Researchers Find Link Between Sex and Sneezing

Yawns are often contagious, but did you know that thinking about sex can make people sneeze? A UK-based physician at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, wrote about the unusual affliction in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Some people sneeze when they become aroused by thinking about sex; others report sneezing after orgasm.
As silly as it sounds, it does make sense, physiologically. One in four people report having sneezing fits when they are exposed to bright sunlight, and the sex and sneezing phenomenon is similar, according to Dr. Bhutta and his colleague, retired psychiatrist Dr. Harold Maxwell.

The link, in regard to sneezing and sunlight, is caused by autonomic nervous system signals that get mixed up. If you remember eighth grade biology, the autonomic nervous system controls involuntary actions such as heart rate, blood flow and breathing. The nerves that control sneezing and pupil dilation run near each other in the brain stem, as do those that control blood pressure and breathing. Mixed signals may cause sneezing when another autonomic response would be more appropriate.

Other interesting facts about sex and the brain?

• The urban legend that the average man thinks about sex once every seven seconds is not true. According to The Kinsey Institute, an organization that researches sex, gender, and reproduction, 54% of men think about sex everyday or several times a day, 43% a few times per month or a few times per week, and 4% less than once a month.

• It is true, however, the men think about sex more than women. According to the same Kinsey Institute study, 19% of women think about sex everyday or several times a day. Sixty-seven percent report sexual thoughts a few times per month or a few times per week, while a hefty 14 percent think about it less than once a month.

• In another study, 98 percent of men reported fantasizing about someone other than their partner. Eighty percent of women surveyed have sexual fantasies about someone else. Women, however, were more likely to fantasize about a former partner. Thirty-four percent reported fantasizing about a past lover, while 22 percent of the men surveyed did the same.

• According to sex researcher Alfred Charles Kinsey in his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, 2% of women report being able to achieve orgasm by fantasy alone. The percentage of men who can do this is even smaller.

The somewhat depressing conclusion? Naughty thoughts, if they don’t pave the way to a physical act, are more likely to end in a sneeze than an orgasm.

When I told my partner about the connection between sex and sneezing, he quipped, “That explains your hay fever.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need another tissue.

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