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Is it true that your heart stops when you sneeze? |
Inside the Body
Have you ever heard the rumor that your heart stops or skips a beat when you sneeze? If you’ve ever had a really big “achoo,” then maybe it seemed like this could be true!
The answer is that your heart does not stop or skip a beat when you sneeze – there is no scientific basis for this old belief. (Phew!) Sometimes, the heart’s rate or rhythm will change in relation to a sneeze, but in no way at all does it “stop.”
Most likely, the idea that sneezing affects the heart comes from back before people had the medicine and science to know about what was really happening in the body during a sneeze. When people felt changes in their heart’s rhythm during a sneezing spell, they assumed it meant their heart had stopped! Today, we can sneeze without worry, knowing that our hearts will continue pump-pump-pumping away!! (Gesundheit!)
Silly Superstitions!
For many years, people who did not understand what caused sneezing had superstitious beliefs about what they meant! For example, many people thought that sneezing was a sign that a person had been visited by a ghost or spirit!
What are some other superstitions you've heard about sneezing, or some ways you would have tried to explain it if you weren't able to know the truth??
