Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
From Disney on March 21st, the musical movie event of the year arrives in theaters. My name is Snow White. Flawless. Exquisite. Get tickets now. Waiting on you.
Snow White will have you on your feet. I think that's a wonderful idea. And cheering for more. I was thinking the same thing. Experience the magical story. Magic mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest one of all? Snow White. Disney's Snow White. Only in theaters March 21st. Rated PG. Rental guidance suggested. Tickets on sale now. Hi, friends. Did you catch our little experiment, Moment of Calm?
It was a week of soothing science and chill sounds, plus a sleepy time dragon story. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Did it help you sleep better or help calm you down? Maybe you didn't notice the difference. Let us know by going to brainson.org slash contact. Thanks. Again, share your thoughts about Moment of Calm at brainson.org slash contact. From the brains behind Brains On, this is the Moment of Um. ♪
Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Molly Bloom. The ostriches escaped? Oh, dear. No, that's not it. My favorite sweater shrunk? Why? Not quite. Okay.
Oh, hi! I'm practicing my dramatic faint. I'm in a new play Sandon wrote, and in one scene, I need to act like I'm fainting. You know, that's when someone momentarily loses consciousness. They often lay down as it's happening, and it can take seconds or minutes for them to recover.
It's a real thing that happens to people. In the play, my evil twin shows up unannounced at my fondue party, and I'm so shocked I faint, knocking the cheese and chocolate over in the process. Don't worry, it's not real cheese or chocolate. Theater magic! I want my performance to look as real as possible, so I've been imagining shocking things and pretending to faint when I hear about them, like this. The creamer has spoiled? Oh no! Oh!
You know, it would help me if I knew more about fainting. Some listeners have been wondering about this too. Why do people faint? Maybe a doctor can fill us in. So one reason that you might pass out is that you're not getting enough blood flow to your brain.
I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter. I am a primary care pediatrician in La Jolla, California and host of the Pediatrician Next Door podcast. Fainting is also called passing out, and it's your way of kind of pressing a pause button. Imagine like blood is a delivery truck for oxygen.
Normally, these trucks travel up to your brain and then back down to your feet all day long, circulating all through your body. But sometimes something happens to make your trucks slow down and not make their deliveries. Gravity holds your blood down sometimes.
So say you stand up too fast. Gravity can pull blood down towards your legs and that can make it hard for your heart to pump blood up to your brain. So if you don't get enough blood to your brain quickly enough, you're going to feel a little bit dizzy. You might not be able to see very well and you might pass out.
Another reason is if you have something really stressful happen to you, you may not even realize that you're stressed, but your body releases a bunch of chemicals in your body and that makes your heart go faster, but it can also make all of your blood vessels in your body get big and wide and then the blood ends up pooling in your legs instead of getting up to your brain and that can make you pass out too.
Another reason you might pass out is if you're too hot. So if it's a really hot day and you're sweating a lot and not drinking enough water, you can get dehydrated. And if you're dehydrated, there's not enough blood in your body to get all the way up to your brain. So you can pass out from that too. When your brain senses that it's not getting enough blood or oxygen, it signals your body to lay down and that makes you faint. Um, uh,
Interesting. So, fainting usually happens when there's not enough blood flowing to the brain. That can happen when you stand up too quickly, or maybe because you're dehydrated and don't have enough water in your body. It can also happen if you're suddenly super stressed out. Fainting is pretty rare, though. Hold on, it's Sandin. He's probably calling about the play. Hello, Sandin. Yes? You're changing the fainting scene? Oh, good. I was having trouble with that.
Okay, so the new scene is my evil twin shows up and I challenge them to a fondue eating contest. And to practice, I have to eat copious amounts of chocolate and cheese. That is within my skill set. Thank you, Sandon. If you like this episode, take a second to subscribe to Moment of Um wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want to know more about how human bodies work, check out the Brains On podcast where we have a whole episode about what blood does.
Want to see our shows come to life? Head to YouTube where we've got awesome animated Brains On episodes. Search Brains On Universe on YouTube and subscribe. If you have a question, we'd love to help you answer it. Drop us a line by going to brainson.org slash contact. See you next time and the next day and every weekday. Until then, um...
I challenge you to a fond duel. Prepare to taste defeat, Polly Bloom. Hey friends, Molly, Sandin, and Mark here with some very big news. Drumroll please. Drumroll.
We're hitting the road in search of adventure, fresh air, and you. That's right. We're going to be live at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, April 27th. Our science-themed live stage show takes the audience on an adventure through the brain, complete with magic tricks, dance moves, out-of-body experiences, mystery sounds, and a game show. Molly, you almost left out the most important part.
Yeah, Molly, don't forget the big party. Oh, right. After the shows, we're throwing a brain-tastic bash. Join us afterward for a VIP party where we'll play games, guess mystery sounds, pose for photos, and give as many high fives as humanly possible. Snag a spot by purchasing a VIP pass when you buy your show ticket. Oh, that reminds me. I've got to start training. These hands aren't going to high five by themselves. Five and five. Good idea.
And remember, spots are limited, so grab your tickets today at brainson.org slash events.