Why does a person yawn? Video
Some people who are far from medicine believe that yawning is a sign of sleepiness or boredom. In fact, this is an uncontrollable reflex of the body, which can manifest itself for a variety of reasons.
Often, yawning, especially frequent and strong, indicates health problems or chronic fatigue, nervous overstrain. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the reasons for yawning and take the necessary measures.
The reasons that trigger the yawning reflex are not yet fully understood. Many doctors, biologists and physiologists believe that a person begins to yawn not only when he is bored or tends to sleep, but also when the body does not have enough oxygen – for example, when in a stuffy, poorly ventilated room. Because of this, metabolic products accumulate in the blood. They act on the respiratory center of the brain, thereby not only activating the inhibition processes, but also provoking yawning.
The physiological act of yawning itself consists of two phases: a slow deep breath, in which the facial and cervical muscles are strongly strained, and a quick, sharp exhalation. Muscle tension increases the speed of blood flow, thereby improving blood supply to the brain and accelerating metabolic processes. In addition, impulses from tense muscles excite the nerve cells of the cerebral cortex, which leads, as it were, to “shake off” the inhibition processes.
Therefore, after yawning, the brain begins to work more actively (albeit not for long)
Some scientists believe that yawning has a thermoregulatory function in the brain. They compare the brain to some kind of complex electronic device that, when overheated, starts to work worse. Yawning, on the other hand, helps keep blood and air flowing to the brain from overheating and thus improves functioning.
Often a person yawns immediately after waking up in the morning. This is because, due to prolonged immobility, the blood flow rate in his body has decreased, and the concentration of carbon dioxide and other metabolic products in the blood, on the contrary, has increased.
Constant yawning also often occurs when doing work that involves risk or anxiety, and heightened responsibility. This can happen to people from a wide variety of professions and situations: test pilots before takeoffs, stuntmen before performing risky stunts, actors before going on stage, surgeons before a complex operation, etc.
The reason is that with strong emotional stress, excitement, a person instinctively tries to hold his breath. The oxygen content in the blood drops rapidly, while the carbon dioxide level rises. Then the body just as instinctively turns on the yawning mechanism, saturating the blood with oxygen.
Yawning is a signal of the onset of illness
What health problems can yawning indicate and how to get rid of it? If a person yawns frequently, especially during the day, this indicates that his body does not have enough oxygen. It is necessary to go out into the fresh air or at least ventilate the room.
Frequent yawning, especially when combined with a feeling of physical weakness, lethargy, lethargy, can also indicate overwork or emotional stress. This is a signal that the body needs rest. It is necessary to take at least a short vacation, or at least reduce the load, streamline the daily routine, avoid stressful, conflict situations. Sleep should be long enough and the sleeping area well ventilated.
Yawning is also one of the signs of vascular dystonia. This disease is treated with restorative and sedative drugs. It is also necessary to engage in physiotherapy exercises and avoid anxiety, stressful situations.
In some cases, according to the doctor’s prescription, the patient is prescribed antipsychotic drugs.
Frequent yawning can also be a symptom of the development of such a formidable disease as multiple sclerosis. It occurs when the body’s immune system, for some reason, begins to mistake its own central nervous system for foreign tissue, attacks and damages it. These attacks can occur in different parts of the body (scattered). Depending on where exactly the damaged parts of the brain are located, the patient has certain symptoms. Most often, in the early stages of the disease, they manifest themselves in the form of visual impairment, muscle weakness, impaired coordination of movements, and fine motor skills.
More recently, the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis was considered a sentence that condemns a person to early disability and helplessness. Now, with the help of modern drugs, it is possible to avoid the development of the disease without allowing disability. But for this it is necessary to detect multiple sclerosis at an early stage. Therefore, with frequent yawning, it is necessary to consult a neurologist who will give a referral for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and, if foci of brain damage are found, will prescribe treatment.
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