ACHOO syndrome – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex

Just in case anyone isn’t aware of Photic Sneezing (or, like an old friend of mine, refuse to believe that I’m not joking about it – admittedly, it’s a loopy thing to explain!)

Photic sneeze reflex (also whimsically called ACHOO, a backronym for Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst) is a medical condition by which people exposed to bright light sneeze. It has been suggested that the photic sneeze reflex occurs only after someone has been adapted to the dark for at least five minutes, although this is not certain, and is not uniform amongst people with the photic sneeze reflex. The photic sneeze reflex can also cause one to sneeze many times consecutively. The condition occurs in 17% to 25% of humans with more common occurrence in Caucasians than other human races. The condition is passed along genetically as an autosomal dominant trait.

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