ACHOO Syndrome — Sneezing and the Sun
In the summer I always find myself sneezing whenever I leave a building and walk outside, hitting a wall of bright sunshine. This is not something I particularly make conversation about as, let’s face it, what exactly is there to talk about? The cause of my sneezing was obviously linked to sunlight… so what?
However, about a year ago I started to realise that this condition may be more widespread than I had thought when, during a game of Trivial Pursuit, I got asked what Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst Syndrome was. Getting excited I answered that it surely had to be the medical term for whatever ‘syndrome’ I had: sneezing when confronted with the sun.
I was close, but the quiz Nazis I was playing with didn’t allow me a piece of that tasty, multi-coloured pie as the correct answer was that ACHOO Syndrome is a backronym for the Photic Sneeze Reflex, the correct name for this condition.
Bastards.
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Happens to me all the time. I’ve tracked it in four generations of my family. Autosomal dominant. Occurs with either eye, but stronger with both eyes.