2023-06-15 18:02:09
One in four people have heliotropic sneeze syndrome. To sum up, the sight of the sun or exposure to bright light causes sneezing in the populations concerned.
“I stare at the sun for a few seconds and immediately I sneeze”, “it’s especially the light-shadow change that sometimes makes me sneeze”… In this summer period when the sun is making a comeback, many people to sneeze repeatedly.
The reason lies mainly in the risk of allergy to pollens, at a high level in practically all departments of France. But this situation does not explain all the sneezing.
About 1 in 4 people would be the victim of a so-called heliotropic sneeze. This originates in the brain, but not via the nasal passages, since it occurs after simply raising the head and turning towards the sun, according to work carried out by an English team within the university. of Oxford.
Protect your nose… with sunglasses
A sneeze that comes from our eyes? For Alain Ducardonnet, this is due to too much proximity to our optic nerve which sends signals to our eyes, and that of the trigeminal nerve which controls sneezing. According to health specialist BFMTV, a short circuit forms between the two nerves when a person exposes their eyes to sunlight.
“When the optic nerve is stimulated, by interference, the trigeminal nerve is also stimulated and therefore we sneeze. We can’t help it, it’s a reflex”, explains the member of the national council of the order of doctors.
If one parent has this syndrome, the child has a one in two chance of inheriting it, according to the US Center for Biotechnology Information. A hereditary reflex for which no treatment exists. Only solution found so far: wear sunglasses.
Thierry Bour, president of the national union of ophthalmologists, believes for BFMTV that for tinted glasses, a protection index of 3 is “sufficient” to protect your eyes from light.
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