Thursday, December 10, 2009

A question finally answered

I have caught a cold, and as I went to check the office mail....which I didn't want to go do, cause I have to go outside and its super freakin cold here right now, and when I got to the box, I realized I grabbed the wrong keys, so I had to come back to the office grab the right keys, this time putting on my gloves and scarf....anyways, when I was walking back I started thinking. Yes, I do think a lot, maybe too much sometimes, but I started thinking that it doesn't make sense that you would catch a cold from being outside in the winter, or being out in the rain. Like, when you go outside with wet hair and older people say "you will catch a cold like that", it made me think, thats just dumb. I thought it was dumb because being outside to me would be the place to NOT catch a cold, because I mean, youre outside and not all cooped up sharing germs and such. So, my thoughts got the better of me and I decided to google. I will share this with you from wikianswers, so you all don't lose sleep over it, when you wake up in the middle of the night asking yourself the same question I did.....

Question: Is it true that going outside with wet hair when its cold can make you sick?

Answer
NO - The common cold is a virus. It is caught and spread by the transfer of bacteria. Cold temperatures can actually help prevent colds by weakening airborne bacteria. What CAN make you more prone to illness, is tiring or weakening your body, which makes it harder to fight infection. Becoming cold to the point of shivering will lower body temperature, which can lower your immune system - this is another contributor to catching viruses. Humans lose heat rapidly through their head, which is a process that would accelerate with wet hair - if you let yourself get chilled to the point of shivering, or worse, to the point when shivering stops, you would lower your immune system and therefore be more likely to catch a cold. So, having wet hair and being in cold air alone wont make you sick, but letting your self get overly chilled and/or tired might.

2 comments:

Jessica Gray said...

Sooo...pretty much in a way, being outside when it IS cold, you can get sick. BECAUSE the childness is weakening your immune system. that makes sense...LOL

Anonymous said...

lol that reminds me of my mom...when we lived in CA I wasn't allowed to go swimming after I ate. My mom always said it would upset my tummy & she use to say "you can go when you're food is in your toes." SO...I would jump up & down for about 5 mins exclaiming afterwards "ok it's in my toes!!" THe crazy things your parents tell ya