On 28 Sep 2005 11:21:06 -0700, "UofADavid128" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>Wow...just asked an on the surface question...people are amazing.
I was interested to read how many people chew gum when riding, presumably
for this reason of dry mouth. I like "Extra" wrigley's _Wildberry Frost_.
Oddly twice now I've had it actually "liquify" near the end of a ride and
it's never done that before. (Very unpleasant, because though liquified it
became impossibly, uh 'gummy' and hard to spit out.)
Though I think gum helps with the problem of dry mouth, presumably due to
rapid mouth breathing, most of the time my mouth isn't that dry.
However on a handful of occasions my mouth has been inexplicably dry
despite adequate hydration and the gum actually sticks to my mouth - very
strange; as though the dry mouth is due to unusual nerve stimulation or
something other than hydration.
According to Wiki: "the Sympathetic nervous system can accelerate heart
rate, widen bronchial passages, decrease motility (movement) of the large
intestine, constrict blood vessels, cause pupil dilation, activate goose
bumps, start sweating and raise blood pressure."
So...for biking...good!
But: (also Wiki)
"The parasympathetic nervous system only uses acetylcholine (ACh) as its
neurotransmitter. The ACh acts on two types of receptors, the muscarinic
and nicotinic cholinergic receptors. Most transmissions occur in two
stages, when stimulated the preganglionic nerve releases ACh at the
ganglion, which act on nicotinic receptors of the postganglionic nerve. The
postganglionic nerve then releases ACh to stimulate the muscarinic
receptors of the target organ.
....
Further: "...The M3 (muscarinic) receptors are...located in many glands
which help to stimulate secretion in salivary glands..."
So it seems Cotton Mouth could possibly be a failure, or blockage of the
Parasympatheic nervous system to produce or activate the M3 receptors with
Acetylcholine.
Also at those few times, drinking fails to do more than temporarily solve
the problem. Most of the time, gum works great! ;-)
jj