Health risks can pop up in the most unexpected places.
From hidden food ingredients, to things you do every day that could be damaging your body, here are some common things that can be pretty bad for you!
Dog kisses
Credit: The Spruce Pets
We all know dogs jump up and lick you as a sign of affection, but this can actually be quite dangerous, especially if you have a compromised immune system.
Dogs try and lick anywhere on you, and if they happen to get your mouth or an open wound, you could be in a bit of trouble.
Your pet likely eats dirty stuff off the floor, licks unhygienic parts of their body to “clean” them, and god knows what else. This obviously can cause a load of harmful bacteria to live in their mouth – which can be passed on to you when they lick you.
One case of this is when a 70 year old woman was hospitalised after collapsing off her chair. She also reportedly came down with a high fever, headache, chills and diarrhea, and on top of this, lab tests showed that her kidneys were failing too.
Capnocytophaga canimorsus was the culprit. A bacteria commonly found in the mouth of cats and dogs. And whilst she showed no signs of being bitten or scratched, she did note that he dog had licked her.
Holding in a sneeze
Credit: eMediHealth
Plenty of people, every day, hold in their sneezes. Others, however, just let rip. As loud and attention grabbing this can be, its actually safer.
You sneeze for a reason – theres usually an irritant in your nose, whether that be bacteria, visible debris, or a bit of pepper. Your body tries to eject it out your nose essentially, so by not allowing your body to do this, you could irritate it further.
Not only that, you increase the pressure in your respiratory system by up to 24 times by not letting it out, which comes with problems of its own.
Potential risks that come with holding a sneeze include:
- Ruptured eardrum
- Middle ear infection
- Damaged blood vessels in the eyes, nose, or eardrums
- Broken ribs
- Aneurysm
- Throat damage
- Diaphragm injury
Although its technically possible to die from holding in a sneeze, its not believed to have been reported to happen. Still, don’t hold your sneezes in.
Drinking diet carbonated drinks
Credit: Insider
Diet coke is included in this category, and there have been studies conducted to try and find the risks.
Early studies showed links between diet coke and obesity and diabetes, which is ironic I know, with both of these health problems having links to poor blood circulation, which can increase the chance of a person developing dementia or having a stroke.
Following on from this, studies have shown that middle aged and older adults who drank diet coke daily had a much higher chance, up to 3 times higher in some cases, of having a stroke or developing dementia. The reasons behind this are not entirely clear.
The very same researchers also discovered that people who drank any carbonated drink every day, whether thats diet or full fat, had worse memory and smaller brain volume compared to someone who didn’t drink carbonated drinks.
Important summary!
Its important to note that we, at Five Minutes Spare, are not medical experts, nor have we carried out this research ourselves. We’re not saying you should give up drinking your favourite drinks and stop going near your pets, but let this article serve as a reminder that just because its legal, or because you do it every day, it doesn’t mean its good for you!
