| From: Michelle | 08/01/2000
11:46:00 |
| Subject: Where does all the snot come from? | post id:
24561 |
| I have recently recovered from a
cold and was constantly wondering where all of the snot came from. This is
especially noticable when I developed a secondary bacterial infection
after the cold. I literally felt that my whole head was full of viscous
snot. Does it come from the sinuses? What sort of volume is up beyond my nose? And how can such a thick mucus be produced so quickly (i.e. every couple of hours)? | |
| From: Rapunzel | 08/01/2000
15:40:00 |
| Subject: re: Where does all the snot come from? | post id:
24577 |
Hello Michelle, have a scroll down and read the Phlegm thread first because the principle's the same. Only that it's the mucosa (lining) in your sinuses, throat, nasal cavity producing the mucus in this case. There are cells in the mucosa which specialise in producing mucus, it's made inside the cell, in the endoplasmic reticulum if I remember correctly, and exported via the Golgi Complex in a process known as exocytosis. This process can churn out quite a volume, as no doubt you've noticed. It's a pretty continuous process, but you mainly notice it when the cavities in your head fill up (yuck, I feel for you, I had a childhood plagued with allergy and bronchitis, fortunately it stopped). As to the volume of the cavities, at a rough guess less than half a litre. I can look this up for you later if you need more detail, or perhaps someone else can help you in the interim, but right now I must run because we've got a yacht race on, and I'll get keelhauled if I turn up late... :-) PS: You can reduce the viscosity of mucus by drinking lots and lots of fluids and perhaps taking a mucolytic agent like Bisolvon. | |
| From: Dr Paul (Avatar) | 10/01/2000
13:51:00 |
| Subject: re: Where does all the snot come from? | post id:
25122 |
| Hi Michelle, part of my immense enjoyment of the Science of Dr Karl is his knowledge of Goblet cells. These are the cells in the olfactory apparatus which exude (in my own terms) goo that capture dust and foreign matter. It is the goo that turns into snot. So where does the snot come from, Goblet cells. Paul | |