WEBVTT - Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.240 During the late dry season, we noticed that a flu 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:07.080 like illness had become increasingly prevalent in the group. The 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.959 symptoms of flu consisted of a hacking cough, frequent sneezing, 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.800 a running nose, or a blocked nasal passage. Some affected 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:18.479 individuals lay on their stomachs for prolonged periods while coughing 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.680 and breathing through the mouth. By mid September, at least 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:24.680 fifty two of the eighty two chimpanzees in the group 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:29.320 were suffering from this illness. An adult male colunde aged 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:33.480 approximately twenty nine years, displayed the above flu like symptoms 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.680 between September fourteenth and October third. During this period, he 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.600 was observed on four occasions using a toothpick like tool 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.839 ten to eighteen centimeters long. On one additional occasion, he 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.040 was also seen to make a tool, apparently without using it. 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.720 He inserted the tool deeply into one of his nostrils, 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:57.320 which often immediately stimulated him to sneeze. When he sneezed, 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.600 a large amount of nasal mucus was discharged onto his 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.800 upper lip. The mucus was then picked off and quickly ingested. 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.440 On one occasion, he recovered a dry twig from the 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.319 ground and removed the leaves from it. He tried to 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.880 elicit sneezing by pushing the modified stem into one nostril, 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.600 but in the course of twenty nine seconds he failed 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.880 to do so. He then discarded the tool, picked up 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.000 a large dry leaf, removed the leaf blade with his teeth, 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.760 and pushed the modified mid rib into one nostril. Within 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.960 five seconds, he sneezed and his nasal passage was successfully cleared. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.800 Colunda was one of several chimpanzees which, because of a 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.640 badly blocked nasal passage, were breathing with difficulty only through 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.200 the mouth. Because the normal air passage was blocked, The 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.920 stimulus afforded by the use of this tool forced the 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.640 accumulated nasal mucus out of his nose. Colunde ceased to 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.880 display this type of behavior after October third, and by 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.200 October ninth he had recovered. 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:46.040 Hm hiar and I love literally everything about that description. 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.200 Isn't that glorious? 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.360 It's so good. It's every toddler. 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:57.040 It's every toddler. Toddlers stick tools up their nose to induce. 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.919 They stick their own fingers up their nose, and course 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.080 of course I love authentic things. 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.480 But what I love about this is that there there 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.280 seems to be like, because this happened repeatedly, because he 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:15.520 tried different tools, different approaches, it seems like it was 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.680 a intention, Like there was an intention. 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.680 Behind that much. So very much. It sounds like very much. 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:23.959 And what's really interesting is that none of the other 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:28.560 chimpanzees in the group copied him, although there was one 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.840 that was like really intent and like really studying his. 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.880 Behavior interesting, but he's the only one. 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.200 He was the only one. So that was from a 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:43.160 paper by Nishida and Nakamura from nineteen ninety three called 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:51.080 Chimpanzee tool use to clear a blocked nasal passage. I 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.160 love it. Hi, I'm Aaron. 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.440 Welsh and I'm Erin, a'm an Updike. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.240 And this is this podcast will kill you. 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.640 Welcome to bookers, Welcome to books. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.680 I'm so excited for this me too. I think we 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.080 chose it because we were like, what sounds fun fun? 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.320 Yeah, yeah, yeah, we do a lot of dark on 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.120 this podcast. We do. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.200 We need a little we need a little bit of 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:18.000 levity from time to time. 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.920 Yeah, this provides that it does. Yeah, I mean there's 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.440 there's some you could get into some real darkness about mucus. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.960 Of course you could, but we won't today. I'm I'm 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.680 certainly not. For the most part, It's gonna be a 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.520 really fun episode. There's I have no idea what you're 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.520 going to be talking about. I'm sure you have no 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:40.400 idea what I'm going to. 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:40.960 Be talking about. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.280 A clue, great because I had no idea when I 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.560 was like, wait, what why? 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:48.200 What? A history of boogers. 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.960 It's going to be great. But first, before we get 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.599 into all of the greatness of boogers any time, what 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:57.559 are we drinking this week? 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.240 We're drinking this not rocket this not rocket it. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:06.719 So I absolutely love this. I was like, I was thinking, okay, 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.440 we could do like jello. 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:13.359 Something like chia seeds, something, chia seeds, cilium husk, just 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:18.880 sitting in water for a while. But but there are 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:20.799 recipes out there for how. 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:25.600 To make your own snot at home. It's like, I mean, like, 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:27.600 we can all make our we're making our owns not 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.640 currently we sure are, yeah, but yeah. So the British 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.800 Society for Immunology has a recipe a PDF. You can 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.040 find it on their website called the Gruesome Snot recipe. 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:42.400 We're calling it the not Rocket, but it basically follows 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.799 the same the same principle. You can find this recipe 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.599 anywhere if you look up homemade s Nott and it's 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:53.000 gelatin powder and corn syrup and food coloring yea, to 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:56.120 make it whatever stage of the process you want. Do 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:57.640 you want green, do you want more yellow? 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.960 You could probably add some like lemon or lime juice 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.280 or like some other juice to make it more flavorful, 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:07.479 because otherwise it's going to be pretty bland. 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.960 Oh yeah, yeah, it's going to be pretty You could 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:11.880 do because it calls for hot water too, so you 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.000 could do a little bit less hot water and just 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:15.000 a little bit of flavors. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.719 Exactly. There you go. Yeah, just like you know the 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:21.120 jellos you used to make in college, for example. 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:26.040 Exactly exactly. But you can find the recipe for this 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.240 on our website, this podcast will Kill You dot Com 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.120 our social media channels, and then there's also on the 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:32.240 British Society for. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:36.040 Immunology shout out, shout, thank you. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:37.360 Thank you for your service. 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.520 Speaking of our website, yeah, we have one. It's called 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.280 this podcast will Kill You dot Com. You've heard us 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.279 talk about it literally, so there's no way this is 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.760 the first episode that you've ever listened to bookers. 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:54.000 Wow, well, thank you, welcome. This is exciting. 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:56.560 But we do have a website, and on it you 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.880 can find transcripts, you can find sources for all of 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:00.520 our episodes. You can find a good Reads list of 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.760 bookshop dot org affiliate account, you can find merch you 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.320 can find our Patreon, you can find Bloodmobile who does 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.360 our music, and much. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:08.279 More, much more. 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.000 The end, Yes, review subscribe. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.600 We're on YouTube. But you can see that we chose 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.280 shirts that were either fun It's Aaron's fun, lovely striped shirt, 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.800 love it. And then I tried to get the snottiest 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.320 in the spirit of boogers, green and yellow and really good. 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:32.680 I mean I would never have called it a snotty shirt. Yeah, 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:37.239 now forever and more forever. Okay, okay, shall we let's 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:55.200 do it? I gotter this break. I started off this 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.840 section with the question what are boogers? And I do 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.480 I kind of want to know where the term boogers 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:04.840 comes from? And I didn't Are you going to tell 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:05.040 me that? 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:06.080 Later? I am? 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.400 Yes, I was hoping so because I do not know 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.280 what I do know? And I think what we all 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:16.040 actually know is what a booger is. It's one of 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.360 those you know it when you see it relationships, right. 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.640 I mean dried nasal mucus. It was what is the 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.040 medical term for booger? 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:29.360 There's not like a good medical term, but yeah, they 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:33.000 are dried or sticky bits of our snot our nasal mucus. 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.319 So to talk about boogers, we first have to talk 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.600 about our snot, And to talk about our snot, we 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.920 have to talk about mucus. Now, on this podcast, I 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.480 have used the term mucus membranes a lot of times 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:51.079 because so many infections that we have covered on this podcast, 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:54.320 we can get infected by contact with our mucus membranes. 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.920 But I don't think I've ever really defined the term. 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:01.480 I usually just say something like mucous membranes for example, 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.320 our nose, our eyes, our mouth. So let's talk about 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:11.560 our mucus membranes, Shelly. Our whole entire body has to 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.320 protect itself from pathogens all the time, and we do 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.240 this in a whole bunch of different ways. But we 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:23.160 really our bodies rely very heavily on barrier methods. So 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.520 our skin is this thick relatively hard protective layer made 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.920 up of keratin. It's not actually very sick, but in 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.160 the scheme of things, it is compared to a bacteria. 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.680 And our stomach, which also contacts the outside world, is 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.560 full of acid to kill things that might get in there. 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.160 And then we have our mucosal surfaces. These are areas 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:49.880 of our body that are protected via you guessed it, mucuses. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.800 So our mucosal membranes or our mucosal surfaces are these 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.880 wet epithelial cells that rely, at least in very large 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:04.040 part on mucus to protect us against infections. Now, our 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:08.800 nose and really our entire respiratory system, which connects between 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.600 our nose, our mouth and then down into our lungs, 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.200 is one of these mucosal surfaces. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.160 Wait, hold on, wet epithelial cells? 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:18.559 What epithelial cells? 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.520 Or you're gonna tell me more about what what what 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:22.000 that means? 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.320 Well, no, like, our skin is an epithelial barrier, but 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:26.160 it's not wet. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.800 Yeah, but what where's the wetness coming from from the 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:37.920 mucus And where's the mucus coming Let me tell you, Okay, 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.000 So it's the moisture that makes these cells wet. It's 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:47.040 the moisture, but the cells are making the moisture. 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.800 The cells are making the moisture, and the moisture is 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:51.640 the mucus, and the mucus makes them wet. 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:53.079 So chicken and egg. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.400 Yeah, I don't know. Don't ask me which game first there. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.720 Okay, Okay, I'm just trying to so it's it's wet, Okay, Okay. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.600 I'm just saying that's part of how we define like 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.160 a mucous membrane is a wet surface that has mucus 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:10.640 on it. Oh okay, Okay, that's all. It's not that deep, Okay, Okay. 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:12.040 I was really thinking it was deep. 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.800 It's it's not really deep. It's surface layer. But I'm 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.240 just kidding. Ah, ok yeah, Okay. 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.520 Anyways, it was a very dry epithelial cell. 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:27.800 We're going too far unhinged. Okay. I want to talk 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:29.440 a little bit more about our nose, since that's what 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.120 we're focusing on today. Our nose mucus. All right, we 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.360 know that we use our nose to breathe, we use 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.760 our nose to smell. I'm not talking about those two 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.679 aspects of the function of our nose today. I'm focusing 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.360 on the layer of protection that our nose affords the 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:50.400 rest of our lower respiratory system from pathogens, from toxins, 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.120 and from other stuff that would harm our lungs. It's 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:58.560 not our mucus is the thing that allows our nose 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:03.120 to protect. If we could take a short detour into 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.600 the anatomy of our nose, I would love that. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:07.000 Okay, love nothing more? 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.000 Okay, good, So our nose. Obviously, we have a septum 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.520 that divides the middle of our nose into these two 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.920 nasal passages. If you've never seen a cross sectional like 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.480 cut open view of our face, then you might not 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.600 know that our nasal passages connect posteriorly so like towards 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.800 the back of our face and open up into this 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:32.920 relatively large nasal cavity. And our nasal cavity has these 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:36.319 like grooves, these kind of like projections in the walls 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.800 of them that further serve to increase surface area. That's 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:41.800 the same thing that our septum does. Right, Instead of 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:44.400 just one hole, we have two, so we have more 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:49.079 surface area for epithelial cells to be on. And then 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:53.240 that nasal cavity connects even more posterior like almost towards 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.920 our neck with a chamber called the naso pharynx, and 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.079 that lies just above our oral cavity or our mouth. 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:06.320 The walls of this entire cavity are lined with specialized cells, 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.640 and these cells, a lot of them, have teeny tiny 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:15.320 projections that are kind of hair like that are called scilia. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.560 Now this is not the same as the actual hair 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.560 that we have in the very first part of our nose, 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.280 which is very normal and also a layer of protection. 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.920 But these are teeny tiny little hair like projections. We 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:31.240 also have interspersed these specialized types of cells called goblet cells. 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:36.040 Our goblet cells job is to make mucus, so that 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.120 is the vast majority of where our mucus is coming 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.000 from is from these goblet cells. And then also below 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.840 the first layer of epithelial cells, there's another layer of 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:49.000 submucosal cells. That's also where our blood vessels, are, nerves, 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.760 and all of the other good stuff in our nose exists. 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.160 But we also have a whole bunch of glands specialized 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.200 cells that form these nasal glands. They also make a 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:03.760 bunch of different types of secretions, including some types of mucus. 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:08.920 All right, why are goblet cells called goblet cells and 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.240 our goblet cells the same, Like these are mucus producers 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.840 everywhere where we make mucus. 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.559 Correct. Goblet cells are the cells that make mucus everywhere. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.920 They're all over our guts, They're all over all of 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.080 our mucus membranes. I think, and I could be misremembering this, 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:25.840 but I think they're called goblet cells just because they 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.200 kind of look like a goblet, like you know, imagine 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:34.760 a chalice. They kind of look like that. They're like robust, fancy, fancy, 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:39.840 and they hold fluid. I don't know. That's my best remembrance, 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:41.040 all right. 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.920 So Aaron's etymology done. 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:50.640 So let us get more into detail on this mucus 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.480 blanket as I saw it described in one paper, and 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:59.360 I just really really beautiful. It's so good. So inside 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.120 of our nose, covering all of the cells and covering 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:08.280 those teeny tiny hair like projections, is a wet cushiony 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:14.880 two layered actually blanket that is made of mucus. Mucus 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:20.880 is mostly water, okay, ninety seven percent water. There's also 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.600 a bunch of salts in their ions. But the thing 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:30.080 that makes mucus mucus y are these things called glycoproteins, 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.600 and these are molecules that are made up of sugar 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.440 and proteins all stuck together. And we call these type 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.960 of glycoproteins musins. That's how we got the name mucus. 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.400 And what musins do is the same thing that chia 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.440 seeds do. If you put them into liquid, they hold 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:51.600 onto that water and turn it into a gelatinous substance. 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.320 So they are the things that make our snot snotty. 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:56.560 Okay, yeah, uh huh. 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.520 Now, the other thing that we have a lot of 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:05.200 in our mucus is immune cells, immune particles, antibodies, especially IgA, 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.960 which is the main antibody that helps to block pathogens 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.240 from entering our nasal cells and our respiratory tract. This 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.160 is in super high concentrations in our nasal mucus. We 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.600 have other Yeah, what does IgA do? 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.840 Like, where does it stand in the in the other 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:22.160 among the other IG's. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:26.280 It's basically it is the highest concentration antibody in our 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.640 the mucus membrane areas. So it is it is like 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.120 an associated with mucus membranes, especially in the respiratory tract. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:38.120 Antibody just like IgG or IgM, the other major antibodies. 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.040 There's other ones as well too. It is highly specific 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.160 to like a particular part of a particular pathogen. And 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.320 you can have memory with your IgA like you can 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.280 with IgG, which is like a main memory type, and 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:53.440 all of the other ones are present too in our nose. 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.680 But that's just like it's a really high concentration, so 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.240 it's usually the first line of defense in our mucus membranes. Okay, 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:03.440 So for people who have like IgA deficiencies, for example, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.119 then they might be at more susceptible to certain types 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.040 of especially respiratory pathogens, because they're not going to block 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:14.320 those as easily before it even gets into your lungs. Amazing, 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:18.679 so interesting. So that's what our mucus is made out of. 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:21.800 And I said already that we have these little hair 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:27.160 like projections, these silly that kind of line most all 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.040 of our respiratory tract, especially our nasal passages and our 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:35.800 nasal cavity back there, and these things wave like grass 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:39.280 in the wind or really like sea grass in the ocean. 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:43.199 Kind of beautiful. It's so beautiful, and in doing so, 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.959 they serve along with the mucus to propel all the 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.880 stuff in our mucus back to where it needs to go. 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.440 So in the very front part of our nasal passage 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.679 that might be propelling it out towards our nose holes 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.800 or our nostrils, but most of our mucus and the 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:07.760 cilia is propelling stuff backwards towards our nasopharynx and our 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.320 oropharynx so that we can swallow it. 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.680 Right, It is upsetting, but it is the truth. And okay, 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.639 but you said that sometimes it will propel forward and 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:19.760 sometimes backwards. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:24.639 Yeah, why why it's mostly just anatomically Oh okay, yeah, yeah, 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.280 most of the time it's going back, but the very 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.720 front ones might sometimes go forwards. Just yeah, anatomic just 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:36.240 because that's where the motion easier output is. Yeah, okay. 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:42.040 So our mucus blanket does three major things in our nose. 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:46.640 Number one, it filters the air that we breathe. Literally, 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.320 because it is sticky, a lot of the larger particles, 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:55.040 including bacteria, but also allergens, toxins, et cetera, get stuck 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.200 in the stickiness of our mucus. That's the first thing 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.639 it does. Number Two, it serves as the first line 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:06.080 of defense against pathogens, both because we have so much 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:11.520 immune system stuff in our mucus, immunoglobulins, but also you know, 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:16.119 white blood cells and other inflammatory markers. But also because 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:19.359 when these pathogens get stuck to and interact with the 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:24.000 musin proteins in our mucus, it actually stimulates our immune response, 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:25.240 which is. 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:29.040 Why you can have some vaccines that are really. 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.920 Really good through your nose, especially if you need an 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:37.639 IgA response. And number three, this one's really important. Our 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.159 mucus helps to humidify the air that we breathe and 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.280 keep our cells moist as well. 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:45.399 It's a big one. 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.679 It's a huge one because if we were sucking dry 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:53.040 air into our lungs, we would get super sick. But 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.199 the air that we breathe is completely like it reaches 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.479 one hundred percent humidity by the time it hits our 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.600 naso farings beautiful. Isn't that beautiful? Even when you're in 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.560 Colorado and it's like two percent humidity or whatever. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.080 You've got the crustiest books on the planet. 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:16.159 The hurts, right. What's so interesting too, is that it 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.359 does the opposite on the way out, So as we 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.520 are breathing out through our nose, we are taking back 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.520 that water and we're really really good at it. We 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.280 lose forty two percent more water if your mouth breathing 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.439 compared to nose breathing. That's fascint. 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.720 Okay, this is why I remember being learning that you're 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.000 when you run, you're supposed to breathe in through your 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:40.120 nose and out through your mouth. 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:41.760 Oh that's interesting. 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:45.400 That's what I always remember being hearing. I can't do it. 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:46.679 I have to mouth breathe the. 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.160 Whole time, the whole time. That makes sense. 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.040 And so I'm just wondering how dehydrated. How more dehydrated 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:52.360 I am? 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:55.640 Forty two percent according to one paper that direct I know. 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:02.000 That is Okay, So your nose is both humidifying and 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.480 dehumidifying depending on the context. 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:10.000 It humidifies and exhale it it replaces. 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:13.640 That water, and okay, so tell me. So now we're 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.160 still talking about mucus. 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.400 We are wet thing, a wet thing. 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.600 But then what makes it boogers? What dries it out? 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.960 What tries it out? Honestly, I don't have a great 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:30.920 explanation for that. Okay, that's the short answer. I'm sure 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.600 I could keep talking, because that's kind of what I do. Really, 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.160 I think a lot of it comes down to how 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.959 dehydrated we are to begin with. Okay, so if you 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.320 are dehydrated, then it is more likely that your boogers 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.080 or your nasal mucus is going to become more dehydrated. 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:48.560 There's a lot of different ways that we can have 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.359 trouble with our nasal mucus. Right when we get sick. 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.640 A lot of us are like, I'm making way more boogers, 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:59.680 I'm making way more snot than I should. We make 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.040 like two leaders of not a day. 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:04.840 It's it's why we all need to be hydrated. 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:06.359 That's why we all need to be h There's a 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:10.000 lot of reasons see our poop episode for more, but yes, 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:11.960 it is one reason that we need to be hydrated. 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:14.760 And a lot of times it can feel like we're 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:17.480 constantly blowing our nose. We must be making way more mucus. 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:19.720 I actually have no data, There is no data in 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:22.000 the literature that I found to suggest that we actually 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:25.720 produce any more mucus when we're sick. But what does 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:28.680 happen is that the blood vessels in our nose are swelling, 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:32.639 which allows more blood flow, so could potentially have more 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:37.800 water component to that mucus because of plasma extravasation. Basically 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.800 we also have more inflammatory markers, which can contribute to 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.800 water because it's inflammation which brings ions, which brings water. 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:51.600 But also what we know is that common cold viruses 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:56.840 really mess with that mucociliary transport, So our cilia are 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:59.639 not doing a good job bringing that mucus back towards 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:01.920 our where it's supposed to go so that we can 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:05.399 swallow it. And this can last for weeks after exposure, 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:08.840 and so that might be part of why it feels 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:11.040 like we're blowing our nose so much, because our mucus 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:12.480 is going back how it should. 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:15.160 Shooting down right. What about like post nasal drip though, 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:19.399 because that always increases a lot during cold respiratory infection. 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:21.840 But is that also just because it's not transporting it 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:23.840 all the way back the way that it should, because 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:27.240 that silly aligns the entirety of our track, So it's 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:29.400 just kind of hanging out there and drip dropping rather 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:32.960 than moving along the you know, sea grass the way 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:36.840 that it ought to. Okay, Okay, but that was the 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:39.240 opposite question of what you asked me, Aaron, which is 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:40.320 what about boogers? 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:43.320 Well, I have more snock questions if you're so willing, 0:23:43.400 --> 0:23:45.959 But I mean, when I get to the boogers. 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:48.320 Going and then see if you have if I answer 0:23:48.320 --> 0:23:50.879