*heartbeat*

[FalconZero]

I heard that people say "God bless you" when you sneeze because your heart stops for that moment. Is this true?

[DarthLlama226]

I believe the reason why people say that when you sneeze, people in the older times (middle ages) believed that you were expelling a demon from your body. By blessing you, they can prevent the spirit from reentering your body.

[The Kittle One]

Well I thought in old times if you sneezed it meant you were sick. Back then if you got sick there would be a much higher risk of dieing then today so they said God bless you to bless you and make you better. It may be what darthllama said not sure.

[Austin.]

I do believe that when you sneeze your heart does stop just for that slplit second. But when you sneeze people in the older times didnt know that the 0.00000001 or how everlong it takes to sneeze that you cant die if your heart stops for just that long.

[Chooch-182]

so what about the people that sneeze like a continuous 9 sneezes in a row?

[Ehtereon]

Bless you originated during the Bubonic Plague. Sneezing was one of the first signs of the plague and by saying bless you, people were essentially saying "You're f*cked. good luck." It stayed around and eventually came to the states with the Europeans.

[Cody.]

I do believe that when you sneeze your heart does stop just for that slplit second I have heard this theory before as well. I've heard people claim that when you sneeze, its basically "restarting" your body and it suppositively refreshes your body.

[Austin.]

I do feel pretty good after sneezing :-)

[FalconZero]

I do as well. Hopefully, having a heat murmur doesn't make it any worse, but I don't see how it should. I've had it since I ws born, and my father has it, so maybe it's genetic. Besides, I've had my fair share of sneezes since then...

[Crazy Jamie]

Bless you originated during the Bubonic Plague. Sneezing was one of the first signs of the plague and by saying bless you, people were essentially saying "You're f*cked. good luck." It stayed around and eventually came to the states with the Europeans.
We have a winner. That's exactly where the phrase originated from.

[Quixotron]

I believe the reason why people say that when you sneeze, people in the older times (middle ages) believed that you were expelling a demon from your body. By blessing you, they can prevent the spirit from reentering your body.

Thats what I heard on the Koz zone. Back in early 90's the Chicago based Fox 32 Tv station had a Koz Zone which was similar Catain Kangaroo or such.

nowadays, its just a habit or polite way of showing courtesy to someone.

[Darth-gamer]

I sneeze doesn't stop your heart. A sneeze does however change your blood flow and pressure and a rather powerful sneeze may cause your heart rate to change, but it won't stop it.

[mark HRR]

If your heart was to stop everytime you sneezed then, during the summer just gone I would be kinda dead. hayfever is of the devil in my opinion. I've heard the one of expelling demons, and the one of the plague, but never of the one that your heart stops.

[Wej]

I think that what really happens is that your blood flow irregulates for a split second because sneezing is really just your body exerting pressure to expel something. Also I am 99% sure no one ever died from sneezing because that would be really lame.

[Spiffy]

Your heart doesn't stop when you sneeze. Sneezing is a reflex for expelling particles when said particles touch the mucosa on in your nasal cavity. It makes sense that your heart rate can change since you're exerting a lot of force on your lungs to push out that air and they'll need more blood. Same thing as running up a flight of stairs.