The doctor told about the true causes of yawning

Many people believe that yawning occurs due to a lack of oxygen in the body. Anastasia Agaeva, a general practitioner at the Sberbank Health medical company, told Izvestia on January 12 whether this is really the case, and also explained why you can "catch" yawning from others.

"Currently, there are several hypotheses as to why a person might yawn. According to one of them, yawning helps maintain normal thermoregulation of the brain. So, if it overheats, for example, against the background of overwork, yawning increases blood flow to the brain and provides air inhalation, which allows it to "cool down" and thereby normalize heat exchange," she noted.

The following hypothesis is related to a change in the state of consciousness. Yawning often occurs during the transition from sleep to wakefulness and vice versa. Taking a deep breath while yawning expands the alveoli, the microscopic structures of the lungs, which increases blood flow and briefly increases heart rate. This, in turn, helps the body to cheer up or relax, depending on the situation.

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Another hypothesis suggests that yawning promotes the opening of the Eustachian tubes, which are responsible for equalizing pressure in the middle ear. For example, during an air flight, when climbing, the pressure behind the eardrum increases, and yawning helps to normalize it.

"There is an opinion that the reason for yawning is a lack of oxygen or an excess of carbon dioxide in the body. However, studies have refuted this theory: the level of these gases in the blood does not affect the appearance of yawning," says the doctor.

As for the "infection" of yawning, this phenomenon is a form of echopraxia — involuntary imitation of another person's actions. This effect is due to psychological factors, as well as the activity of the mirror neurons of the brain.

The ability to "get infected" by yawning is closely related to empathy — the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. The stronger the emotional connection with another person, the more likely it is to "get infected." The process of yawning itself occurs due to mirror neurons, which are activated at the moment of observing someone else's action.

"They "reflect" it in the human brain, causing the desire to yawn in response. It is worth noting that children under 4-5 years of age are almost not susceptible to "infection" by yawning, since they have not yet fully developed the areas of the brain responsible for empathy," Agayeva said.

In February last year, Elena Martynova, a dentist, periodontist at the SM-Dentistry clinic, Candidate of Medical Sciences, told Izvestia that chronic foci of infection caused by untreated caries weaken the local immunity of the oral cavity, facilitating the penetration of viruses and bacteria into the body. According to her, advanced caries is a direct path to tooth loss.

In July, Stanislav Ionov, Professor of the Department of Therapy at the Medical Faculty of the State University of Education, named the causes of itching in the ears. He noted that it could be an inflammatory process, a fungal infection, or even otitis media. Itching can also be caused by an insect ingestion or an allergic reaction due to its bite.

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