Why are tears salty and help cope with stress?

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It is proposed to combine this page with the pages Lacrimal gland, Lacrimal apparatus.

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A tear

Location	eye
Produced	lacrimal apparatus
As	cleaning
Tear at Wikimedia Commons

Structure of the human lacrimal apparatus: a) Lacrimal gland b), e) Superior and inferior lacrimal puncta[en] c), f) Superior and inferior lacrimal canaliculi[en] d) Lacrimal sac[en] g) Nasolacrimal duct[en]
Tear

, also plural
Tears are
a liquid produced by the Harderian or lacrimal glands to moisten and cleanse the surface of the eye in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. This liquid is transparent, slightly opalescent, and has a slightly alkaline reaction (normal tear pH: 7.3–7.5).

Compound

The main part (up to 98%) is water, the rest is inorganic substances (sodium chloride, sodium and magnesium carbonate, as well as calcium sulfate and phosphate. Tears contain proteins and carbohydrates, and in order not to linger on the surface of the skin, they [ what?

] are covered with a thick, greasy film.
This greasy film was specially studied by American scientists [ which ones?
], who discovered the lipid oleamide in it (previously it was found only in the cells of the brain and central nervous system). [
source not specified 150 days
] In addition, the tear fluid contains enzymes, the most important of which is lysozyme, which gives tears bactericidal properties . It kills bacteria by breaking down their cell walls.

Tears contain approximately 1.5% sodium chloride, some albumin and mucus.

The chemical composition of tears is similar to the composition of blood, but unlike blood, the tear fluid contains a higher concentration of potassium and chlorine, but less organic acids. Tears carry no less information than a drop of blood: their chemical composition is constantly changing depending on the state of the body.

Among the numerous proteins produced by the lacrimal glands, the highest concentrations in the tear fluid are characteristic of lactoferrin, lipocalin and lysozyme; Amylases, peroxidases[en], plasminogen activator[en], prolactin, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), endothelin-1, retinol (lactoferrin, lipocalin, peroxidases and lysozyme protect the cornea from viral and bacterial infections, retinol is important for corneal health, growth factors and endothelin-1 play an important role in the healing of the cornea when abrasions or ulcers appear on it)[1][2].

Why are tears useful?

The answer seems to be yes. When we experience strong emotions or pain, our brain produces substances that signal arousal or harmful stress; in response to these signals, the body produces special stress hormones. Scientists studying the problem of crying actually found some of these signaling substances and stress hormones in the tear fluid. That is, tears help us get rid of excess substances that are formed as a result of strong emotions. As these substances are removed, we begin to calm down.

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Many people say that after they cry, they feel a feeling of freshness, like after a cool summer rain. Of course, you shouldn’t cry day and night, but crying a little sometimes is not harmful, and is even very beneficial for our health.

Physiological significance

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Tears are involved in the supply of nutrients to the cornea.

Tears perform a protective function - they cleanse the eye of foreign objects. Tears can be accompanied by emotions, for example, tears while crying or laughing. When a person cries, lacrimation usually occurs (the active production of large amounts of tears).

When tears are secreted, the surface of the eyeball is wetted. Dry eye syndrome is one of the signs of eye fatigue or decreased visual acuity.

To rest the eyes, use natural tears sold in pharmacies.

Tears are one of the very important functional elements of the human body. Tears can be physiological - these are reflex tears needed to moisturize and cleanse the eyes, and emotional, which arise as a reaction to emotional shock.

Reflex tears moisturize the surface of the eyes, serve as a reaction to irritation and are necessary for normal vision.

Why are we crying? Where do tears come from?

Both from grief and from joy, each of us can sometimes cry. Have you ever wondered where tears come from and what a tear is in general? So here it is. Tear is a liquid produced by the lacrimal glands and is essential for wetting and cleansing the surface of the eye. About 99% of its composition is water, the rest is inorganic substances: sodium chloride, sodium and magnesium carbonate, as well as calcium sulfate and calcium phosphate. The bactericidal properties of tears are provided by the enzyme lysozyme. Tears also contain 0.1% other proteins. Tears are involved in the supply of nutrients to the cornea.

WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF TEARS: Firstly, they cleanse the eye of foreign objects

Secondly, tears moisten the surface of the eyeball, protecting the eye from drying out, preventing our eyes from drying out

B-3, they accompany our emotions when crying or laughing. They carry a psychological function. It has been found that the protein concentration in such tears is 24 percent higher compared to reflex tears.

Tears are produced by the lacrimal gland . It is located on the upper outer part of the eye socket. Further, through the lacrimal canals, the liquid penetrates into the lacrimal sac, which is located at the inner corner of the eye. It is from there that tears flow down when we cry. It is also worth noting that when blinking, the tear ducts actively open. They are necessary to moisturize the cornea of the eye.

By the way, it was found that on average crying lasts about 6 minutes. A typical one-year-old baby cries about 70 times a month.

In addition to involuntary, mechanical secretion, protecting and wetting our eye, tears are a manifestation of emotions.

Crying is nothing more than emotional release. We all know that feeling of relief after crying, which once again confirms the opinion of experts on this matter, who believe that tears bring relief and emotional release. Therefore, you should not constantly restrain them, especially men. After all, there is a stereotypical opinion that a man should not cry so as not to show his weakness.

Another expert opinion is that tears help the body get rid of toxic substances. For example, the same salts that are excreted in sweat and urine come out with tears. And it should be noted that it is not only the tears themselves that bring us relief, but also the reaction of others to them. Basically, when we see someone crying, we immediately want to console him and feel sorry for him. Which serves as just another point towards emotional recovery.

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Lacrimal gland and lacrimal ducts

Structure

The lacrimal glands are located under the superior outer edge of the orbit; for them there is a special depression in the frontal bone - the lacrimal fossa

(
fossa glandulae lacrimalis
). The lacrimal gland consists of several groups of small alveolar tubular glands.

Tear fluid produced through the excretory canaliculi

(
ductuli excretorii
) enters
the conjunctival sac
(
saccus conjunctivae
) and accumulates in it, and from there it is transferred to the cornea by the movement of the eyelids.
After this, the tear fluid through the lacrimal ducts - the lacrimal lake
(
lacus lacrimalis
),
lacrimal canaliculi
(
canaliculi lacrimales
),
lacrimal sac
(
saccus lacrimalis
) and
the nasolacrimal duct
(
ductus nasolacrimalis
) - goes into the lower nasal passage [1] [3].

Under normal conditions, the human lacrimal glands produce from 0.5 to 1 ml of tear fluid per day. A person’s mental state (pain, anger, joy and others, see crying), as well as irritation in the area of the branches of the trigeminal nerve can increase the rate of secretion, while some eye diseases sharply reduce the amount of tears secreted.

Pathologies

Inflammation of the lacrimal glands and lacrimal sac[en] is called dacryoadenitis and dacryocystitis, respectively.

Dacryolithiasis - formation of dacryolites (tear stones)

Signs of disease

Ophthalmic pathologies with weak secretion of tear fluid are accompanied by a feeling of the presence of sand or a foreign object in the eyes, dryness, and burning. Increased secretion production or disrupted secretion outflow cause lacrimation. Also, tears can stagnate, causing the development of pathogenic microflora and inflammatory pathologies in the lacrimal sac. Externally, signs are manifested by increased lacrimation, redness, swelling and soreness near the inner corner of the eye. Pathology in children can be caused by obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct and manifest itself as lacrimation, discharge of pus after pressing on the lacrimal opening, and swelling in the area of the lacrimal sac.

Lacrimal glands

The structure of the lacrimal organs
The lacrimal glands constantly produce tears, even as you read these lines, tears continue to flow. These tears wash the eyes, keeping them clean. Tears enter the eye through a small duct that opens at the outer corner of the eye. Every time you blink, your eyelids spread a thin layer of tears across the surface of your eye, like car windshield wipers spreading streams of water across your windshield. The tears then flow out of the eye through drainage tubes located at the inner corner of the eye.

These tubes end in the nasopharynx, where the “waste” tears flow out. Then they are simply swallowed. If, for example, dust gets into your eye, then tears will flow in a stormy stream to wash away the dust particles from the surface of the eye. There are so many tears that they overflow the edge of the lower eyelid, instead of flowing out through the drainage provided for this. You complain that your eyes are watering. But these are not the kind of tears that happen when we cry.

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Why do people cry?

The reasons why people cry are not fully understood. Scientists have long understood that children cry to attract attention. Perhaps the same thing is the reason for adult tearfulness - when we feel bad, we want attention and support. But animals cannot attract attention to themselves by crying, nor can they express their emotions and use crying as a means of communication. Scientists firmly believe that this is a uniquely human skill.

Animals don’t know how to cry, but they can express emotions using facial expressions.

Even the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that crying helps to survive the most difficult situations in life. And in 1986, psychologists noticed that the authors of 94% of newspaper articles on the topic of crying claimed that tears help cope with stress. Later, in 2008, scientists conducted a survey among 4,300 people - they wanted to find out whether crying really helps people improve their emotional state. Some people answered that they did not notice any changes and even began to feel worse, but the majority still noted that tears helped them.

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Researchers still don’t know exactly what causes the relief that some people experience after crying. It can be suggested that along with tears, substances that provoke the production of stress hormones also leave the human body. But the nature of adult tearfulness, no matter what theories we now build, has not been sufficiently studied.

Why do hot tears appear?

First, let's look at this issue from a scientific point of view. Scientists divide human tears into three types:

basal - they are always with us, moisturize the eyeballs;
reflex - those that cause dust and fumes from onions to get under the eyelid;
emotional.

Logically, all tears should be equally hot, like other fluids of the human body. For example, blood. Why don't we feel this? There is a version that at the moment of emotional shock the temperature on the surface of the body drops (have you heard the expression “cold from horror?”), while inside it remains the same. When emotional tears hit the skin, they seem much hotter to us than they actually are.

As for the mystical interpretation, different versions have been put forward on this matter. The most popular of them explains: when a person really feels bad, his heart cries. And the tears that came from its depths are the hottest.

By the way, the hormone prolactan, which is rich in the female body and poor in the male body, is responsible for the appearance of emotional tears. Now it’s clear why tearfulness has always been considered the prerogative of the weaker sex? Prolactan also promotes the production of breast milk. During pregnancy, its amount in the blood simply goes off scale, and the expectant mother’s eyes are permanently “in a wet spot.”

How to neutralize the bad

If signs portend negative changes, do not despair. There is an effective method to neutralize such superstitions. To protect yourself from unwanted meetings, deterioration of your financial situation and a number of other problems, you should perform just a few simple steps.

To prevent the prediction from coming true, you need to cover your eyes with your palms and gently rub them with your fingers. After this, you need to wash your face under running water. It is extremely important that it is cold. Otherwise, it will not be possible to prevent misfortunes.

If the signs portend positive changes, no action needs to be taken. Let everything take its course. Perhaps fate will soon present a gift and everything in life will change dramatically.

Before interpreting folk beliefs associated with tearing, you need to make sure that such changes are not a symptom of a developing disease. The interpretation will be appropriate only in the case of unexplained tears in a healthy person. Even if the meaning turns out to be negative, you should not panic or despair. Predictions can be avoided. The easiest way to neutralize it is to simply not take them seriously.