August 2009 - Posts

Ah-ah- achoo! Does that sneeze mean swine flu?

Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 2:35PM
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By Diane Mapes

We do it when we’re sick, when we’re cleaning out our closets and, according to a recent YouTube chat with astronaut David Wolf, we do it in space. Even pandas do it.

Few really understand what’s happening when our noses explode in a sneeze. As we head into cold season and the dreaded return of swine flu, even the most innocent sneeze (Do you have a cat?!) can spread paranoia. Let go with a noisy honk and watch the uncomfortable reaction, or downright hostile stares, of nearby strangers. But are those powerful sneezes — called sternutations — proof that we’re carrying some kind of virus? Why do we sneeze anyway?
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Msnbc.com writers and editors will muse upon the wonderfully weird human body and the medical curiosities that make you go huh, ewww or ouch! Looking for informed, unhinged meditations on everything from dubious diseases to recipes for ersatz mucous? Well, this is the place.

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