They're known by many names—goose pimples, goosebumps, or even cutis anserine, which is what doctors call them—but the effect is always the same: small bumps on your skin when you're cold, emotional, or even frightened. They might be small, but goosebumps are a fascinating leftover from our ancient history, a biological response that binds us to the animal kingdom in more than one way. But why do they happen, and are they useful for anything? Let's explore the science behind goosebumps.

Each and every hair in your body is connected to it an infinitesimally small muscle called the arrector pili. Activating theses muscles tightens them up and lifts the associated hair perpendicularly out from the hair shaft, in turn causing minute bulges overlying the attached hairs. Activation is caused through stimulation of nerves activated by these special muscles leading ultimately to release by the brain controlling the system.

The nerves surrounding the arrector pili send electrical messages that instruct these muscles to tense up. The process is not voluntary, and you can't decide when the goosebumps will occur. But what's behind this action?

Why We Get Goosebumps?

A Chilling Reaction to Cold

The most typical cause of goosebumps is cold exposure. When the body senses a decrease in temperature, the sympathetic nervous system is triggered, making the arrector pili muscles contract. This will lift body hair, which, in thick-furred animals, traps a layer of warm air. In humans, though, our fairly thin body hair makes this purpose largely ineffective.

Fear and the Fight-or-Flight Response

Ever felt your hair stand on end when you hear something creepy in the dark? That's your fight-or-flight response activating. When we sense danger, the body releases a hormone called adrenaline, getting us ready for action. In animals, this makes them look bigger and more formidable to predators. Humans don't have sufficient body hair for this to work, but the physiological reaction is still there.

Emotional and Aesthetic Triggers

Goosebumps are not just reserved for fear or cold; they also happen when we feel strong emotions. Whether it is listening to a moving piece of music, seeing a moving moment, or feeling intense nostalgia, goosebumps tend to follow intense emotional experiences. This response is believed to be associated with the reward system of the brain, releasing dopamine when we feel something intensely moving.

Sexual Arousal and Excitement

Another less familiar cause of goosebumps is sexual excitement. Like the physical responses of blushing or increased heart rate, goosebumps can occur as a reaction to increased emotional or physical stimulation. This once again relates to the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary body responses.

Are Goosebumps an Evolutionary Leftover or Still Functional?

For animals, the advantage of piloerection is obvious—it prevents body heat from escaping and is a defense mechanism against predators. But for us, goosebumps are a vestigial trait, much like the tailbone or wisdom teeth. Without fur, do goosebumps have any functional purpose now?

Surprisingly, new studies indicate that goosebumps might be involved in hair growth. A study in the journal Cell discovered that nerves that cause goosebumps are entangled with hair follicle stem cells. When these nerves stimulate the arrector pili muscles, they also stimulate hair follicle stem cells, which could encourage hair regeneration. Although this process is more applicable in hairy animals, it presents interesting possibilities for hair growth therapies in humans.

Is There A Reason Why You Should You Be Worried?

Goosebumps are usually harmless in most cases. But in some rare cases, they can be indicative of underlying medical conditions, which include:

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Certain seizures can cause a condition called piloerection seizures, which cause repeated episodes of goosebumps.

Autonomic Nervous System Disorders: Certain disorders of the autonomic nervous system can lead to abnormal goosebump reactions.

Opiate Withdrawal: Goosebumps are frequent in heroin or opioid withdrawal, leading to the expression "quitting cold turkey," as the bumps have the appearance of a plucked turkey.

If you observe too much or chronic goosebumps without a clear cause, it might be a good idea to see a medical professional.

Since goosebumps no longer play a meaningful survival role for humans, it's possible that they might slowly disappear over the course of evolutionary time, as other vestigial characteristics have. But with new evidence connecting goosebumps to hair growth, they could be more important than we originally thought.

There has been a rise of many weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy. This has said to help America's battle with obesity, but has also prompted questions as to where the country is heading. If it really is a health epidemic?

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2 in 5 American adults are obese, and they have a body mass index of above 30. While body mass index (BMI) is not the best and reliable way to consider someone as overweight or obese, it does give insights on healthy lifestyle. The condition is also associated with a host of serious medical issues. If you are overweight or obese, you are more prone to have a stroke, or develop diabetes, experience heart attack or even have cancer. It is also estimated to cost the country's health care system nearly $173 billion a year.

US News, as part of its 2025 Best State rankings has released a list of top 10 obese states in America, based on their reported data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. This is based on a partnership between the CDC and the state health departments.

39 of the 50 states with available data for 2023 posted age-adjusted obesity rates of 30% or more. Three of them has hit a threshold of at least 40%.

Here are the Top 10 States in the United States With Highest Obesity Rates

• At top, we have West Virginia, with an obesity rate of 41.7%
• Then comes Arkansas, at 40.5%
• Next up is Mississippi at 40.4%
• At fourth position is Louisiana at 39.9%
• Alabama is at 39.4%
• Oklahoma is at 39.0%
• Iowa is at 37.9%
• Kentucky is at 37.8%
• Indiana is at 37.8%
• Tennessee is at 37.8%

The top 10 US states with the lowest obesity rates are:

• Colorado at 24.6%
• Hawaii at 26.8%
• Massachusetts at 27.1%
• California at 27.7%
• New York at 27.9%
• New Jersey at 28.5%
• Vermont at 29.0%
• Connecticut at 29.2%
• Florida at 29.7%
• Montana at 30.2%

Other Facts And Figures Around Obesity In US

As per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a person whose weight is higher than what is considered to be a normal weight for a given height is described as being overweight or having obesity.

As per 2017 and 2018 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), nearly 1 in 3 adults are overweight. The data also states that more than 2 in 5 adults have obesity, while 1 in 11 adults have severe obesity.

The data also notes that about 1 in 6 children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are overweight. Almost 1 in 5 children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 have obesity and about 1 in 16 children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 have severe obesity.

As per a 2024 Lancet Study, titled, National-level and state-level prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, adolescents, and adults in the USA, 1990–2021, and forecasts up to 2050, nearly 3 in 4 adults in the US are now considered overweight or have obesity.

Many experts have called this as a silent killer as it leads to bone and joint problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, sleep apnea, cancers and stroke.

The best way to deal with this it to keep your weight in check, check the nutritional levels of food items you buy, and snack smarter.

The way our body reacts to outside stimulants depends on various factors, whether it is what kind of food we eat, lifestyle choices, what kind of environment we live in as well as what our biological sex is. Due to the difference in physical attributes, it is not unlikely that the outcome of certain conditions is not the same for everyone.

A simple example that we can take is how two people who start gym at the same time, have different levels of progress despite doing the same exercises. There could be various reasons for it, one being different dietary choices, or whether they are male or female, etc. This logic can also be applied to medical issues. A new study found that while women are more likely to fall ill with a number of diseases, men are actually more likely to fall victim to these health conditions.

Men Have A Higher Rate of Death Across Multiple Health Issues

Published in the Lancet Public Health journal, researchers analyzed worldwide health data from 2021. The findings indicated that for 13 of the top 20 causes of injury and illness, men experienced higher rates of both sickness and death compared to women. This includes significant health challenges such as COVID-19, traffic accidents, heart conditions, respiratory illnesses, and liver diseases, highlighting a broad spectrum of vulnerabilities affecting men's health.

While the study highlights the higher risk of early death for men, the researchers also noted that women generally tend to live longer. However, their analysis also revealed that women experience a greater burden of illness throughout their lives from non-fatal conditions. These include musculoskeletal problems, mental health issues, and headaches, suggesting a different pattern of health challenges where women may face more chronic, even though they are not as fatal for them.

How Did The Researchers Find This?

For this crucial study, researchers looked at information from a big project called the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. This project collects information about sickness and death from all over the world. Their analysis specifically focused on identifying health differences between men and women for conditions affecting both sexes, so they excluded health issues like ovarian and prostate cancer. The results showed that clear disparity between the rates of men and women who succumb to the diseases.

The study showed that men were 45% more likely to get sick or die from COVID-19 than women. This difference was biggest in places like Africa south of the Sahara, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Heart disease was another big problem for men. They were also 45% more likely to get sick or die from heart issues compared to women. This was especially true for men in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

The study showed that many of the health problems that affect men more, the risk might be small when they are young. But as men get older, the difference in risk between them and women gets bigger. One exception was car accidents, which sadly affect young men between 10 and 24 years old more than anyone else.

What Is The Biggest Health Concern For Most Women?

For women, the biggest health problem was low back pain. In 2021, women had this problem much more often than men. This was especially true for women in rich countries, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Unlike men, women often start having more of their specific health issues when they are young, and these problems can get worse as they age.

This study shows how different men and women are, and how despite living in similar situations and dealing with the same issues, the outcome can drastically vary.

While medications are made to have a certain effect on one’s body, everyone’s body is built differently. What may work on one person may not have the same effect on others. Different eating habits, lifestyle choices and other factors can enhance or decline the effect of medication.

One such anomaly that researchers have found is a particular spice. A new study found that consuming this spice can change the way medication reacts to your body. Published in the Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences journal, researchers have found that cinnamon is a key ingredient in the way one’s body processes medicine. While some cinnamon is good for your body, a lot of it could stop your body from using certain drugs properly.

How Does Cinnamon Impact Medication In The Body?

Researchers in this study wanted to understand exactly how cinnamon and the important parts of it affect the way our bodies break down medicines. To do this, they did experiments that copied how our stomachs digest food. They looked closely at cinnamon oil and two main things it contains: cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid. The study showed that both of these things can turn on special sensors in our bodies called xenobiotic receptors. These sensors are important for controlling how we deal with drugs.

Researchers explained the activation of these receptors by excessive cinnamon intake could lead the body to eliminate some drugs too rapidly, meaning, it could make our bodies get rid of some medicines too quickly. If this happens, the medicines might not stay in our bodies long enough to do their job properly, making them less effective. So, while a little cinnamon might be good for you, using too much could actually make some of your medications not work as well as they should.

How Much Cinnamon Poses Risk?

The researchers pointed out that even though a small amount of cinnamon in your food is probably okay, using a lot of it regularly or in strong forms could be a problem. They specifically warned that cinnamon supplements, which have a much higher amount of cinnamon in them, might be more likely to cause these issues with your medicines. Because of this, the researchers strongly advise people to talk to their doctors before they start taking any cinnamon supplements or similar products to be safe.

As the popularity of cinnamon grew researchers wanted to bring this issue to the forefront. A lot of people like type 2 diabetes patients who benefit from cinnamon. According to a study published in the American Diabetes Association 2003, one three and six grans if cinnamon per day reduced the amount of serum glucose, LDL or bad cholesterol and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes, effectively lowering risk of cardiovascular diseases and other conditions linked with diabetes.

As many people become aware of the health benefits of cinnamon and start incorporating it in their diet, it is important to do more research to find out what side effects it could have and how it could potentially affect our health. While this new study gives us some important information, the researchers say we still need to do more research, especially studies with people, to really understand how cinnamon might interact with different medications.