All About Tears

Don't hold back the tears. According to doctors, a good cry now and then may do a body good.

Just as sweat removes salt, urine removes waste, and mucus traps bacteria, tears also serve a purpose. Emotional tears -- shed in moments of intense feeling -- carry stress hormones and are a way of getting rid of them. Even if crying embarrasses you, it signals that you've reached a level of stress that's detrimental to your health. So let it out.

Your body makes several kinds of tears:

• Basal tears are produced continuously to keep your eyes lubricated; that layer of moisture also helps prevent damage from air currents and bits of floating debris.
• Irritant tears are produced when the eyes are hit by flying sand, grit, insects, etc.
• Emotional tears are released in moments of intense feeling -- sometimes joy, but more often sorrow.

Unlike basal or irritant tears, which are protective, emotional tears are hormonal and chemically different. One major hormone that increases with stress is also associated with crying: prolactin. Levels of prolactin in the body correlate positively with frequency of emotional crying.

Reference
YOU: The Owner's Manual. Roizen, M. F., Oz, M. C., New York: HarperCollins, 2005.