PDA

View Full Version : Mom was right. Bundle up!



Mags
11-14-2005, 18:47
A news item that many of us knew.:

A news item that may be of interest to hikers:

New research says chilly feet can bring on a cold

CTV.ca News Staff

If your mother always warned you to wrap up warm to
avoid catching a cold, it appears she may have been
right all along.

British scientists say they have proof that a drop in
body temperature can kickstart viruses which lie
dormant in people during the cold season, from October
to March.

And getting your feet wet, they found, can triple the
risk of developing cold symptoms such as sore throat,
sneezing and coughing.

Staff at the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff, Wales,
asked 90 hardy volunteers to keep their bare feet in
icy water for 20 minutes.

A third of them developed colds during the following
five days, compared to just 9 per cent of another test
group who did not get their feet wet.

So while parents can now be confident in their advice
to children to wrap up well in winter, the findings do
contradict accepted scientific wisdom which dismisses
a link between chilling and viral infection.

Professor Ron Eccles, of Cardiff University's Common
Cold Centre, led the research and said the findings
supported centuries of common sense thinking.

"Mothers can now be confident in their advice to
children to wrap up well in winter," he told the Daily
Mail.

"We have reports going back hundreds of years where
people knew if they got soaking wet they were more
likely to develop a cold, so it passed into folklore
for good reason.

"It's only today, when it's less likely that people
will get drenched and they can warm up more quickly
because of central heating, that the connection has
been cast into doubt."

The research findings published in the medical journal
Family Practice say the fact that common colds are
more prevalent in the winter could be related to an
increased incidence of chilling causing more clinical
colds.

But another explanation could be our noses are colder
in winter.

"A cold nose may be one of the major factors that
causes common colds to be seasonal," Prof Eccles
explained.

"When the cold weather comes, we wrap ourselves up in
winter coats to keep warm, but our nose is directly
exposed to the cold air.

"Cooling of the nose slows down clearance of viruses
from the nose and slows down the white cells that
fight infection."

Anyone becoming chilled and worrying about developing
a cold could help themselves by warming up as quickly
as possible, Prof Eccles added.

But the best protection against the miserable common
cold could be simply to dress warmly in winter and
keep feet dry.

smokymtnsteve
11-14-2005, 20:32
the Best protection against colds and flus is to wash your hands,,

now as far as to cold feet.. last year I had real cold feet esp the day I stayed out cutting firewood at 25 below..

my feet got real cold, so cold that when I warmed up by the wood stove later I screamed as the blood started circulating in my toes again :eek:

but I did not have a cold all that winter,,,even though my nose stayed really cold esp. that day when I came back from the trip to Fairbanks and saw the minus 43 temps,,,I had to snowshoe back up to the cabin that night but it was warmer at only 28 below,,,but my nose got cold ... but no cold or flu.

now when I went to the Iditarod that March it was warm,,,so warm that the beggining of the race was moved .then I got on the plane ,,which was also warm to fly back Atlanta, which is also warm..man I had the worst cold a few days after getting back to Atlanta...

so I'm still a believer in germs and viruses causing colds and flus ..not cold feet.

Not that I'm a fan of cold feet..so this year I have purchased a pair of bunny boots...U don't even need wool socks with your bunny boots ..a ole cheap pair of damp cotton socks inside your bunny boots and your feet are WARM at 20 below :D

weary
11-14-2005, 22:13
....British scientists say they have proof that a drop in
body temperature can kickstart viruses which lie
dormant in people during the cold season, from October
to March. And getting your feet wet, they found, can triple the
risk of developing cold symptoms such as sore throat,
sneezing and coughing.....
I won't dispute the good scientists. But that aint been my experience. I can't count the times when I sensed a cold coming on -- but went winter hiking anyway, only to return after several days of near zero temperatures with no sign of sickness.

People have always said I was a strange cuss. Now, at last, we have documentary evidence.

saimyoji
11-14-2005, 23:45
the Best protection against colds and flus is to wash your hands,,


Unfortunately washing hands has no effect on airborne pathogens. In Japan, when people get sick, they have the courtesy to wear a cotton face mask. People nowadays rarely have the courtesy (or common sense) to cover their mouths when the sneeze.

Just Jeff
11-15-2005, 00:55
There goes Mags...saying the sky's blue again... :p

Rain Man
11-15-2005, 10:09
A news item that many of us knew....

I'll wait until other researchers duplicate these "findings" and ALSO the effect of mental suggestion. After all, if we "know" that being chilly brings on colds, then the subjects of this one experiment had a strong mental suggestion that they'd fall ill. This is called the placebo effect.

As in, is it the chill, or what we "know" that gives us colds when chilly?

Rain Man

.

Chip
11-15-2005, 10:45
the Best protection against colds and flus is to wash your hands,,

now as far as to cold feet.. last year I had real cold feet esp the day I stayed out cutting firewood at 25 below..

my feet got real cold, so cold that when I warmed up by the wood stove later I screamed as the blood started circulating in my toes again :eek:

but I did not have a cold all that winter,,,even though my nose stayed really cold esp. that day when I came back from the trip to Fairbanks and saw the minus 43 temps,,,I had to snowshoe back up to the cabin that night but it was warmer at only 28 below,,,but my nose got cold ... but no cold or flu.

now when I went to the Iditarod that March it was warm,,,so warm that the beggining of the race was moved .then I got on the plane ,,which was also warm to fly back Atlanta, which is also warm..man I had the worst cold a few days after getting back to Atlanta...

so I'm still a believer in germs and viruses causing colds and flus ..not cold feet.

Not that I'm a fan of cold feet..so this year I have purchased a pair of bunny boots...U don't even need wool socks with your bunny boots ..a ole cheap pair of damp cotton socks inside your bunny boots and your feet are WARM at 20 below :D

Hi SMS,
Educate me. What are bunny boots ? Never heard about this.
Thanks,
Chip :)

justusryans
11-15-2005, 10:55
Hi SMS,
Educate me. What are bunny boots ? Never heard about this.
Thanks,
Chip :)
I think he's talking about the military surplus Mickey Mouse boots. The ones with the air valves. I wore them in Alaska and they are about the warmest boots in the world. Funny looking though!;)

Mags
11-15-2005, 13:31
There goes Mags...saying the sky's blue again... :p
Yep..I was only midly surprised to see 8 or so responses to a simple link. :)

Makes sense though..if you are cold and wet, you are more likely to get sick than if you are warm and dry. Your body works harder, your immunue system can't fight germs as effectively. Think that's the whole article in a nutshell.

But, as I mention, I am not the most intelligent person and will leave it to the other more intelligent folks to argue the specifics. :)

Chip
11-15-2005, 20:23
I think he's talking about the military surplus Mickey Mouse boots. The ones with the air valves. I wore them in Alaska and they are about the warmest boots in the world. Funny looking though!;)

Many Thanks for the explanation. I would hate to pop a hole in one of those
boots. Wonder if you would fly around like a untied balloon ? :D

alalskaman
11-16-2005, 03:16
The cold nose part of this, makes a lot of sense to me...the last couple of years, whenever its below about 20, I've been using a "Psolar" face mask, with a little heat exchanger -- when you breathe out, it captures some warmth, and when you breathe in again, it warms the air up a bit. I know, it sounds like something you'd buy on the internet...and in fact I did....BUT it really does make a difference...complete face protection, warm incoming air...I was on a hike in about zero, and a stiff wind....the people I was with were whining and cursing...when I took the mask off for a bit, I knew what they were up against...so try a face mask, whether "Psolar' or somebody elses.

Just Jeff
11-16-2005, 03:59
Do those make it any tougher to breathe? When I hear about those things, I imagine breathing through a gas mask for some reason!

DLFrost
11-16-2005, 07:15
"We have reports going back hundreds of years where
people knew if they got soaking wet they were more
likely to develop a cold, so it passed into folklore
for good reason.

"It's only today, when it's less likely that people
will get drenched and they can warm up more quickly
because of central heating, that the connection has
been cast into doubt."
There's another factor in play here: Diet. Throughout most of human history the quality of most people's diets--especially during the winter--was not very good. With people barely able to obtain adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids and the like, exposure to "stressors" like a soaking in cold rain could indeed bring on sickness. Chances are that they were already fighting off the latest cold bug anyway; the shock simply tipped the balance towards the invader.

Now we can go to stores and get fresh fruit, veggies, and anything else all year 'round. So our immune systems are operating at a higher level of efficiency and can handle the load. Hell, we even go skiing, skating and snowboarding for fun. (Camping qualifies as a need. :D )

Doug Frost

Mags
11-16-2005, 11:35
Now we can go to stores and get fresh fruit, veggies, and anything else all year 'round. So our immune systems are operating at a higher level of efficiency and can handle the load. Hell, we even go skiing, skating and snowboarding for fun. (Camping qualifies as a need. :D )



..unless you are like most Americans and get Big Macs, Twinkies, processed sugar and white flour year round. ;)