PRESENT
2009 STOP DAY
TONIGHT $3 BUD PRODUCTS SEAGRAMS-7 HONEY DRINKS
FRIDAY 50-CENT DRAWS
--more germs.
$100
GIFT CARD DRAWING FROM THE GROVE TONIGHT
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ABE&JAKE'S
8 EAST SIXTH STREET • LAWRENCE KS
LANDING
HEALTH
that's disgusting // SPITTING
While walking on campus you watch someone hack up and spit out a glob of saliva onto the sidewalk. That frothy ball of spit doesn't just look gross; it's full of bacteria that could be spreading to you.
Spitting in public places can spread diseases, says Pat Sullivan, registered nurse at Family Medicine Associates, 4921 W. 18th St. Respiratory diseases, such as colds and the flu, that spread through airborne bacteria caused by sneezing or coughing can also spread through spitting.
Spitting, like coughing or sneezing, is an automatic reflex. "We're constantly swallowing so when stuff begins to accumulate the response is to try to get rid of it," Sullivan says. Because more mucus accumulates in your throat when you're sick, you feel the need to spit more often — and if you're spewing a slimy spit wad in public when you have a cold, that means passing on
Instead of spitting out that gunky build-up in your throat, Sullivan suggests spitting into a tissue, throwing it away then washing your hands well.
// KIRSTEN HUDSON
SHROWSHIF
6. STRETCHING SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE DESIGNATED STRETCHING AREA.
7. SPITTING ON THE TRACK OR THE STRETCHING AREA IS NOT PERMITTED. TRASH CANS ARE PROVIDED IN ALL AREAS FOR SPITTING.
8. FOOD IS NOT ALLOWED PAST THE ENTRANCE TURNSTILE(S).
9. NO DRINKS ON TRACK SURFACE PLEASE
Photo illustration by Kirsten Hudson
The rules of the road: Spitting isn't allowed on the track at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center, but considering the germs it spreads and its general grossness, perhaps it should be banned everywhere.
good for you/bad for you // HOLDING IN A SNEEZE sometimes it's hard to tell.
When your nose starts to tingle and you feel the pressure of a big sneeze coming on, all you want to do is let out a loud aaa-choo! But that intense conversation you're having or the quiet classroom you're sitting in makes you feel the need to suppress the sneeze.
Photo illustration by Kirsten Hudson
Keeping it to yourself. Holding in a sneeze may help avoid an awkward or inconvenient situation, but could it harm you?
Although holding back a sneeze may feel unpleasant and even make your eyes water a little, it won't hurt you, says Robert Dinsdale, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Lawrence Otolaryngology, 1112 West 6th St.
The urge to sneeze is caused by an irritant in the nose — usually dust or pollen — that the body wants to get rid of. The reflex action to the irritant is to draw in a deep breath and forcefully push air out of the nose — at an average of 90 to 100 miles per hour — driving the irritant out and mucus along with it.
Suppressing that forceful column of air could temporarily cause stress to the heart because it impairs blood outflow from the heart, but if you're healthy overall it won't hurt you, Dinsdale says.
Although some say that stifling a sneeze can harm your eardrums, this isn't true. Dinsdale says. When you breathe in to sneeze then hold it back, you do it with your vocal cords. Stifling a sneeze with your vocal cords keeps the air in your lungs and doesn't let the air travel to the eardrums and cause a pressure change, Dinsdale says.
VERDICT: OK FOR YOU
// KIRSTEN HUDSON
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