Human Errors #2: Sinuses
After the eye, Nathan Lent looks into the “design defects” of human nasal sinuses in Human Errors . They are those huge cavities (there’s a lot of empty space in our skull) with mucus membranes. When we breathe air, it passes through these “filters” to prevent dust and germs from entering the body. In addition, they also warm and humidify the air we breathe. Of course, eventually the mucus gets saturated, at which point it is dumped into the stomach: “(Stomach is) the safest place for the mucus, since the bacteria and viruses it contains can be dissolved and digested by the acid there.” Sinus problems start when this system gets “gummed up”. At that point, the bacteria aren’t getting cleared, accumulate enough to form colonies, and in the worst cases, sometimes manage to enter the (rest of the) body. So why do humans suffer more sinus problems than almost any other species? There are many reasons, and one of the important ones is that: “The mucus drainage syste...