A gentle kiss made the little couples throb. But did you know that sometimes a kiss can become a deadly "poison"?
Hangzhou's 28-year-old Ah Jun (pseudonym) is always cold and feverish these days, accompanied by dry vomiting, sore throat, and eating cold medicine does not get better. Seeing that the situation was not right, he took a leave of absence to go to the local hospital for treatment. After asking about his medical history, the doctor learned that Ah Jun had been with his girlfriend a week ago and had begun to feel unwell the next day.
During the physical examination, the doctor found that Jun's tonsils were enlarged and had purulent secretions, and his neck, armpits, and groin had lymphadenopathy, accompanied by enlarged spleen. Various symptoms indicate that Ah Jun should have an infectious disease.
Further blood tests revealed that Jun was infected with EBV and suffered from a disease called "infectious mononucleosis", commonly known as "kissing disease".
First, kissing can spread 8,000 bacteria at a time?
The saliva looks "non-toxic and harmless", but what is contained in it, do you know?
In order to explore this problem, netizen @Mingo Qiqu conducted an experiment. He collects the saliva, magnifies it to 200x, 500x and 2000x and photographs it, showing us the "world" in the saliva.
- Zoom in 200x
The picture below is 200 times magnified by saliva, and many shedding epithelial cells can be seen in the field of vision, as well as many other black substances, which should be food residues.
- Zoom in 500x
The following two pictures are 500 times magnified by saliva, and the nuclei of epithelial cells can be clearly seen, as well as spherical anti-infection white blood cells. But beyond that, a large number of bacteria have also been found.
- Zoom in 2000x
The image below is a 2,000-fold magnification of saliva, and you can see the anti-infection white blood cells and epithelial cells moving internally. And in addition to the common flora, other types of microbes have also been found.
The types of these microorganisms are not all the same, but they can all be exchanged during kissing.
Studies have found that if a couple's kissing process lasts up to 10 seconds, 80 million bacteria may be exchanged during the period.
Second, why do couples kiss each other and do not feel disgusting?
Have you tried it? Lick the back of your hand, wait for the saliva to dry and smell it closely, you can smell a faint smell. Why does saliva have a peculiar smell? Is it bad breath?
Saliva is spit, 99% of its composition is water, under normal circumstances should be colorless and odorless. There are many reasons for drool odor, one is that it is possible to eat foods with pungent odors, such as onions, garlic, durians, etc., and its residue remains in the saliva and will emit odors.
Secondly, it may also be related to bacteria in the mouth. The mouth contains hundreds of bacteria, such as staphylococcus, lactobacillus and many more. If you do not pay attention to oral hygiene, or if you just wake up with a large number of anaerobic bacteria in your mouth, it may also make your saliva and tone smelly.
Finally, even completely clean saliva will have a foul smell after air drying because saliva amylase (a protein) is rapidly oxidized and decomposed in the air, producing amines that form an odor.
So, the saliva is so smelly, why don't couples feel sick when they kiss? In fact, this is related to a variety of factors.
(1) Fresh saliva has no taste
When kissing, the environment of the mouth is relatively sealed, and the area of bacteria and saliva in contact with the air is not large, and it will not be rapidly oxidized.
(2) Release of dopamine
When in a good mood, the body releases dopamine. When kissing, both couples release a large amount of dopamine, a hormone that can soothe the mood and relieve tension. In this "double cool" situation, couples may no longer pay attention to other things.
(3) Increased adrenal hormones
When kissing, the body also secretes adrenaline hormones, which makes people's hearts beat faster, their heads blank, and their cheeks red. At this moment, the blood flow accelerates, giving the whole person an inexplicable sense of excitement, thus ignoring some taste sensations. Dr. Joy Davidson, a psychologist in Seattle, says kissing is a form of "sensory meditation" where increased brain hormones can reduce stress and make people lose their minds.
Third, kissing beware of the spread of disease
Kissing looks calm, but in fact, the body is undergoing "terrifying waves" changes, including various chemical reactions and microbial exchanges. This change makes people "drunk and dream of death", and may also lead to "illness from the mouth".
1. Kissing disease
In this case, Xiaojun was accidentally infected by the EBV virus because he kissed his girlfriend and got "kissing disease". After the occurrence of infection, patients will feel sore throats, rashes, fevers, etc., which are very similar to cold symptoms.
2. Hepatitis
Hepatitis viruses such as hepatitis B and C have a very small probability of transmission through kissing. However, the premise is that the kissing object is the onset of hepatitis B, and the oral mucosa of both sides is damaged, and there are more viruses in the saliva.
3. Periodontal disease
Caries is a disease caused by bacterial corrosion of the oral cavity, which can produce hard tissue of the tooth body. The main pathogenic bacteria of caries, Streptococcus mutant, can be transmitted through saliva. Therefore, when the kissing partner has periodontal diseases such as rotten teeth and caries, he/she should be advised to go for treatment.
4. Some strene diseases
Pathogens of styrobial diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea, most like the humid and warm environment of the mouth, if one party is infected and the concentration of pathogens is high, the other party just has a broken mouth, it will increase the risk of infection.
Finally, Xiao Jiu would like to remind you that although kissing is cool, but in the special period of illness, you should still pay more attention, have you increased your knowledge?
Resources:
[1] Why does saliva stink on the skin?.Tencent Medical Code.2021-06-29
Fang Ou. The beauty of kissing is not only to express love[J]. Frontiers of Medicine, 2011(1):42-42.
Ke Mei. Kissing and health[J]. Medicine and Healthcare, 2002, 10(011):27.
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