Everyone knows what yawning is, how difficult it is sometimes to stop and impossible to control. This process is complex, although few people know why people yawn, what threatens such a phenomenon, whether it should be fought. Parents are especially alarmed if the child constantly sighs without visible reasons. You should not carelessly treat such a sign - it can indicate undesirable processes in the body that need to be dealt with immediately.

What is a yawn

Before deciding whether yawning is dangerous, you should figure out why it attacks and what factors can cause this phenomenon. A feature of the yawning reflex is that it will not work to control seizures. They occur against the background of a lack of oxygen in systems or organs.

It happens to attack mirror yawn- it is enough to start alone so that the attacks begin in those present in the room, and it is difficult to stop opening your mouth. Even scientists cannot understand the inexplicable process and write it off as a mere coincidence.

Frequent yawning is another problem that some people know firsthand. Infants suffer from its appearance, alarming parents. Do not worry - in the process, the baby's lungs are saturated with oxygen, while activating the work of organs, including the brain.

That is, usually yawning is associated only with the fact that the brain does not have enough oxygen, and we reflexively try to increase its flow by yawning regularly. That is why in stuffy room a person wants to sleep, fatigue and laziness attack.

Why we yawn: additional reasons

Why there is a problem is a question that worries many people if the attacks begin suddenly. People yawn for several reasons, including:

• fatigue;
• drowsiness;
• hunger;
• indifference, lack of interest;
• lack of sleep;
• early awakening.

In adults, the causes of frequent yawns are hidden in nervous disorders- the body notifies that an exciting communication or a long-awaited event is ahead, for which it is better to tune in in advance. Unstable pressure, its jumps, can also stimulate seizures. This phenomenon should not be considered symptomatic processes - after getting rid of the cause, yawns stop on their own.

You should be wary if the newborn often sighs, taking air into the lungs - this process indicates undesirable processes in the body or even complex illnesses. Often with a yawn, a baby notifies of such problems:

• disorders in the nervous system;
• anxiety, fear;
• severe stress;
• hunger.

Sometimes adults believe that the reason for the frequent sighs of the baby is damage or the evil eye, and use special prayers to protect the child.

Should not be careless anxiety symptoms- if yawning continues without losing intensity, only a visit to the doctor will help, who will determine why the child is suffering from unpleasant attacks.

The need to cool the mind

Scientists from America, who have spent decades in research, found that frequent yawns are a sign of overheating of the brain. This often happens in the process of mental work. Hot climate, lack of ventilation and fresh air in the room also cause this dangerous manifestation, threatening the brain with complications and decreased performance. If there are several yawns in a row and at the same time there is a lack of oxygen, the person is suffocating, sweating, you must immediately provide needed help- ventilate the room, bring it to fresh cool air, cool it with a fan or a plain newspaper.

If the child yawns very often, and the room is hot, parents should not be casual about this. It is urgent to reduce the temperature in the room with improvised devices. Overheating of the brain in children can develop into a health-threatening complication. In the case when, in addition to disturbing symptoms, the child complains of fatigue and general loss of strength, you should immediately see a doctor.

Fatigue

Yawning without a cause is rare, so it is imperative to determine which factor stimulated its prolonged manifestations. Unpleasant yawns are a symptom of fatigue, especially if a person is engaged in mental or physical labor during the night hours intended for sleep. You should not try to determine why you are yawning - a long rest after work, even if it is not a dream, will help to cope with the problem.

Yawning, if you do not want to sleep, sometimes notifies you of emotional exhaustion. Victims of seizures are people of mental labor, writers, artists, writers, journalists. Even prolonged reading, which feeds the brain a lot of information that does not have time to be absorbed, can cause yawning.

Information overload

A yawning person is not at all a rare phenomenon, there may be several reasons for this, and one of them is the abundance of information received that the brain did not have time to assimilate. Such processes can occur in the classroom, in cinemas, even when watching a scientific program. If, when reading an information publication, you are worried constant yawning, we can safely say that this indicates overwork, and it's time to take a break and let the brain rest.

If you constantly want to yawn, especially for a person of mental work, and you can’t resist, the reason lies in overwork. Be sure to take a vacation and rest, otherwise irreversible processes in the nervous system may occur or develop complex diseases requiring long-term treatment.

The need to be alert

Scientists have conducted studies on why people, when they are very sleepy, begin to sigh regularly. Proven results - a person tries to deceive the body and cheer up. With a long breath, the lungs are saturated with oxygen and activate the work that has decreased in anticipation of sleep.

It happens that a child notifies that he needs to fall asleep with the help of rapid yawning. Even if the time to go to bed has not yet come, it is better not to torment the baby and put him to bed.

In general, frequent and prolonged yawning indicates many problems, so you should not try to identify all the factors. Long sleep- most effective method Deal with it.

oxygen starvation

Lack of air in the lungs is another reason for frequent yawning. The amount of oxygen can be controlled by yawning - it is enough to take 3-5 deep breaths to feel relief. But if you do not allow the body after oxygenation of all important systems or organs to get enough sleep, yawning will continue, only intensifying.

Yawning oxygen starvation should allow air to penetrate deep into the lungs, so there is no need to hold back - it is useful and necessary to sigh often. Only after the attacks become less intense, you can go to sleep - the systems and organs are saturated with oxygen.

nervous tension

Before you get rid of yawning, you need to understand the factors that stimulated the appearance of seizures. Often, problems with the nervous system accompany deep sighs, even during the day.

Bouts of yawning in the background nervous exhaustion or breakdowns should not be ignored. Be sure to go to a psychologist who will help you understand the complications and recommend best options getting rid of the problem. It is often enough to rest and relieve signs of fatigue so that the attacks stop for a long time.

What diseases can cause yawning

Why do we want to sleep, and often yawn after good sleep- with such questions, patients often turn to doctors. The answer of medicine is predictable - diseases can provoke alarming manifestations:

• diseases of blood vessels, heart, brain;
• high pressure;
• arterial thrombosis;
• depression;
• problems with genitourinary system(in men);
• vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Yawns during sleep are considered especially dangerous - they certainly notify about the disease.

How to get rid of yawning in children

If a child yawns often and a lot in a dream, parents should immediately show the baby to the doctor. If no signs of danger to health are noticeable, frequent yawning during the day can mean an uncomfortable temperature in the room. It is enough to carry out ventilation, increase the humidity, put on the air conditioner so that the attacks reduce the intensity.

If the child suddenly began to yawn, the attacks continue all the time without interruption, you should not hesitate to contact the doctor. Most likely, the baby needs help. After the diagnosis, the pediatrician will tell you in detail what measures to take to get rid of the alarming signs.

How to stop yawning

Before you get rid of yawning, you should find out the cause that caused the attacks. If you constantly want to sleep, you need not endure it, but immediately go to bed. Often yawns notify that the time has come to rest and the body needs to recuperate. A night's nap helps invigorate a sleepy and tired brain and set it up for vigorous activity throughout the next day.

To get rid of the contagiousness of yawning, if there is a person in the room who caused a wave of seizures, it is enough to go to Fresh air and inhale deeply 3-5 times. The lungs will be saturated with oxygen and mirror yawns will stop.

If there are difficulties with the body, and yawning is caused by diseases, the doctor may recommend nutrition, diets, vitamins. Proper Diet, the introduction of vegetables, herbs, fruits of trees and shrubs on the menu will help to cope with the problem.

There are many reasons for frequent yawning, it is not easy to determine the main factor that provokes seizures. It is better not to do it yourself, but to be examined by a doctor. The doctor diagnoses a disease that causes yawning, or reassures if everything is fine with the body, and only a long rest or good sleep is required.

Everyone, regardless of age, yawns. At this time, he opens his mouth wide, fills his lungs with air for a long time, sometimes makes a sound and exhales quickly. Usually we say that we are bored or. However, constant yawning can be caused by many reasons - from simple to serious, indicating the presence of a disease.

Yawning is frequent: causes

Yawning is physiological process, which is due to a number of reasons. These include:

• lack of sleep;
• fatigue;
• travel across time zones;
• change in daily routine.

However, frequent yawning should alert, as it can be an indicator of serious illness. It can be:

• cardiovascular diseases;
• multiple sclerosis;
• epilepsy;
• hypothyroidism;
• electrolyte imbalance;
• inadequate liver function.

Constant anxiety can also lead to frequent yawning. The reason may be, if a person is in a state of anxiety, depression, stress.

Why is yawning contagious?

Everyone, probably, noticed that it is worth yawning to one person, as everyone present begins to repeat after him, and therefore they consider yawning a contagious process. Many experts have tried to answer the question why this is happening, but no one can say for sure. There are only guesses.

Interesting: Sometimes it is enough to see a yawning person in a photograph, how a yawn involuntarily occurs.

It has been proven by scientists that when you see a yawn, the areas responsible for empathy with a person turn on in the brain. That is, only sympathetic people imitate those who yawn. The evidence is that children under 5 never repeat yawns, as they have not yet learned to empathize with others, as well as people with autism.

Constant strong yawning: causes

There are many reasons for constant yawning:

1. Lack of oxygen to the brain. A signal of lack of oxygen is given to it, since hyperventilation of the lungs is necessary at this time. Therefore, a person yawns, capturing more air in his mouth, and saturates the lungs with oxygen;
2. « Overheating of the brain". It occurs when outside heat air, and when yawning, ventilation of the lungs is again performed;
3. Transition from braking phase to active. In order to wake up better, start the metabolic mechanism, the work of the heart rhythm and the whole organism as a whole, a yawn is made.

Most often, constant yawning occurs with fatigue, work at night.

The child often yawns - what are the reasons?

Usually, most parents do not pay much attention to the baby's yawning. Most often, it is concluded that the child did not sleep well. But if yawning is repeated too often, then you should not leave it unattended.

In children, there are mainly 2 reasons frequent yawning:

1. The first one is related to disruption nervous system;
2. The second - with a lack of oxygen.

It is urgent to contact a neurologist and follow his recommendations. If the pathology is not detected, then you need to ventilate the room where the baby is staying more, increase the walking time and maintain constant temperature so that the child does not overheat and does not experience a lack of oxygen.

Why does a child yawn in his sleep?

Basically, yawning during sleep occurs due to lack of oxygen. You can determine this by the following signs:

• open mouth;
• noises are heard during breathing;
• dry cough occurs at times.

It is worth visiting a Laura or a neurologist to find out the reasons. But before visiting the doctor, you can try to air the child's room before going to bed. If everything is normal with health, yawning will stop.

Why do adults yawn in their sleep?

It also happens that a person involuntarily yawns in a dream. This can also be due to several reasons:

1. health disorders (migraine, changes in hormonal background, as well as in the syndrome chronic fatigue).
2. Lack of vitamins and minerals in the body.
3. If the person is taking antihistamines.

During sleep, it is undesirable to bend your back, since the diaphragm cannot perform its functions sufficiently, it is advisable to lie with a straight back.

Why do people yawn during prayer?

Some people start yawning while attending church and reading prayers. Some believe that this is how a person relaxes, others find the reason in not enough air from burning candles, because they burn oxygen.

To eliminate the causes, it is advisable to adhere to a number of rules.

1. When reading a prayer at home, you need to ventilate the room, and then the yawning will stop. Moreover, if the prayer is long, the brain is working hard, you need to concentrate so as not to forget the words.
2. Very often, a praying person has to stay in one position for a long time: kneel or stand. There is a slowdown in breathing and the work of nerve endings, so there is a lack of oxygen.
3. If prayer in the temple is held in public, a yawn also occurs with excitement.

How to control yawning?

In order to reduce yawning, you can resort to next steps:

• take an active breath through the nose and exhale through the mouth;
• if there is a feeling of imminent yawning, it is advisable to drink a little cool water;
• when they notice frequent urges to yawn, it is necessary to open the window, ventilate the room well, it is desirable to slightly lower the temperature;
• cucumbers, watermelon can help, as they contain more liquid;
• it is recommended to put a moistened and chilled towel on your head.

Video: Why do people yawn?

In the following video, a representative of the Slivki Show channel will try to find the reasons that provoke yawns in people:

Frequent and severe yawning during the day and at night should alert, as it usually occurs due to illness. Therefore, it is advisable to consult a specialist. Don't ignore your body's signals!

Yawning is completely normal physiological phenomenon body of any person. It usually appears when tired, before going to bed or after waking up early, also very common cause yawning - lack of interest in what is happening. But these factors do not exhaust all the reasons for its occurrence.

What is a yawn?

Before understanding which external and internal causes cause frequent yawning, you should understand the mechanism and features of this process. It is an uncontrolled reflex, which is a prolonged breathing act.

Yawning involves a slow, deep breath that ends with a quick and resounding exhalation. In the process of yawning, a person gains a large volume of air into the lungs, which allows saturating the body with a significant amount of oxygen, improving the nutrition of tissues and internal organs.

In the process of yawning, the work of all improves internal systems- cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, circulatory, as well as brain activity. This leads to compensation for the lack of oxygen and activation of the functioning of the body. It is these factors that cause yawning in the morning.

Every person on the planet has a yawn, the causes of which are manifold. But among them all, the largest two groups can be distinguished:

• Physiological;
• Non-physiological.

Physiological causes of frequent yawning

Yawning is a useful phenomenon, because it allows you to activate metabolic processes, improve ear pressure, supply organs and tissues with oxygen, but constant yawning may indicate different states organism. That is why it is important to pay close attention to this symptom.

Let's deal with the main physiological causes of increased yawning. Among them it is worth highlighting the following:

1. lack of oxygen;
2. The need to cool the brain;
3. Decreased body activity;
4. Psycho-emotional stress of the body;
5. Lack of rest, chronic fatigue;
6. "Chain reaction".

One of the main causes of yawning is a lack of oxygen, which is usually observed in a person who is long time in a stuffy room. The brain starts the process, which, in the absence of oxygen, seeks to replenish it due to deep breathing- yawning.

As American researchers have established, yawning very often appears when the brain overheats, which is due to an increase in ambient temperature and leads to a decrease in its activity. Yawn is physiological mechanism facilitating ventilation.

Third physiological cause yawning is a decrease in body activity. The process of wakefulness of any person is accompanied by phases of inhibition and activity, therefore, in order to resume the working capacity of the brain, normalize heart rate and metabolic processes the yawning mechanism starts.

Another group of reasons for yawning are emotional stress and fatigue. Frequent yawning can occur with lack of sleep or vigorous activity at night, which is laid down by nature as a period for rest.

Frequent yawning can also be caused by " chain reaction". If one person yawns in a large group, then this reaction passes to others. However, the reasons for this phenomenon have not been found.

Diseases in which there is a constant yawning

Despite the fact that yawning is a physiologically harmless phenomenon, frequent yawning may indicate different pathologies and diseases. That is why it is important to consult a doctor when it appears.

In most cases, such a symptom may indicate the following diseases and pathologies:

1. Hormonal disorders in the body;
2. multiple sclerosis;
3. Depressed state;
4. Circulatory disorders;
5. Problems with thermoregulation of the brain, especially with prolonged oxygen starvation;

Often yawning can indicate the onset epileptic seizure together with symptoms such as dizziness, change blood pressure, fever, cloudy eyes.

But if there is pain when yawning, localized in mandible or ear, it may indicate inflammatory process, infections, and dislocation of the jaw. For any discomfort painful sensations you should definitely consult a doctor.

Yawning is a normal physiological phenomenon that occurs in a person with a lack of air, nervous strain, fatigue, but also many other diseases and pathologies of the body. Therefore, this symptom must be treated carefully.

Yawning is a physiological reaction of the body, trying to make up for the lack of oxygen, which, with an active and deep enough breath, is forced into the blood stream, thereby ensuring saturation of the brain tissues. The feeling of lack of air can have many reasons that contribute to its formation, and it is to exit this state that the body reacts with a desire to yawn.

Links of the physiological chain

The regulation of maintaining a constant level of oxygen in the blood stream, and its stable content with an increase in the level of load on the body, is carried out by the following functional parameters:

• The work of the respiratory muscles and the brain center for controlling the frequency and depth of inspiration;
• Ensuring patency air flow, its humidification and heating;
• Alveolar ability to absorb oxygen molecules and diffuse it into the blood stream;
• The muscular readiness of the heart to pump blood, transporting it to all internal structures of the body;
• Maintaining a sufficient balance of red blood cells, which are agents for the transfer of molecules to tissues;
• fluidity of the blood stream;
• Membrane susceptibility cellular level absorb oxygen;

The occurrence of constant yawning and lack of air indicates a current internal violation of any of the listed links in the reaction chain, requiring timely implementation. therapeutic actions. The presence of the following diseases may be the basis for the development of a symptom.

Pathologies of the heart system and vascular network

A feeling of lack of air with the development of yawning can occur with any damage to the heart, especially affecting its pumping function. The appearance of a fleeting and rapidly disappearing shortage can be formed during the development of a crisis state against the background of hypertension, an attack of arrhythmia or neurocirculatory dystonia. In the most frequent cases, it is not accompanied by a cough syndrome.

Heart failure

With regular violations of cardiac functionality, which forms the development of insufficient activity of the heart, a feeling of lack of air begins to arise naturally, and intensifies with increasing physical activity and manifest itself in the night interval of sleep in the form of cardiac asthma.

The lack of air is felt precisely on inspiration, forming wheezing in the lungs with the release of foamy sputum. To alleviate the condition, a forced position of the body is adopted. After taking nitroglycerin, all warning signs disappear.

Thromboembolism

The formation of blood clots in the lumen of the vessels of the pulmonary arterial trunk leads to the appearance of constant yawning and lack of air, being initial sign pathological disorder. The mechanism of the development of the disease includes the formation of blood clots in the venous network of the vessels of the extremities, which break away and move with the blood flow to the pulmonary trunk, causing blockage of the arterial lumen. This leads to the formation of a pulmonary infarction.

The condition carries a danger to life, accompanied by an intense lack of air, almost resembling suffocation with the onset of coughing and sputum discharge containing impurities of blood structures. The covers of the upper half of the torso in this condition acquire a shade of blue.

VSD

Pathology forms a decrease in the tone of the vascular network of the whole organism, including the tissues of the lungs, brain, and heart. Against the background of this process, the functionality of the heart is disrupted, which does not provide the lungs with a sufficient amount of blood. The flow, in turn, with low oxygen saturation, enters the tissues of the heart, without providing it with the necessary amount of nutrients.

The reaction of the body is an arbitrary attempt to increase the pressure of the blood flow by increasing the multiplicity of heartbeats. As a result of a closed pathological cycle, constant yawning occurs with VVD. In this way, the autonomic sphere of the nervous network regulates the intensity respiratory function, providing replenishment of oxygen and neutralization of hunger. This defense response avoids the development ischemic injury in tissues.

Respiratory diseases

The appearance of yawning with a lack of inhaled air can be provoked by severe violations in the functionality of respiratory structures. These include the following diseases:

1. Asthma of the bronchial type.
2. Tumor process in the lungs.
3. Bronchiectasis.
4. Bronchial infection.
5. Pulmonary edema.

In addition, the formation of lack of air and yawning is affected by rheumatism, low mobility and overweight, as well as psychosomatic causes. This spectrum of diseases with the presence of the symptom under consideration includes the most common and frequently detected pathological disorders.

Although a lot of research has been devoted to studying the causes of yawning, scientists still cannot agree on what its main purpose is. For a long time yawning was thought to result from reduced content oxygen in the blood: with a deep breath, the body takes a breath of oxygen. However, scientists eventually refuted this theory: it turned out that if you give a yawning person more oxygen or ventilate a stuffy room, he will not stop yawning.

Reason for yawning. Version 2: brain cooling

According to another theory, a person yawns to cool the brain. Experiments conducted by American scientists showed that subjects who were applied to the forehead cold compress, yawned less when watching videos of yawning people than subjects with warm compress or without it (about the contagiousness of yawning - a little lower). Those participants in the experiment who were asked to breathe only through their nose also yawned less often: with such breathing, cooler blood enters the brain than with mouth breathing.

Reason for yawning. Version 3: warm up

Who else?

Not only people yawn, but also other mammals, birds and even fish. For example, baboons yawn to show threat, while exposing their fangs. In addition, male baboons always yawn at the sound of thunder (scientists have not yet figured out why). Male fighting fish also yawn to demonstrate threat - they yawn when they see another fish or look in the mirror and are often accompanied by an aggressive attack. Other fish can also yawn, usually when the water is too hot or there is a lack of oxygen. Emperor and Adélie penguins yawn during their courtship ritual. And snakes yawn to straighten their jaws and straighten their trachea after swallowing large prey.

Another purpose of yawning is to stretch and relax tired or tight muscles. First of all, these are the muscles of the pharynx and tongue, but also the muscles of the whole body: that is why a person often stretches simultaneously with yawning. Such a warm-up for the muscles, combined with a cooling of the brain, helps to invigorate the body and bring it into a state of readiness for action. Therefore, yawning often occurs when people are nervous before some important event: students yawn before exams, skydivers before a jump, and artists before a performance. For the same reason, people yawn when they are sleepy or bored: yawning helps to invigorate a sleepy brain and numb muscles.

Reason for yawning. Version 4: Ear Help

It is also useful to yawn while flying on an airplane. This helps alleviate the sensation of stuffy ears that occurs during takeoff or landing due to the pressure difference on either side of the eardrum. Since the pharynx is connected to the middle ear cavity by special channels, yawning helps equalize the pressure in the ears.

Reason for yawning. Version 5: mirror neurons

four legged friends

Yawning can be transmitted not only from person to person, but also from person to dog. So, scientists from Sweden and the UK have shown that dogs yawn at the sight of yawning people, and the tendency to such mirror behavior depends on the age of the dog: animals under seven months old are resistant to infection by yawning. At the same time, dogs are not deceived - if a person does not really yawn, but simply opens his mouth, depicting a yawn, the dog will not yawn in response. Scientists have also shown that dogs become more relaxed and sleepy when they see a yawning person - that is, they copy not only human behavior, but also physiological state underlying it.

Yawning is highly contagious. People begin to yawn not only when they see others yawning, but also when watching videos or photos of people yawning. Moreover, often it is enough for a person to read or think about yawning in order to start yawning himself. However, not everyone has the ability to mirror yawn: studies of children with autism have shown that they, unlike healthy children, do not get infected by yawning when watching videos with other people yawning. Also, children under the age of five, who are not yet able to empathize with others, are not prone to mirror yawning. What explains the relationship between susceptibility to infection by yawning and the capacity for empathy?

The contagiousness of yawning is based on the so-called mirror neurons. These neurons, located in the cerebral cortex of humans, other primates, and some birds, have a kind of empathy: they fire when a person observes the actions that someone else is doing. Mirror neurons determine the ability to imitate (for example, when learning new languages) and empathy: thanks to them, we do not just notice emotional condition another person, but actually experiencing it ourselves. Mirror yawning is one example of such imitative behavior. According to scientists, imitative yawning arose in the evolution of primates to coordinate the actions of social groups. When one of the group members yawned at the sight of danger, his state was transmitted to everyone else, and the group came into a state of readiness for action.

Reason for yawning. Version 6: a sign of closeness

In 2011, Italian scientists showed that the contagiousness of yawning serves as a measure of people's emotional closeness. In experiments, mirror yawning most often occurred in close relatives and friends of the yawner. Distant acquaintances were less likely to become infected by yawning, and very rarely did mirror behavior occur in people unfamiliar with the yawning person. At the same time, gender and nationality did not affect the tendency to yawn infection.

Reason for yawning. Version 7: a symptom of the disease

Prolonged frequent yawning may be a sign various diseases- for example, violations of thermoregulation of the body, problems with sleep, high blood pressure, arterial thrombosis, or damage to the brainstem where the respiratory center. In addition, too frequent yawning can be caused by increased anxiety or depression - while in the blood there is an increased level of cortisol, the stress hormone. Therefore, if you are overcome by constant yawning, you should consult a doctor - check your heart, blood vessels and pressure. And for starters, you can try to get a good night's sleep and stop being nervous.