Can being outside with wet hair make you ill? Do allergies go dormant? Get the truth
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comWinter health myths: Sorting fact from fiction
Seeded on Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:50 AM EST (msnbc.com)
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The article says
"Wet hair, icy temperatures, and exposed heads don't cause colds — viruses do"
However, it does not state that lowering the body temperature also weakens the immune system which can make folks more likely to be infected by the cold virus.. you say tomato - I say tomatoh
How about another myth...
The Flu Virus kills thousands every year- MYTH
According to the CDCs OWN website, the Flu virus is responsible for between 3,000 (low side estimate) and 49,000 (high side estimate) deaths in a 30 year period between 1976 and 2006. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/disease.htm
You are 10,000,000 times more likely to be killed by a car accident on your way to get a flu shot... keep that in mind when putting big pharma into your body.
Terrence747, EXACTLY!
While indeed it is true "word for word" that being cold doesn't make you "catch" a virus, it does make you more susceptible to one.
We generally harbor all sorts of illnesses year-round, but our healthy immune systems keep them in check. However, if we expose our bodies to extreme temperature changes (HOT/COLD), stress, lack of sleep or exercise, etc. it lowers the effectiveness of our immune systems, the bugs take over, and we become SICK.
I'm tired of people saying it's a myth. Being cold doesn't make you CATCH the virus, but it certainly CAN make you sick.
You need a huge caveat there Terrence, yes, lowering the body temp past a certain point does impede the immune system, however, it needs to be the core temperature not just limbs. And by the time you got to that point, you have far far more immediate, life threatening problems to worry about do to hypothermia.
Wet icy hair, exposed cold hands or head, or cold temps by themselves don't matter at all. It's chronic lowered body temp that does.
Mitchell
Dear Mr. Rogers,
A little knowledge is dangerous as well. The CDC study was from 1976 to 2007, and the ANNUAL deaths in the US reasonably attributed to influenza range from 3,000 to 49,000. The exact number is unknown, but probably higher, because flu "seasons" vary in length and severity, and because the states are not required to list with the CDC the incidence of cases or deaths from influenza in patients over the age of 18, so lots of deaths from flu, especially from the elderly, are not reported as such.
Pharmaceuticals have saved "ten million times" more lives than homeopathy or natural remedies. And that's a fact.
OhMy, shivering and water do nothing special to your immune response, and no greater heat is lost through a hatless head than any other equally exposed body area. Desert dwellers and Inuits live in extreme climates and don't have any immune suppression because of the temperature. Temperatures extremes can kill you if core temps get too high or too low. Nothing to do with immune response, except when you're dying and your body tries one last time to save itself by flooding the system with immune soldiers.
About Wicked winter health myth #6:
It is better to not burn wood at all. If you like fires, natural gas, propane, or electric fireplaces are a great alternative. Who wants to get sick from woodsmoke?
Wood smoke is a health hazard and a nuisance for members of your community. Please consider other people's health and well-being before you burn. Thanks.
I have gone out in the winter with wet hair more than once and did not contact a virus.