Mom-ninja. Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Colds come from a virus not from walking around with wet hair in an air conditioned house. Sore throats come from a virus and not from not wrapping your throat with a scarf when it's cold outside. Colds also do not come from drafts or fans. I don't understand why Germans believe that you catch colds from situations as the above. Every German I have ever known in my life (and considering I am German that's a lot) thinks that if you do not blow dry your hair you will catch a cold. Drives me batty. My cousin is here with his family for a couple weeks. It is still 90s here. Yesterday, the kids were swimming, and my cousin's wife insisted on blow drying her daughter's hair *outside* so she wouldn't have to go inside the house with the a/c on. Then my cousin told me that their little 4 yr old started a runny nose and sneezing the day before yesterday. This is, of course, from the strong draft that on has to walk through to go inside Walmart. It has nothing to do with the fact that they just flew on an international flight with a bunch of other people and a closed ventilation system. (insert eye roll here) I don't know why this drives me crazy but it does. I just laugh and shake my head at dh in wonder. Viruses, people, viruses. Let's not forget bacteria too. End of rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thanks for that PSA! It irritates me, here in the US, when people tell their kids to come inside because you'll catch a cold. I was raised my a nurse. We knew the facts. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 It's not just Germans, many British hold on to the same misconceptions. Especially those members of one's family who think they know better than you what's best for your children (as in "Why do you never put coats on them, no wonder they're always ill?" - Well, you try putting coats on them and see how long they stay on :glare:) Cassy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Here they tell you that you will catch a cold if you drink cold water. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Well, that must be why we get so many colds around here! I hardly ever blow dry my hair!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm pretty sure that those things can lower your immunity, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 It's not just Germans. My mom, born and raised right here in NC, believes those things too. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) People believe all kinds of wacky things. I'd like to add that "alot" is NOT a word (which I realize has nothing to do with this thread). My German MIL once told me that drinking diet soda is bad for your bones. I have no idea where she got that one from. Of course she also told me that DS will forget everything he ever learned when he turns 6 (because he had started reading early, she was convinced that that was just some weird fluke and I'd have to teach him at 6). Actually, studies have shown that there is a correlation between drinking soda and bone loss. But I don't think they know why yet. I have heard that it is the phosphoric acid in sodas, but I don't know if research has been done to support that theory. As for thinking you could get a cold because you go out with wet hair or whatever, I've always thought that funny, too. But I could believe that getting a good chill might lower your body's natural defenses, leaving you more susceptible to cold viruses. Maybe that's where folks get the notion? Though I would think for an otherwise healthy person it would take a lot more than wet hair in air conditioning! But say you spent all day out in a cold, chilling rain working outside, struggling to keep warm, I could see your body being a little less likely to ward off a cold if exposed to the virus while in that state. Of course, my half-brained theory might be just as bogus as thinking the fan at the door at Walmart will give you a cold, but it always made logical sense. :tongue_smilie: Edited October 12, 2011 by BrookValley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Any links? I rarely drink soda, so I'm not worried about it, but she was claiming any amount would do it. Yeah, I doubt occasional soda drinking would do it. Lemme see what I can dig up as far as links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 And put a hat on those children in the wind, even if its 85 degrees outside. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Yeah, but it's fun to tease the Germans. :lol: I'm kidding of course! ;) A friend of a friend ended up coming from German and he worked with my brother, and became good friends with my brother. He ended up giving my brother a t shirt with the words, "It's the Germans fault" written on it. Not the best t shirt to wear in public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 People believe all kinds of wacky things. I'd like to add that "alot" is NOT a word (which I realize has nothing to do with this thread). You should read this blog post. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona100 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Actually, studies have shown that there is a correlation between drinking soda and bone loss. But I don't think they know why yet. I have heard that it is the phosphoric acid in sodas, but I don't know if research has been done to support that theory. As for thinking you could get a cold because you go out with wet hair or whatever, I've always thought that funny, too. But I could believe that getting a good chill might lower your body's natural defenses, leaving you more susceptible to cold viruses. Maybe that's where folks get the notion? Though I would think for an otherwise healthy person it would take a lot more than wet hair in air conditioning! But say you spent all day out in a cold, chilling rain working outside, struggling to keep warm, I could see your body being a little less likely to ward off a cold if exposed to the virus while in that state. Of course, my half-brained theory might be just as bogus as thinking the fan at the door at Walmart will give you a cold, but it always made logical sense. :tongue_smilie: I know that drinking Mt Dew (my favorite ever drink) has a little something called EDTA, a chemical, which protects the flavor but also breaks down calcium. Calcium makes strong bones. I don't know if EDTA is in the other sodas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I don't understand why Germans believe that you catch colds from situations as the above. Every German I have ever known in my life (and considering I am German that's a lot) thinks that if you do not blow dry your hair you will catch a cold. :lol: Then you can imagine just how nutty I drove my German host family when I insisted on leaving the house for school every morning with wet hair, no matter what the weather, all year long. I have never owned blow dryer (my hair is very thin and dries very quickly on its own, and blow drying makes it flyaway), and their insistence that I would catch cold fell on deaf ears. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 My German MIL once told me that drinking diet soda is bad for your bones. I have no idea where she got that one from. Of course she also told me that DS will forget everything he ever learned when he turns 6 (because he had started reading early, she was convinced that that was just some weird fluke and I'd have to teach him at 6). When my mom broke her ankle a couple weeks ago, the Dr. told her not to drink carbonated drinks while it was healing. My FIL is about to start radiation therapy. He had to get a bone density scan and was told not to drink carbonated drinks during radiation treatment. That's all I can say about it. I don't know why they were told that. Yeah, but it's fun to tease the Germans. :lol: I'm always making fun of my German side. And put a hat on those children in the wind, even if its 85 degrees outside. :) Yes! They will get an ear infection is you don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Yeah, I doubt occasional soda drinking would do it. Lemme see what I can dig up as far as links. WebMD: Osteoporosis and Sodas Wikipedia entry on Phosphoric Acid Seems like it may be debatable as to whether or not soda actually directly causes lower bone density--but it may be that regular soda drinkiers have other factors (a poorer diet overall?) that contribute to lower bone density than those who do not regulary drink soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I've braved the glares of many Russian babushkas when I take my boys outside without hats when the calendar clearly says it's hat and coat weather and have been loudly chastized for my poor mothering skills many times because my children wear shorts when it is 65 degrees outside. I volunteered in an orphanage here once and wished I could clandestinely unwrap some of the babies who were sweating in multiple layers in 75-degree rooms. I *never* see a baby without a hat on at any time of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 And put a hat on those children in the wind, even if its 85 degrees outside. :) I think we can blame Steiner for that kind of silliness (you know if you don't put long underwear on your babies even in summer you're harming them...) The Germans also insisted that cold drinks were very bad for you and would harm your digestion or something. A friend of mine gave me a button that's still on my fridge (to tease me - I'm of German descent) that said "I'm not opinionated, I'm just German". ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenpatty Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 :iagree: I was afraid my neighbors were going to report me for letting my kids play in the rain. (It was a warm, gentle rain and there was no lightening - I promise!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Do you think people think that sinus irritations (not infection) are colds? I know that if a certain part of my head is left wet in the winter, the sinus near there gets irritated. I just recently found out that my sister has the same spot on her head with the same results! (Freaky!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 You should read this blog post. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html That was alot more funny than I excepted. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Do you think people think that sinus irritations (not infection) are colds? I know that if a certain part of my head is left wet in the winter, the sinus near there gets irritated. I just recently found out that my sister has the same spot on her head with the same results! (Freaky!) Wet hair doesn't bother me, but I always get an irritated throat when I sleep with a fan blowing on me. I need to get my tonsils out, so I'm sure that part of my immune system is a mess. It certainly isn't a cold, but I will wake up with a miserable sore throat if my husband turns on a fan in the middle of the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4everHis Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 People believe all kinds of wacky things. I'd like to add that "alot" is NOT a word (which I realize has nothing to do with this thread). My German MIL once told me that drinking diet soda is bad for your bones. I have no idea where she got that one from. Of course she also told me that DS will forget everything he ever learned when he turns 6 (because he had started reading early, she was convinced that that was just some weird fluke and I'd have to teach him at 6). My M.D. here in the states said this is true of all soda. His quote, "If you are drinking coke you are peeing out your bones." Carbonation or something must deplete calcium in your bones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4everHis Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I grew up in a totally non-German/English family in the deep south and heard every one of these things growing up. So I'm not sure who to blame the misnomers on :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 That was alot more funny than I excepted. :) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieH Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 My grandmother was always like that too. "Don't go around the house in bare feet! You'll catch cold!" "you have to wear a hat! You'll catch a cold!" She's 93 now ..God bless her! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm pretty sure that those things can lower your immunity, though. Yep. It is thought that because cold weather constricts the blood vessels in your nose, your immune system is less able to get in and fight off cold viruses before they take hold: link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I grew up with some of that here, too, LOL. You can't completely blame them when they get mixed signals. If they do something and then get a cold, they simply think the prior event caused it. And if we raise or lower our core body temp too much in relation to our outside environment, it can throw our immune system for a loop and help it to be easier for us to catch a virus. Or maybe air born viruses are just blowing in their face at Wal-mart, which wouldn't surprise me a bit (although my first vote if definitely for the horrid airplane air).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 My cousin is here with his family for a couple weeks. It is still 90s here. Yesterday, the kids were swimming, and my cousin's wife insisted on blow drying her daughter's hair *outside* so she wouldn't have to go inside the house with the a/c on. I was told that if I went outside with wet hair (temperature over 80 degrees f) I would get headaches when I grew old. In China I was told that if I slept with my stomach uncovered I would get an upset tummy. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 The Germans also insisted that cold drinks were very bad for you and would harm your digestion or something. My grandmother will still insist that my kids use warm milk on cereal and not cold. Cold milk will curdle in their stomachs you see. My grandmother was always like that too. "Don't go around the house in bare feet! You'll catch cold!" "you have to wear a hat! You'll catch a cold!" She's 93 now ..God bless her! LOL And yet my cousin and his wife are my age and believe these things. Yep. It is thought that because cold weather constricts the blood vessels in your nose, your immune system is less able to get in and fight off cold viruses before they take hold: link. Sure, but you're not going to get a cold from having wet hair in an a/c house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Well, there is some evidence that weather conditions do play a role in virus transmission, at least for influenza. Influenza Virus Transmission Is Dependent on Relative Humidity and Temperature Despite the apparent fitness of animals housed at 5 °C, increased viral shedding under these conditions suggests that improved transmission at low temperature could be due to an effect on the host. This effect may act at the level of primary, physical barriers to infection. Cooling of the nasal mucosa is thought to increase the viscosity of the mucous layer and reduce the frequency of cilia beats [8]. In this way, breathing cold air would slow mucociliary clearance and thereby encourage viral spread within the respiratory tract. An alternative possibility is that, also due to cooling of the mucosal layer, virus residing in the upper airways is more stable when infected animals are kept at 5 °C. Improved persistence of released virus would increase the amount of viable virus shed, and would furthermore augment amplification of virus in the nasal passages through re-infection. The block in transmission at 30 °C and 35% RH could be explained by the opposite effect: warming of the nasal mucosa may lead to more rapid inactivation of virus particles. Layperson's article: Cold weather really does spread flu 12:19 19 October 2007 Debora MacKenzie Scientists have finally confirmed what your mother knew all along - that flu spreads best in cold, dry weather. As the first few cases of the northern hemisphere's annual flu epidemic are trickling in this week, scientists may finally know why winter is flu season. It appears the virus lasts longer in cold, dry air, and our sluggish, cold-weather mucus cannot clear it out. Astonishingly it has taken until the publication of research this week to settle the basic question about how flu spreads, and why it girdles each hemisphere every year during winter. Ironically, that research was made possible by the rediscovery of a report by army doctors in 1919. Flu is hard to study in the lab because virtually no lab animals get it the way humans do. Mice, for example, do not get the same strains, or catch flu from each other. The most useful animal has been the ferret. Exhaled virus However, studying disease transmission requires too many animals to be practical with ferrets. "They're big, they're expensive, and they bite," Peter Palese of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City told New Scientist. But in 1919, US Army doctors at Camp Cody in New Mexico reported (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 72 p1056) that the 1918 flu pandemic had killed their guinea pigs - kept at the time for medical tests. "We didn't know guinea pigs got flu," says Palese. They are no longer popular lab animals, and no-one had tried them. So Palese's team exposed hundreds of guinea pigs to a human flu strain at different temperatures and humidities, in cages that allowed only air to pass from sick animals to well ones. This settled a longstanding dispute over whether flu can spread solely as an airborne infection, or whether physical contact is needed. "It spread just in the air they exhaled," says Palese. "Guinea pigs with flu don't cough or sneeze." Twin peaks At room temperature, they found flu transmission peaks at low relative humidity (20-35%) and again at 65%. It spread less well at around 50% humidity, and not at all over 80%. This parallels the stability of flu virus in aerosol droplets at different humidities, and also the droplets' ability to remain airborne. At over 80% humidity, droplets containing flu virus themselves fall out of the air. The effect also happened too quickly to be due to dry air damaging nasal tissue so that it is not as effective a barrier to viruses, which has been suggested as a factor in humans. But temperature trumped humidity: at 5 °C animals caught flu at humidities that stopped the virus when it was warmer, possibly because sick animals' noses shed virus two days longer at cooler temperatures. To find out why, Palese's team charted 13 early immune reactions in infected animals, but they were unaffected by temperature. Mucus, however, normally flows up through our respiratory tracts to clear out contaminants. "Mucus becomes more viscous as cold air hits our upper respiratory tracts," he says. "So we can't clear the virus as easily." Journal reference: PLoS Pathogens (DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.0030151) Also, it's thought that a cold wind, exposure to cold air conditioning, or driving with the window down can all be triggers for Bell's palsy. Although BP is rare in kids, so it's adults who should be wearing the hats. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Now it's time to read about one of my favorites, "Korean Fan Death"! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom4god Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I grew up in a totally non-German/English family in the deep south and heard every one of these things growing up. So I'm not sure who to blame the misnomers on :D Me too! My mom and I still disagree about these things every winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusksAngel Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I've heard those all my life too. The funny part of it is that my mom is a nurse. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Yes, colds come from viruses, but you make your immune system weaker and hence more vulnerable to them when you get cold, or go out in the rain without your jacket, or sit in a draft. It seems like everyone in the world knows this except us Americans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandymom Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) I was a school nurse for several years, and I fought endlessly to get teachers to take their kids outside for recess when it got below 60 (in Texas, it is "cold" in the 50's). Not only will the cold air not cause sickness (it can slightly decrease your immune system, but not that much), but the inside air that is warmed by heaters is very dry, which in turns dries out membranes. Dried out membranes are more likely to have small cracks, which allow in those viruses and bacteria, one of the reasons that we get sick in the winter more. Not only that, but when you are cooped up with other people breathing the same air, you are more likely to catch their germs. Most of the time, it fell on deaf ears. Edited October 12, 2011 by mandymom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Yes, colds come from viruses, but you make your immune system weaker and hence more vulnerable to them when you get cold, or go out in the rain without your jacket, or sit in a draft. It seems like everyone in the world knows this except us Americans! :iagree: It doesn't have to be either/or: Cold Feet? Aah-Choo! BTW, the idea of dressing children in woolen underwear and hats wasn't invented by Steiner. It's a traditional practice in much of Europe. Fr. Sebastian Kneipp talks about it in books from decades earlier. (Fr. Kneipp actually recommended dressing lightly year-round, playing outdoors in the cold, and taking cold baths, but he emphasized that children had to be built up to this gradually. He agreed with the others that sudden chills were dangerous for people who are used to warm clothes and heated houses. In modern terms, I suspect that his methods might help to build up brown fat.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I've heard those all my life too. The funny part of it is that my mom is a nurse. :confused: SAME HERE! You would think they would know better! My mom still has a hissy fit when my kids refuse to wear socks around the house in the winter. My kids rarely get sick. We go outside with wet heads, drink cold drinks, play in the rain, and I can't remember ever getting a cold because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 All I can say is...AMEN Sister!! :D I've spent the last 6 summers in Germany with no A/C and they think fans are crazy. I have one in every room. I'm coming home to the USA and air-conditioning...praise goodness. :D I also told dh is he wants to come back as a contractor..the house must have AC. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 But, but.... hot milk curdles easier than cold milk, LOL.... hmmmmm..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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