Elderly people who often yawn should be careful of stroke.

　　When we don't get enough sleep, we often yawn constantly. Spring is also the time when people feel sleepy. Many people experience symptoms such as lack of energy, fatigue, lethargy, and frequent yawning. As the saying goes: "Spring is sleepy, autumn is lackluster, and summer takes a nap."

　　In spring, when the average temperature gradually rises, the human body's yang energy also begins to grow, the metabolism becomes increasingly vigorous, the pores on the body surface stretch, the blood vessels soften, the blood supply of peripheral capillaries increases, and the blood flowing into the brain microvessels decreases, which weakens the excitatory stimulation of the central nervous system and even inhibits it. Yawning a few times at this time can increase the body's oxygen intake through deep breathing, which can relieve fatigue. Therefore, spring sleepiness is not a disease, but a short-term physiological phenomenon that the human body adjusts accordingly with the changes of the seasons.

　　Yawning is a normal physiological phenomenon for people, but for some elderly people, especially those suffering from high blood pressure, cerebral arteriosclerosis, and high blood viscosity, when they yawn frequently, it is an ominous sign, indicating that a "stroke" is coming. Clinical observation shows that more than 70% of stroke patients yawn frequently in the 5 to 10 days before the onset of the disease. This phenomenon is a cry for help sent by the brain to us due to severe lack of oxygen. This is because the hardening of blood vessels reduces the elasticity of the blood vessel wall and the lumen of the blood vessels becomes relatively narrow, resulting in reduced blood flow per unit time, so that the brain tissue is often in a state of hypoxia.

　　In order to change this state, the body has two self-regulation pathways: one is to stimulate the respiratory center through the feedback mechanism of the brain, adjust the breathing speed and depth to correct the hypoxic state; the other is to yawn, open the mouth and inhale deeply to reduce the intracerebral pressure and increase the amount of blood returned to the heart through the veins, thereby increasing the cardiac blood output accordingly, forcing the blood to quickly reach the brain tissue to improve the cerebral hypoxic state. Therefore, when the elderly, especially those suffering from high blood pressure and cerebral arteriosclerosis, yawn continuously, they should be alert to the occurrence of stroke and should be accompanied by their family members to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

　　Experts remind that the temperature difference in spring changes greatly, which is the season with high incidence of stroke. When the elderly, patients with high blood pressure, cerebral arteriosclerosis, and other high-risk groups of strokes experience symptoms similar to spring sleepiness, they should go to the hospital for examination immediately. Do not treat these precursors of stroke as "spring sleepiness" and relax your vigilance, otherwise it will lead to serious consequences.