious reason we bling is to lubricate our eyes.  Every time you blink, small "tears" are puled across the surface of your eyes to keep them lubricated and prevent the spread of bacteria.  Blinking also clears dust and particles that are continuously getting into your eyes.  Your eyes can close in 0.1 seconds after stimulus is detected.  Sometimes the stimulus is a bright light or even blowing sand which produces a corneal reflex that is designed to prevent as much debris as possible from entering and damaging the eye.  Well, that's enough information for one story.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.