Talk:Tears

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Contents 1 Comments 2 spelling 3 Helpful 4 physiology 5 More physiology 6 sources 7 Yawning tears 8 In other species 9 Proposed move 10 Salinity 11 Purpose of crying 12 Question 13 Sniffling 14 This is a substandard article 15 Crying tone 16 Big words and readbility 17 Question on association with emotion 18 Crying 19 Hay fever 20 Altering Caption of "Weeping Frenchman" Picture 21 Pic

[edit] Comments

The rock band Tool should've been mentioned. At least in the "see also"-part. They claim they chose their name because they wanted their music to be a tool in crying as a way to evolve as a human. They have several referances to lachrymololgy.

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what are these other cultures where men are more acce[ted for crying than women

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>> They are filled with hormones, and it now believed tears are a method of expelling excess hormones from the body.

I have softened this down because as far as I know it is no more than a conjecture suggested by William Frey's research, the leap to a factoid was made by the trivia culture. Femto 14:32, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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Removed the disambiguation because it only needs to be used if there is a risk of confusion between topics. It is reasonably clear that a page named tears is about crying, not about "two or more lacerations". See Wikipedia:Disambiguation. It would be tear that could be made a disambiguation page, but the verb to tear will never have its own encyclopedia entry, and there's no risk of confusion with laceration apart from the synonymous dictionary definition. Femto 16:30, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] spelling

I changed the spelling from "lachrymation" to "lacrimation" because this is by far the more common spelling. I see it was changed once before, but "lacrimation" is the spelling used by the medical community in the US.

Makes sense to me. Femto 15:17, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)

The Latin for "a tear" is correctly lacrima. The form lachryma is a spurious Greekifying which has been around a long time. Anthony Appleyard 06:18, 3 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Helpful

This whole article about Human Tears and all the discussion were pretty helpful and benefitial information to human world. We hope that you continue the good work and keep writing and providing more on such useful scientific subjects.

[edit] physiology

I removed the claim that the lacrimal glands constrict. I could find no support for this. All the sources I consulted indicate that tears are the result of increased secretion, not a muscular constriction Osmodiar 15:56, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] More physiology

Just a comment arising from looking this up: I find it hard to believe that a "thin" tear layer interacts with contact lenses in the way the wording would seem to imply; "dry" eyes may lead to contact lenses adhering to the surface of the eye reducing the amount of oxygen reaching between the lens and the cornea via oxygenated fluid from the exposed parts of the eye, but the claim that "the amount of oxygen need is higher" (sic - should that have been "the amount of oxygen needed"?) would require support. Perhaps it should also say that contact lenses can reduce the amount of oxygen reaching the cornea - but the reduction will be strongly dependent on the material and thickness of the lens... (which might be drifting a little OT). The purpose of the "special eyedrops" should be made clear... Hopefully someone better qualified could sort this out. Julian I Do Stuff 15:06, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] sources

"It has been suggested from their stress hormone content that tears may be a method of expelling excess hormones from the body."

Please provide some published sources for this statement. --JWSchmidt 14:26, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

See above. Do a search on William Frey, if someone wants to add a reference. On the other hand I wouldn't mind either if the statement were removed, but didn't dare to do that when I first edited it. Femto 15:57, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

My search of the biomedical literature failed to find support for this idea: "a method of expelling excess hormones from the body." I suggest either removing the statement, saying that it not supported by any evidence, or provide a citation to the evidence. --JWSchmidt 00:36, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I found nothing independent of Frey's claims. Unless there are others corroborating his assertions, I think the statement should simply be removed. Edwardian 03:00, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Yawning tears

Does anyone know anything about yawning tears? My girlfriend wants to know. She doesn't share my fascination with Wikipedia. --Yannick 04:16, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

-- I think some parts of the autonomic system is involved (parasym. and sym.), since there are both sympathetic & parasympathetic fibres through the lacrimal gland as opposed to information on the internet indicating that muscle contractions "squeeze" the lacrimal gland. Sorry, haven't found any conclusive information..=P Irisx 11:23, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In other species

If anyone has any information about tears in the animal kingdom, it'd be good to see here. Like if only people have them, or only primates, or only mammals, or something to that effect. Mammals are mentioned a few times in reference to other aspects, but there ought to be at least a sentence or two specifically about what types of animals experience tears. --Mbarbier 20:49, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Salinity

I am looking for the salinity of tears. This information would be helpful.

[edit] Purpose of crying

Are there any viable theories or commonly agreed upon purposes for the act of crying available to anyone? 70.88.218.193 15:05, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

Can you cry underwater? Can it be proved scientifically if so?

[edit] Sniffling

After people crying (especially children) what causes the uncontrollable sniffling? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.163.223.183 (talk) 04:34, 2 February 2007 (UTC).

Yeah that's a really good question and I'd love to see it answered. 70.108.37.10 01:35, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I am pretty sure that is caused by tears running down the inside of your nose, rather than out of your eyes and down your cheeks. As I understand it, ear/nose/throat is also connected to the tear ducts, and when you cry you get some tears inside your nose. That's what causes sniffling/runny nose. Mlbish (talk) 19:01, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] This is a substandard article

Searches for "crying", "sobbing", "weeping" etc. all redirect here, but this article covers the topic of emotional crying in only the most brief, cursory and superficial manner, and such information as exists is limited almost entirely to matters of physiology. Very, very poor indeed. I respectfully submit that redirecting those words to this article is inappropriate if we are not willing to cover the topic properly within.

I second that70.227.43.192 05:59, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Crying tone

Did you ever wonder why you hear coughs or breaks when someone cries. For example, waahhhhhhhhhh ahhaaaaah ahhaaaahhhh, etc. BuickCenturyDriver 11:06, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe because people run out of breath when wailing. Or, you know, making any noise for more than a few seconds. VolatileChemical (talk) 04:57, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Big words and readbility

I have no idea what the following is saying:

"The limbic system is involved in production of basic emotional drives, such as anger, fear, etc. The limbic system also has a degree of control over the autonomic system. This is more specifically the hypothalamus. It is the parasympathetic system that controls the lacrimal glands. Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter specific to both the nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. It is when the receptors are activated that the lacrimal gland is stimulated to produce tears."

Keeping in mind that this is an encyclopedia for lay people, is there any way the above can be re-written so that mere mortals can understand it?--Margareta 22:26, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Um, "Various nerves and glands can be involved in triggering tears"? I readily agree that it's not the most polished bit of writing, but I think the average reader's primary problem is the the reader's unfamiliarity with the anatomy, not the infelicitous phrasing. I don't really see a way to provide these details without making some readers' eyes glaze over. WhatamIdoing (talk) 03:45, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Why don't you read the Simple English version?

DarkestMoonlight (talk) 19:56, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question on association with emotion

The article doesn't explain why strong emotions, e.g. sadness, happiness, should trigger crying. It seems that people from all cultures feel the urge to cry, but its not at all obvious why an emotion like sadness etc. should cause people's eyes to water rather than, say, causing the people to sweat or to shiver. Are there any readers out there who could at least offer the basic knowledge about this? Thanks.

I am trying to find out the same thing if anyone could tell me i would be grateful.

[edit] Crying

Shouldn't "Crying" have its own separate article? There's more to crying than just the production of tears, but currently crying is just a disambiguation leading to Tears and Sadness, among other things. -- BlastOButter42 ^See Hear _Speak 00:47, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree.--71.103.96.181 (talk) 03:51, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Good idea! :) 75.128.197.65 (talk) 09:18, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Me too agrees 124.30.235.62 (talk) 15:28, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hay fever

This article lists several causes of tears, but I didn't see any mention of watering eyes, as in a classic sign of an IgE-based allergic reaction (or, in plain English, tears running down your face during hay fever season because you left the window open when the neighbor mowed the grass). Does anyone know if these are still "technically" tears? WhatamIdoing (talk) 03:50, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Altering Caption of "Weeping Frenchman" Picture

The caption says "A Frenchman weeps as German soldiers march into the French capital, Paris, on June 14, 1940, after the Allied armies had been driven back across France", however: 1) It doesn't make sense as it's extremely doubtful there was a civilian crowd to greet German soldiers in Paris. 2) The same picture on Commons tells a different and more believable story, supported by a movie [1] (very end) showing the same scene in context.

French people staring and waving at the French Army remaining troops leaving metropolitan France at Toulon harbour, 1940, to reach the French colonies in Africa where will be organized as Free French Forces fighting on the Allied side, while France is taken over by the Nazis and the Petain regime collaborating with them. Screenhot taken from the 1943 United States Army propaganda film Divide and Conquer (Why We Fight #3) directed by Frank Capra and partially based on, news archives, animations, restaged scenes and captured propaganda material from both sides. As a propaganda film from "unknown" source, it is unsure if the scene was really shot on location or if it was later restaged in studios.

In light of this, I'm editing the text of the picture accordingly and captions where used. 82.231.41.7 (talk) 13:59, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pic

Why's there no picture of somebody crying and producing tears? That would be a very useful illustration than the drab diagram we have now. 124.30.235.62 (talk) 15:29, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Not a bad idea, done. WLU (talk) 15:35, 18 April 2008 (UTC)