Cold >>> Colds?!

butterbattle
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Cold >>> Colds?!

Well, here's an interesting little subject that I don't think has been brought up before.

When I was young, growing up in China, everyone told me that being 'cold' will drastically increase your chance of catching a 'cold.' People were so convinced of this that it was essentially common 'knowledge,' and about half of my immediate family and most of my relatives still believe it. So, for a long time, I was convinced of the relationship myself. Sometimes, it felt like people were actually implying causality, such that it is a not a virus which causes the disease, but that the state of being 'cold' itself somehow makes you have a 'cold.' Yet, a short search for reliable sources online suggests to me that even a weak correlation is questionable.

Scientifically, it doesn't make any sense to me at all, because the disease is caused by a virus, so the only possible explanation I can think of is that being 'cold' weakens your immune system; even then, I only view that as a possibility because I don't know if being 'cold' affects your immune system at all.  

Wiki says people with stronger immune systems actually have more pronounced symptoms because their stronger immune system is fighting the virus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold

Quote:
Counterintuitively, people with stronger immune systems are more likely to develop symptomatic colds.[22] This is because the symptoms of a cold are directly due to the strong immune response to the virus, not the virus itself. People with less active immune systems—about a quarter of adults—get infected with the viruses, but the relatively weak immunological response produces no significant or identifiable symptoms.

Additionally, everyone I knew believed that you were even more likely to catch a cold if this was after some physical activity, especially if you sweat a lot or you were wet. This........makes even less sense. In fact, I didn't even have to feel 'cold;' I just had to be exposed to 'colder' air or something. Like, you guys know how it feels really good when cold air blows on you after you exercise and sweat a lot? Well, according to everyone I knew, that's when you're most likely to catch a cold. 

But, the funniest belief of all was that you were also more likely to get sick if you exposed your bellybutton. Now, you might be thinking, "How the hell does that work?" Someone in my immediate family explained it this way: there is an important "chi point" near the bellybutton, and if you "expose" to your bellybutton to 'cold' air, the air "goes into your body" via the bellybutton and "disrupts" your "chi center," or something like that. Lol. 

When I think about it now, these are some really good examples of post hocing + confirmation bias. I can recall that whenever someone got a cold, people would attempt to refer to when they didn't put on a jacket after they exercised or didn't cover their bellybutton when they slept, one, two, or even three days ago. No one ever considered the probability of someone not being cold, not exercising, and not exposing their bellybutton at all in any three day period. No one ever thought much of it when they couldn't identify a recent event where the person was sweaty and cold. No one cared when they were 'cold,' but didn't get a cold. 

Thoughts? Anyone want to defend their "chi" crap? Lol.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


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 I do, I do!The bellybutton

 I do, I do!

The bellybutton thing is news to me because I didn't grow up with that philosophy but, the rest of it I've heard all my life.

Actually, I believe all of the above to be true to some degree.

I started taking showers at night, just before bed, thinking that opening my pours up with hot water and then going outside would exposed me to invading germs.

I can't remember the last time I caught a 'cold'... it's been a very long time.

I also think being out in the wind can increase your chances of getting sick - not so much the cold as the wind is the problem. If your pours are open, double trouble, imo.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


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Ah. So it's your skin pores.

Ah. So it's your skin pores. I guess that's another possibility. When your pores are open, the wind blows viruses and bacteria into your body?

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


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   Isn't the function of

   Isn't the function of skin ( the body's largest organ ) to protect from infections be they viral, bacterial, etc ?    Skin, even with billions of pores, has obvious protective value against microbial invaders.   One of the single biggest threats to burn victims is their increased susceptibility to infections based upon their loss of skin.  Does science really equate skin pores with being an actual breach in the same way as a burn or an open wound would ? 

  I'm not saying that skin pores cannot be a conduit in the transference of chemicals as medicines in the form of transdermal patches indicate otherwise. 

I'm just a little dubious about simple skin pores and their connection to something as garden variety as the common cold.  I would tend to think that mucous membranes such as inside your breathing airways would be the culprit such as in the transmission of tuberculosis and other airborne threats.


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Could be. Why not?Your skin

Could be. Why not?

Your skin is part of your respiratory system. All those little pours are an entrance to your body. If they are open and you are around germs, they'll get sucked in. 

I don't know, it's just a theory of mine.

All I know is that I haven't been sick in a very long time - years. I don't go outside after a shower or, with wet hair, I don't intentionally work up a sweat... unless I feel something coming on, then I bundle up and sweat it out... and I try to stay out of the wind.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


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 A hole is a hole I

 A hole is a hole I guess.  Perhaps it depends as much upon the characteristic of the pathogen as anything else. 


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How is the cold virus

How is the cold virus transmitted - airborne or by direct contact? Either way, the skin is a receptor.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


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  I was going to say that

  I was going to say that skin that is moist could actually be the decisive factor as opposed to dry skin.  I remember that reading the labels of some commercial poisons that cautioned the two areas that were considered most likely to transfer the poisonous effects were the arm pits and the reproductive organs, both of which are generally more sweaty than the rest of the body.  Perhaps skin moisture has more to do with it than I thought ?

 

edit: Also irritating agents such as CS or pepper spray seem to inflict their most severe effects upon the eyes and lungs while leaving the rest of the body relatively unaffected.


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Maybe the combination of

Maybe the combination of moisture, open pours creates a 'wicking' effect, like osmosis which makes for easy passage to the inner body?

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


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Sandycane wrote:Maybe the

Sandycane wrote:

Maybe the combination of moisture, open pours creates a 'wicking' effect, like osmosis which makes for easy passage to the inner body?

   Wicking effect is a phrase that I am familiar with.  For some reason when I was about 25 years old I developed a skin condition ( contact dermatitis ) that only seems to cause insane itching when my skin becomes moist.   Almost anything can set off intense itching.   When I get out of the shower sometimes my skin is on fire or if I am sweating in the heat and I come in contact with a lot of dust like inside an attic.  After many years I finally figured out what the connection was. 

   That's one reason I hate the hot , humid summers in north Texas.


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 I would suspect that the

 I would suspect that the reason colds have become associated with cold weather is because people tend to spend more time in enclosed areas with other people when it is cold. If you bring together a group of people from different areas and put them into an enclosed area like a cabin it is likely everyone will share the viruses. If it is nice outside and everyone is in the open area, the chances of the virus being passed around are lowered. 

If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X


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Beyond Saving wrote:  I

Beyond Saving wrote:

 I would suspect that the reason colds have become associated with cold weather is because people tend to spend more time in enclosed areas with other people when it is cold.

Yes, that's the explanation I was going to give, too.

On a side note, yesterday I had to explain to someone what "Correlation doesn't mean causation" means. This is a perfect example.

I think the bellybutton thing is because people think it looks sluttish, so they don't want their daughters to wear revealing clothing?


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Yeah, that's what They say,

Yeah, that's what They say, too.

I don't spend a lot of time with other people so, that could be why I never get sick.  Could also be because I never expose my bellybutton anymore.

I was worried about catching germs when I opened my house to the public but, so far so good. I try to not have any physical contact with them and keep my distance - especially from the snot-nosed kids they sometimes bring with them.

But, as to the OP, I do think being in the wind is not good for you.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


Sandycane
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Thunderios wrote:Beyond

Thunderios wrote:

Beyond Saving wrote:

 I would suspect that the reason colds have become associated with cold weather is because people tend to spend more time in enclosed areas with other people when it is cold.

Yes, that's the explanation I was going to give, too.

On a side note, yesterday I had to explain to someone what "Correlation doesn't mean causation" means. This is a perfect example.

I think the bellybutton thing is because people think it looks sluttish, so they don't want their daughters to wear revealing clothing?

I don't think that is the reason, could be though. I think it would have more to do with the dantien?

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


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Beyond Saving wrote: I

Beyond Saving wrote:

 I would suspect that the reason colds have become associated with cold weather is because people tend to spend more time in enclosed areas with other people when it is cold. If you bring together a group of people from different areas and put them into an enclosed area like a cabin it is likely everyone will share the viruses. If it is nice outside and everyone is in the open area, the chances of the virus being passed around are lowered. 

Yep, I imagine it is probably a fact that you are more prone to catching a cold when it is cold and probably for the reason you mention so it is vaguely associated with cold weather.

Faith is the word but next to that snugged up closely "lie's" the want.
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Yeah, a hole is a hole I

Yeah, a hole is a hole I guess. Without much knowledge of how stuff can enter the skin, it seems possible that germs and viruses could enter that way as well.

Beyond Saving wrote:
I would suspect that the reason colds have become associated with cold weather is because people tend to spend more time in enclosed areas with other people when it is cold. If you bring together a group of people from different areas and put them into an enclosed area like a cabin it is likely everyone will share the viruses. If it is nice outside and everyone is in the open area, the chances of the virus being passed around are lowered.

Ooohh, that is a really nice explanation for any potential correlation.

Thunderios wrote:
I think the bellybutton thing is because people think it looks sluttish, so they don't want their daughters to wear revealing clothing?

Well, when and where I grew up, no daughter would even consider wearing clothing that revealed their bellybutton in the first place, so I don't think this is the issue. My relatives always told me to cover my bellybutton when I slept, so that the cold air wouldn't get in. At least over there, I think it has more to do with some Eastern pseudoscience.

 

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


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I actually jog in rain/cold

I actually jog in rain/cold weather on regular basis.  I get my flu shot regularly and I wash my hands to the point of obsession, hence I seldom get a cold.  If someone could explain to me why being cold, or hot for that reason, would make one catch a cold (or a hot lol ) scientifically I will then believe my mom.  The current medical 'wisdom' is that viruses cause colds, and bacteria cause infections... cold temperature causes you to be uncomfortable, and extreme cold kills you.  Short of that, it's all just different ways to pass the viruses around... such as Beyond mentioned, or the fact that the cold virus lasts longer in cold/dark places versus hot/bright places.  Air flow (or wind) just increases the chances of air borne viruses to be passed around... the pores being open thing is kind of silly (read kind of stupid) 

 

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I heard that being cold

I heard that being cold lowers your immune system hence more likely to get  sick.

 

I'm not sure about the bellybutton thing increasing sickness, but I heard it can increase STDs.

 

 


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold#Risk_factors

 

No evidence for cold weather increasing risk of getting the common cold, though the cold virus is seasonal and more people get infected during winter.





Cold Virus (actually many different viruses) infects the respiratory tract and infection route is not through the skin.

 


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Are there are any bacteria

Are there are any bacteria or viruses that can enter your body through your skin? 

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


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butterbattle wrote:Are there

butterbattle wrote:

Are there are any bacteria or viruses that can enter your body through your skin? 

  There's a group of bacteria that can literally destroy  your skin with a condition called necrotizing fasciitis but I believe it still requires some kind of skin breach to begin the process of infection.


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ProzacDeathWish

ProzacDeathWish wrote:

butterbattle wrote:

Are there are any bacteria or viruses that can enter your body through your skin? 

  There's a group of bacteria that can literally destroy  your skin with a condition called necrotizing fasciitis but I believe it still requires some kind of skin breach to begin the process of infection.

Brown Recluse spider. Nasty little bug.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein