KISS to Live Long

“May I kiss you then? On this miserable paper? I might as well open the window and kiss the night air.” ― Franz Kafka

Relief showing Queen Nefertiti, 18th Dynasty, Ancient Egypt, c1352-1336 BC. A detail of a relief showing Nefertiti kissing her daughter, perhaps Merytaten, under the rays of the Aten.

Kissing is described in the surviving Ancient Egyptian love poetry from the New Kingdom, found on papyri excavated at Deir el-Medina. The earliest reference to kissing in the Old Testament is in Genesis 27:26, when Jacob deceives his father to obtain his blessing: And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. A little later, we have the first man-woman kiss in the Bible in Genesis 31:11, when Jacob flees from Esau and comes to the house of his uncle Laban: And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

                                                                           Painting  1520–1525 by Palma il Vecchio

Historians really don't know much about the early history of kissing. Four Vedic Sanskrit texts, written in India around 1500 B.C., appear to describe people kissing. The Indian epic poem "Mahabharata" describes kissing on the lips as a sign of affection. The "Mahabharata" was passed down orally for several hundred years before being written down and standardized around 350 A.D. The Indian religious text "Vatsyayana Kamasutram," or the "Kama Sutra," also describes a variety of kisses. It was written in the 6th century A.D. Anthropologists who believe that kissing is a learned behavior theorize that the Greeks learned about it when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C.

Philemetology 

Philematology is the science of kissing. To touch or caress with the lips as an expression of affection, greeting, respect, or amorousness is the definition of kiss. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, peace and good luck, among many others. In some situations a kiss is a ritual, formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion, respect, or sacrament. The word came from Old English cyssan (“to kiss”), in turn from coss (“a kiss”).

Human lips are the most sensitive part of our body, it has the slimmest layer of skin on the body and are among the most densely populated with sensory neurons of any bodily region, 100 times more sensitive than fingertips or even genitalia. Even our brains have special neurons that help us find each other's lips in the dark. Half of our cranial neurons influence the kiss by releasing a cascade of neural messages and chemicals, which create the intense euphoric sensations. Kissing signals our brain to produce oxytocin, a hormone often called "love hormone" that makes us feel good. Even during kissing, some chemicals secreted around our lips and inside our mouth which make us  feel one kiss is just not enough and our lips desired kisses after kisses. When  we kiss, our hearts beat faster and our breathing becomes deep and irregular, mimicking the response of intense exercise. So kissing can be considered a great cardiovascular workout; as an one-minute kiss burns 26 - 95 calories. A long kiss boosts metabolism and causes our bodies to burn sugar faster than usual; at the same time, it's a terrific tension reliever.  Also, kissing is apparently good for the teeth and can prevent cavities.

Although there are many muscles involved in kissing, the most important muscle in kissing is the orbicularis oris, which is what allows us to pucker. A dry kiss with a simple pucker only requires the involvement of two muscles, however a French kiss requires 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles. In the case of the French kiss, the tongue is also an important component.

HIV / AIDS

Every person of this world fears this term HIV / AIDS. But to assure you i want to say that practically it is impossible to get contaminated by HIV is nearly impossible unless a person has a bleeding gum. The only documented case where two partners enrolled in the study in 1992 conducted by Dr. Nancy Padian at the University of California at San Francisco where a man was known to be infected through the injection of drugs and the woman was uninfected. After few years at around 1997 both of them found positive after the only history of kissing with bleeding gum as the mode of transmission of disease . 

But the human mouth is full of bacteria. When two people kiss, they exchange between 10 million and 1 billion bacteria, which is more than most animal bites.

Kissing Disease

Kissing disease also known as Infectious mononucleosis (also known as mono, glandular fever, Pfeiffer's disease, Filatov's disease) is an infectious, widespread viral disease caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), one type of herpes virus, against which over 90% of adults are likely to have acquired immunity by the age of 40. Occasionally, the symptoms can recur at a later period. Most people are exposed to the virus as children, when the disease produces no noticeable or only flu-like symptoms. In developing countries, people are exposed to the virus in early childhood more often than in developed countries. As a result, the disease in its observable form is more common in developed countries. It is most common among adolescents and young adults.

Especially in adolescents and young adults, the disease is characterized by fever, sore throat and fatigue, along with several other possible signs and symptoms. It is primarily diagnosed by observation of symptoms, but suspicion can be confirmed by several diagnostic tests. It is generally a self-limiting disease, and little treatment is normally required.

Kissing on the lips can result in the transmission of some other diseases, including Rhino-virus, Influenza virus, Rota-virus, nor-walk virus, gingivitis, tonsillitis, chicken pox, diphtheria, mumps,Swine flu when the infectious viruses are present in saliva. 

SARS

SARS  virus are found in human tears as well as saliva though there is no scientific record is indicated that it can be spread by any kind of kissing. But kissing the pet can give you diphtheria, rabies etc.

Health benefits

“'Mucous membranes inside the mouth are permeable to hormones such as testosterone. Through open-mouth kissing, men introduced testosterone into a woman’s mouth,' which 'is absorbed through the mucous membranes… and increases arousal and the likelihood that she will engage in reproductive behavior.”

Affection in general has stress-reducing effects. Kissing in particular has been studied in a controlled experiment and it was found that increasing the frequency of kissing in marital and cohabiting relationships results in a reduction of perceived stress, an increase in relationship satisfaction, and a lowering of LDL cholesterol levels. At the same time kissing stimulates the brain and creates a sense of peace and calmness by altering the body’s oxytocin levels.

Kissing can also cause the adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline) into the blood, thereby causing an adrenaline rush, which has a beneficial impact on the cardiovascular system because the heart pumps faster. In an experiment by Dr. Alexander DeWees, a passionate kiss generally burns up to 2–3 calories per minute. Kissing helps to dilate your blood vessels, which may help lower your blood pressure. The blood-vessel-dilation also helps to relieve pain, particularly from headache or menstrual cramps.

Kissing decreases IgE antibodies in the blood that are responsible for the release of histamine. Histamine release in the blood stream causes allergy symptoms such as sneezing and watery eyes. Therefore, more kissing means less sneezing and histamine release. kissing has been shown to boost your immune system and reduce allergic responses in people with skin or nasal allergies. Kissing also helps to prevent cavities.

Kissing keeps facial muscles toned. A vigorous kiss helps you shape up your neck and jawline by working out a number of facial muscles.