RD201906

the acidity of the vomit. If this metal-

lic saliva happens on a consistent ba-

sis, you could be suffering from silent

reflux, a condition in which stomach

acid comes up into the back of the

throat.

8. You see spots after a camera
   flashes. The photoreceptors in the
   back of your eye convert light into
   electrical impulses that are sent to
   the brain to produce the images you
   see. “When a camera flash goes off,
   it’s so bright that it overstimulates the
   photoreceptors,” Elaine Icban, an as-
   sistant professor of clinical optometry
   at the New England College of Optom-
   etry, told statnews.com. While the
   photoreceptors are recovering, your
   brain “sees” nothing and fills in the
   blanks with spots.


9. You sneeze when you look up at
   the sun. Photic sneeze reflex—some-
   times called sun sneeze—is the name
   of this peculiar phenomenon. “The
   optic nerve, which senses a change
   in light, is very close to the trigeminal
   nerve, which controls a sneeze,” says
   Amy Rantala, MD, of the Mayo Clinic
   Health System in Eau Claire, Wiscon-
   sin. When you look up at the sun—or
   for that matter, when you step out of
   a dark room into bright light, whether
   it’s artificial or natural—your optic
   nerve constricts your pupils. Your tri-
   geminal nerve may get the sensation
   that there is an irritation in the nose,
   triggering a sneeze.

Hospital in Ohio, told the Cleveland

Clinic. “When you’ve been sitting

around, fluid in the joints doesn’t

move. The more active you are, the

more your joints lubricate them-

selves” and the less noise they will

make. The popping shouldn’t alarm

you unless it is accompanied by pain

or swelling.

5.You get a stitch in your side from

running. Starting a new exercise

routine can cause pressure to push up

from the abdomen or down from the

lungs onto the diaphragm muscle

between them. This restricts blood

flow and causes the irritated dia-

phragm to spasm. Once your body

gets used to exertion, side stitches

should cease.

6. Your stomach growls when you’re
   hungry. When the receptors in the
   stomach walls sense an absence of
   food, they send out electrical waves.
   These cause the muscular walls of the
   stomach to squeeze and release, mak-
   ing a rumbling sound. You may also
   hear some sloshing as these contrac-
   tions move water and stomach acid
   around.


7. Your saliva tastes metallic right
   before you vomit. Saliva normally has
   a pH ranging from about six to seven,
   midway between acidic and alkaline.
   When you are about to throw up, your
   body produces more alkaline saliva,
   which tastes metallic, to neutralize

rd.com 59

Cover Story

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