Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-04-29
WHY THE MORNING YAWN
Blood Must Be Drawn to the Muscles
and the Brain.


Many of the secrets of health and
disease are hidden in the simplest dis,
5uises-for example, a laugh, a yawn,
a sigh.
Doctors are only just beginning to
wake up to this. and in America the
subject is already engaging a great
deal of interest.
An American doctor, Professor
Grille, made study of the expressions
Of fighting men during the war, and
by so doing added greatly to medical
knowledge. A study on the same lines
is being carried on in England now,
and is already bringing enlightenment.
Take a yawn and a stretch. for
.example-the ordinary mans begin
ming of his day.
Why does one yawn on getting out
of bed?
Why does one stretch ones limbs
and get comfortable from doing it?
Why does one rub ones eyes?
These are in the most ordinary acts
in the. world, and yet their meaning
is cn'y just becoming understood.
Blood Must Be Moved.
Let us glance at the sleeping man
before we try to answer the questions.
AS he lies in bed his muscles are all
relaxed and soft. His chest moves
very little; he breathcs with his body,
and that slowly and regularly.
Now we know that inactive muscles
and an inactive brain have smaller
amount of blood in them than active
muscles and an active brain.
We know, too. that when the chest
Is moving very little the lungs are not
opening very widely. We can infer
from that that less than the usual
amount of blood IS present In the
lungs.
There are several parts of the body
which can hold a great deal of blood
the muscles, the lungs, the brain,
and finally the organs of digestion.
The bulk of the blood of the sleeping
man is not in his muscles, his brain,
or his lungs. It must therefore be in
Ills body proper
Experiment has shown that that is
where it is. Therefore when he
awakes Lc is not ft for immediate
exertion or activity. He must first
bring his reserves of blood to his brain,
muscles and lungs.
Pressure and Suction.
There are two ways in which this
can be done.
The first is by pressure on the body
itself, and the second is by suction.
Pressure in this case means the
pressure of squeeze of the muscles OF
the front Of the body. Suction means
the opening up of the chest, and so
the drawing into it of blood from the
veins.
The waking man on getting out of
bed draws a deep, long breata-What
is called yawn. At the same moment
he throws his shoulders lack, and sc
brings his shoulder blades nearer TO
each other. The strong muscles OF
his back become taut, and thanks 20
the position he has assumed, his chest
is pulled open. Thus the stretch
the deep brcath-the "yawn"-are
part OF the same process. 1t is the
stretch which makes the yawn.
Forms Suction Pump.
Bit the stretch achieves another
purpose. In stiffcning himself up and
throwing back his shoulders, our
waking man also stiffcns the muscles
over the front OF his body so that they
press strongly on the bodily organs.
This pressure naturally tends TO drive
blood upward out Of the body into the
chest and lungs. The suction we have
spoken about comes. from the chest it
self. When it is pulled open by the
Stretch" air rushcs in and blood also
rushes in 10 fill it Up. We have an Ell
feet like suction pump.
At the same moment of our waking
man often begins to rub his eyes. iIe
is now fully stretched, with his head
thrown back and his body taut. His
chest is widely expanded, and is filed
with air and blood. So far, however.
blood is not being sent quickly enough
to his brain and muscles. 1t is neces-
sary to whip up his heart to stronger
efforts.
Now the heart can increase its
working power in two ways. 1t can
make bigger beats and it can beat
more quickly. -.
Eyes and Heart Connected.
In the first case its output of blood
per beat is increased; in the second
it's output of blood per minute, lh or
der to give bigger beats it must open
more widely and so take in more
blood.
This process is controlled by nerves
which connect the fcart with the
brain, and so with the eyes and ears
and skin. The reason is obvious the
moment one thinks Of how an anima!
or Il man wards off an attack. II
man sees someone coming to attack
him he gets his muscles ready TO
fight. But the muscles need Il great
deal Of extra blood for their work.