Warm beer all round then.
I’ll drink to that.
And I thought nothing exciting ever happens in the Health forum.
:s
Rantheman is not stating anything as fact–he’s just got a hunch that the Chinese are onto something. He is also excited to have found Forumosa and a whole bunch of new buddies, and is sharing a tidbit of Chinese wisdom with us.
I have one to share of my own. Ever notice how, when you’ve gotten wet in a light drizzle without anything to cover your head, you’re likey to start sniffling, sneezing and come down with a cold? Doesn’t happen when I get soaked, only when I’ve been caught in a drizzle that most people think is harmless.
This is a bit of wisdom I learned from the older folks back home (Micronesia), and though I have no research or scientific evidence to support it, I’ve found it to be true through observation of my kids (I have many) and myself.
So maybe rantheman comes off a little strong, but I think he’s right that the Chinese have lots of wisdom to share: that generally, cold is not good for your body, cuo yue zi (the healing food, avoidance of cold, not the silly superstitions) is good for a woman after birth.
There’s a book a friend recommended a fews back, written by an American doctor about Eastern Medicine, and he supposedly addresses cold food, drinks, air-conditioning, etc and its effects on the body. If anyone knows of any research, please post links.
i’m a lot healthier physically than i was in the states. i almost never get a cold, though allergies are a problem. i really believe in kong shing tchai and warm drinks. yeah, like sandman, i love my cold drinks- pearl milk tea, watermelon drinks, and all that. bao bing sometimes.
hey this is off the subject maybe, but i noticed last time i went to japan everybody i knew ten years ago looked almost EXACTLY the same! i know japanese eat a lot smaller portions of the same foods than they would in a japanese restaurant in other countries (caloric restriction??) i know their lung cancer is way lower because of sushi (vitamin A protects lungs even though they smoke).
Taiwan… Year 2000… Average Life Expectancy: 76.4
USA… Year 2000… Average Life Expectancy: 77.1
Japan… Year 2000… Average Life Expectancy: 80.7
[quote=“braxtonhicks”]I have one to share of my own. Ever notice how, when you’ve gotten wet in a light drizzle without anything to cover your head, you’re likey to start sniffling, sneezing and come down with a cold? Doesn’t happen when I get soaked, only when I’ve been caught in a drizzle that most people think is harmless.
This is a bit of wisdom I learned from the older folks back home (Micronesia), and though I have no research or scientific evidence to support it, I’ve found it to be true through observation of my kids (I have many) and myself.[/quote]
There’s scientific proof to back this up, dating from way back to the flu pandemic early last century.
Getting too cold stresses the body, which lowers your immune functions. You are therefore more likely to actually come down with a cold or the flu. We are exposed to these viruses all the time; we usually only get symptoms if we are somehow immunilogically suppressed.
One study went like this: two groups of pigs, both exposed to cold germs. One group was doused with cold water; the other wasn’t. The percentage of pigs who actually got cold symptoms was far higher in the chilled group.
Maybe that is why it is called “a cold”.
I never ever ever ever drink hot liquids, even in the cold and snow of Chicago weather. I haven’t been sick for at least 5 years, except that one time I made out with a girl who had a cold, but thats different. So I think your theory is bogus. But what do I know, I’m just a Doctor…of love 
I never drink warm drinks. My grandmother thinks I’ll make myself ill and need a nice hot cup of tea.
But I don’t get ill. I’ve never had a serious illness. I did get a bit of a cold a couple of weeks ago, but it mysteriously went away again after a few days. No medicine, no warm drinks. Funnily enough, that’s what happened last year too. And now I’m wandering around at home in my bare feet, oblivious to the harm I’m doing myself.
Some people argue that a certain amount of shock is good for the body, because it stimulates the immune system. Some believe enough to run from the sauna to the snow and roll around in it. Have you ever met one of those disgustingly healthy viking women with ruddy cheeks and the ability to wrestle a moose? Tell her to stay warm and comfy and wrapped in cotton wool and see what she thinks.
Here’s another one for you: I don’t use soap on my body either. Tell me again how bad that is.
stragbasher,
viking women aren’t really my taste, but everybody’s got their kinky side. the moose part… i heard there are pubs for that kind of thing in shinjuku.
snow sex, wow!
braxtonhicks, rantheman was indeed stating those old wives’ tales as facts. He didn’t say, “it is possible” or “maybe”. He didn’t even say, “I heard a unconfirmed rumor that an old Chinese woman in the 5th century got sick by walking on the cold floor”, which is what he should have said.
Anyways, I think we’re confusing runny noses and nasal congestion with colds. There is limited scientific evidence that the coronavirus, which thrives in the cold, causes more people viral infections that does its warmer weather counterparts. As its tough for us to grow it in the lab (unlike some of summer cold viruses), we don’t really know. More people get cold in the winter most likely because they are indoors more, and thus there is more chance to catch/spread the infection.
Breathing cold airs inhibits mucus transport in our respiratory system, which causes our body to create too much of it, and the cold weather causes the mucus to get thicker anyways, which causes higher production, etc. Getting a runny nose in cold weather is not usually due to a sudden onset of viral infection =)
Our noses heat cold air that comes in as well. The blood vessels and tissues in your nose swell like crazy, trying to warm the air so it won’t damage your respiratory system. All the swelled blood is what creates nasal congestion.
If you are truly allergic to cold then you’ll know it, but this condition is very rare (it’s called cold urticoti…or something like that). Your body can be “shocked” by the cold, that is, it can panic and overproduce antibodies, looking for foreign objects, etc, but this is an over-heightening of the immune system (ie, allergic reaction), not a weakening. If your body is subjected to extreme cold on the other hand, well, there’s a whole variety of well-known conditions that can arise from that…
If you think that unproven, untested old wives’ tales are “wisdom” (whatever that means), then I think my exhortations are falling on deaf ears anyways.
Yeah but my mother in law is wise and she gives me ginger ginsing chicken soup when it gets cold and know what? It stays cold. I don’t get a cold though, and that is cuz I drink ginsing chicken soup for the nose. :raspberry:
[quote]There’s scientific proof to back this up, dating from way back to the flu pandemic early last century.
Getting too cold stresses the body, which lowers your immune functions. [/quote]
It isn’t nearly as cut and dry as that. Please read the modern literature on this subject; plenty of people who live in cold weather have as healthy or healthier immune systems than those who live in warm weather. Extensive research has been conducted in many countries, including the US, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, etc. The fact is that geographic region is a weak indicator of health. Body weight, blood pressure, and age are much better and reliable indicators. I’m sure our resident statisticians could weigh in on this one.
[quote]We are exposed to these viruses all the time; we usually only get symptoms if we are somehow immunilogically suppressed.
[/quote]
Ever heard of something called sanitation? I guess it isn’t necessary, considering that we’re exposed to these viruses all the time. After all, as long as we aren’t “immunilogically suppressed”, we might as well roll in mucus drip from cold patients, right? 
There are over two hundred viruses that can cause the common cold, and we build immunities to them as we grow older, which is why children as so suseptible to colds: they haven’t built immunities to the most common strains yet. Many viruses are seasonal and regional, which is why people often get colds when they go abroad…stresses on the body caused by travel, yes, but also exposure to new viruses. Did you get a cold your first few weeks or months in Taiwan? Of course you’ve also got air pollutants to deal with…
That story is about pigs, which I haven’t studied in any great detail. I am interested in learning more about this study though. Any info on it? I wonder exactly how their immune sytems were weakened.
Anyways, there is no evidence that chilling the human body weakens the immune system and makes one more likely to contract colds. Do a search on the net…it’s a well debunked medical myth. In the pig study, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “cold symptoms” didn’t mirror the “cold symptons” cold weather causes in humans: runny nose and nasal congestion, which are purely physical.
Isn’t there an actual MD on this site who can jump in to this thread? 
[quote]I have one to share of my own. Ever notice how, when you’ve gotten wet in a light drizzle without anything to cover your head, you’re likey to start sniffling, sneezing and come down with a cold? Doesn’t happen when I get soaked, only when I’ve been caught in a drizzle that most people think is harmless.
This is a bit of wisdom I learned from the older folks back home (Micronesia), and though I have no research or scientific evidence to support it, I’ve found it to be true through observation of my kids (I have many) and myself.[/quote]
There’s this great Dilbert cartoon…he’s about to go on a date, and Dogbert advises him to be less like him…so he’s on the date, and she says, “I believe crystals have healing powers”…and he gets nervous. She goes on, “I have no scientific evidence that it works at all”, and he gets relieved. But she says, “But it’s my point of view that it does.” So he says, “when did ignorance become a point of view”? In the final scene she’s pissed and he thinks, “too much like me.”
I was always under the impression that most cold viruses thrive at tempetures slightly lower than regular body tempeture, so getting chilled increases the chance of catching a cold simply because it becomes tempoarily easier for viruses to enter the body. Makes sense to stay warm, avoid people with colds (lotsa luck on that one) and drink chicken soup in cold season yes?
When it gets cold I often get plugged sinuses and a wicked headache. Is there anything aside from antihistamines that I can do for this? Thanks gao bo an. You obviously know your stuff here.
And also socio-economic factors, considering those countries have pretty good welfare and healthcare/1st world (I’m not talking about the NHS, ha)etc.
Survivalists usually say that dying of cold is a far slower process than dying of overheating, a raising of a couple of degrees of our internal body temperature makes us crazy and our organs pack it in. However, you can last days floating on a ring in the artic. There’s also that whole thing of freezing organs for preservation/transportation and cryongenics.
Don’t open windows eh? Are you talking about westerners living in Taiwan or just westerns in general? I always used to open my windows back home, but I lived in the mountain areas where the air was always fresh, but I dare not even crack them in Taiwan, the air pollution is so bad that it’s hazardous to your health. Ever notice that black nasty film on EVERYTHING? Hmmm I wonder where that came from… 
[quote=“gao_bo_han”][quote]There’s scientific proof to back this up, dating from way back to the flu pandemic early last century.
Getting too cold stresses the body, which lowers your immune functions. [/quote]
It isn’t nearly as cut and dry as that. Please read the modern literature on this subject; plenty of people who live in cold weather have as healthy or healthier immune systems than those who live in warm weather. Extensive research has been conducted in many countries, including the US, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, etc. The fact is that geographic region is a weak indicator of health. Body weight, blood pressure, and age are much better and reliable indicators. I’m sure our resident statisticians could weigh in on this one.[/quote]
Keep in mind that how cold an area is is also a weak indicator of how cold the people who live there are. My hometown in Canada regularily gets down to minus 40 in the winter, but I don’t usually feel cold there - because we don’t spend too much time outside at that temperature, and our houses and means of transportation are well-heated. Contrast this with winter in Sichuan, where it was only 0, but where there was no way to heat buildings. I have never been colder in my life.
cold and damp is bad. hot and too dry in the room is bad (your sinuses will swell up under lack of moisture if it’s cold outside but hot and dry inside). however in the desert that won’t happen. why?
cause your body KNOWS what season it is and the outside environment!
True or false: having a fan blowing directly on you is bad for your health.
I like to sleep with a fan blowing gently but constantly on me, but when I tell the Taiwanese this, they admonish me that it’s bad for my health. They tell me I should use the oscillator, but I can’t sleep with an oscillating fan for the same reason I can’t sleep with a faucet dripping.
Is there any truth to this? I’m convinced it’s nothing but a local myth. I’ve never felt any ill effects from it. Normally I wouldn’t care about it, but my wife takes any opinion or news report about what’s good or bad for one’s health very seriously.