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My step-brother sneezes every time he eats chocolate. Its sort of a family game: Watch him take a bite of chocolate cake, wait two beats, and off he goes. People sneeze for all sorts of strange reasons. Some people sneeze when they think about having sex, an activity which is almost as good as devouring my step-sister-in-laws chocolate cake.

If you happen to have ACHOO Syndrome (I suspect the convenient acronym came before the name: Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioopthalmic Outburst), you sneeze in reaction to brilliant sun or other bright lights. This photic sneezing happens to about a third of us and no one knows exactly why. It likely has something to do with an overexcitable bit in the brain that processes visual information, the visual cortex. Some researchers have posited that its a holdover from evolution.

There are others who sneeze on a full stomach. This is called snatiation, a clever combination of the words sneeze and satiation. Or, as one likely crossword-loving researcher put forth, snatiation is an acronym for (wait for it): Sneezing Noncontrollably At a Tune of Indulgence of the Appetite-a Trait Inherited and Ordained to be Named.

Why people sneeze with a full belly is a bit of a mystery but, like ACHOO, this an inheritable attribute. Imagine bringing your new flame to a family meal where instead of having a cup of tea after clearing the table, you pass around the tissues for the inevitable after-dinner sneezing fits.

Sneezing is a reflex that doesnt always start in the nose. It can start with nerve endings elsewhere in the body. Or, it could be a sign from God. Or an invitation for the Devil. It depends on who you ask.

Because you cant control it, some ancients thought a sneeze was a supernatural event and a divine omen. Back in the 8th century BC, the Greek poet Homer wrote in his little ditty, the Odyssey, that Penelope laughed when her son sneezed after she said aloud that she wished the bad guys were gone.

Elsewhere in the Odyssey, a general giving a speech is thrilled when a soldier sneezes. Thinking that this sneeze was a heavenly favorable sign from the gods, the whole army sprang to an attack, write Turkish researchers Murat Songu and Cemal Cingi in Sneeze reflex: facts and fiction. Sadly, for the general and his army, they were wiped out by the Persians. (This) can be considered as the first complication of sneezing in history, report our sneezing experts in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease.

Ancient Romans thought sneezing meant you were recovering from an illness and a toga-clad passer-by may exclaim Live long or May Jupiter bless you. The Pagans thought a sneeze expelled part of your soul and left you susceptible to Satan. The Talmud writes that having a sneeze while praying means God will really have your back in Heaven. In parts of Asia, a spontaneous sneeze means someone is talking about you (one sneeze means theyre saying nice things and two means theyre slagging you).

Sneezing started to be seen as a sign of great danger in the Middle Ages, as the Black Death ravaged Europe. In the 14th century, the pope mandated that Catholics say a short prayer after someone sneezed to protect themselves against disease. While a lovely sentiment, May God bless you, didnt do much to stop the flea-infested rats that were spreading the plague and killing people left, right and centre.

While praying never hurts, sneezing into your elbow and wearing a mask most definitely helps in the current pandemic. COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets, or as I like to call it, face spew. The coronavirus hitches a ride anytime you open your mouth whether to mutter, speak, sing, shout, curse, cough or the big kahuna, sneeze.

One forceful sneeze sends about 40,000 particles ranging in size from 0.5 to 5 mm into the air around you. The estimations concerning the speed of a sneeze range between 150 km/h and 1,045 km/h (nearly 85 per cent of the velocity of sound), report Songu and Cingi. With that force, a sneeze will cover a lot of ground, sending droplets out about 1.5 metres (our less dramatic face spew also goes a long way beware indoor, un-masked loud talkers!)

A sneeze clears the nose while also working your facial muscles, abs and even your pecs. It may play an important role in maintaining health in ways that we dont currently understand, conclude our sneezing scholars. It is rarely a sign of serious illness or impending disaster as feared by previous generations. On the other hand, it can be remarkably annoying.

Particularly in a pandemic when an otherwise innocent sneeze may cause some around you to react with terror on top of panic. Gesundheit, or good health, to all!

More here:

Allford: Achoo! Sneezing through the centuries - The Kingston Whig-Standard