3 medical concepts I love to explain, part II

This post is part of a very occasional series of random health-related tidbits I love to teach about.

1. Sad tears are actually productive

Unsurprisingly, patients in the hospital sometimes cry. And often, they say something like, “I’m sorry I’m crying!”

My college girl, way back in the day. Her toddler self actually asked me to take a picture while she was crying. I guess she wanted it documented!

I almost always say, “Ohhhh, no, no, no. It’s ok to cry. It will help you feel better.”

That’s because sad tears contain stress hormones, so you are actually releasing stress as you cry. Also, crying causes the body to release oxytocin and endogenous opioids, like endorphins.

This is not true of the tears your eyes produce when you cut an onion! Emotional tears are truly built different.

Isn’t that amazing??

So, don’t ever feel bad about crying. You are actually being very productive. 😉 

For fact-checking reference: this Harvard article on emotional tears.

2. Sneezing releases endorphins

I have a rather overactive sneeze reflex; one of the main causes is going into the sunshine from a dark place.

Hilariously enough, this is called ACHOO syndrome (Autosomal-Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome), and it is a genetic trait.

(All of my children inherited this from me. When we would leave the grocery store together, there was always a round of sneezes as we entered the sunny parking lot!)

I also sneeze when I have mints, and even dark chocolate sometimes makes me sneeze.

Happily, it is scientifically true that the act of sneezing releases endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals.

I joke that this is why I have a good attitude about life; I credit all the sneezing endorphins.

And nowwwww I have typed the word “sneeze” so often, it looks like I am typing a nonsense word.

For fact checking reference: this Houston ENT article on sneezing.

3. When you’re sick, it’s mostly your immune system making you miserable

Maybe lots of other people already knew this. But I had this realization during my anatomy and physiology classes and it felt like a light bulb moment to me.

As it turns out, when your immune system goes to work to fight a bug, the immune response itself is largely what makes you feel crappy.

For instance, a fever is part of the immune response. 

Increased mucous production and phlegm are an immune effort as well. 

Symptoms such as malaise (fatigue) and inflammation result from the body’s release of pro-imflammatory cytokines , which are chemical messengers of the immune system. 

So, if you magically had no immune system, you could catch a cold and not display the usual variety of symptoms that we associate with a cold.

However, this would also mean your body had no means of fighting the cold, so….not be an overall win. 😉 

Relatedly, this is why you sometimes feel sick after you get a vaccine. It’s not because you are sick with whatever you got vaccinated against; it’s just that the vaccine has appropriately triggered your immune response.

And the immune response is what gives you symptoms.

But rest assured; you are not actually infected with anything. Your immune system is just having a little dress rehearsal so that it can fight in the future. 

So…maybe next time you have a runny nose and a fever, you can have a teeny time bit of appreciation for these signs that your immune system is busy going to battle for you. 🙂 

(Obviously, this is a vast oversimplification of the whole process bcause this is a blog post and not a medical journal. Actual scientists, please avert your eyes. 😉 )