Wet Heads

[Debbie46902]

Truth or myth; Going out in the cold weather with an uncovered wet head will contribute to catching a cold.

[bughunter]

Answer: It will contribute only to crunchy hair.

Strictly speaking, if you are otherwise properly bundled up, the escape of heat thru your head will not adversely effect your health, or your susceptiblity to airborne pathogens.

However, practically speaking, the head is a very efficient radiator of heat. Make it wet, and it also becomes a very efficient at heat loss thru conduction and convection. Therefore it becomes more difficult to "properly bundle up" and counteract the heat loss via la cabeza.

Your best bet: wear a hat, regardless of the moisture in your hair.

[elfbabe]

A cold is caused by a virus. Viruses are not transmitted by changes in temperature. As bughunter said, going out in the cold with a wet head, though it won't give you a cold, will contribute to the rapid lowering of your body temperature. Very low body temperature is generally not a good thing for overall health, and it will probably make your nose run and make you feel pretty awful until you get properly warmed up.

But it's still not a cold!

[Mangetout]

I accept the germ theory, but there must be some reason why people catch more colds and flu in the winter than summer. Doesn't getting a chill suppress the immune system or something?

[Debbie46902]

Thank you for the input. And Have a Merry Christmas!

[moriah]

Originally posted by Mangetout
I accept the germ theory, but there must be some reason why people catch more colds and flu in the winter than summer. Doesn't getting a chill suppress the immune system or something?

No.

[Excalibre]

They say it's just the fact that in the winter we spend more time huddled up in our houses with each other, passing viruses along - being cold, or "getting a chill" shouldn't be injurious to your immune system unless you chronically suffer from hypothermia. Just being cold is fine.

[Mangetout]

What about moistened mucus membranes? - Are they more prone to trapping airborne pathogens?

[moriah]

My theory, which is just as good a WAG as anybody else's until there's empirical evidence is this:

Mass education is to be blamed for the winter outbreak of infections.

We take children, who readily transmit diseases because of their lack of hygiene and coop them up with 30 other children who readily are infected with disease because of their lack of hygiene. A virus runs through a classroom fast.

Then we mix 'em up in different classes and play periods so that the disease is not limited to one class, but runs through the entire school.

Then they go home and infect their families.

At the work place, diseases are spread more slowly because adults are rarely as tightly packed as children (except for mass transit) and because they're slightly more hygienic. Nevertheless, diseases do get transferred from an adult of one school district to an adult of another school district. That newly infected adult brings the disease home to their child who brings it to their super incubator... um, I mean school.

So, starting in September, we put together a super viral network of schools systems. By December, the viruses are poised to be pandemics. By the spring, they have run their course, with the survivors now immune to them, and so colds and flus are no longer epidemics at the end of the school year.

Then we send the children home during the Summer. At that time, new strains of viruses start to appear, but they spread slowly through the adult work network. The new strains can't be epidemics until they have the right environment, i.e., back to school day.

And we can thank the college kids for spreading the diseases which require the exchange of liquids.

Peace.

[antechinus]

My WAG theory FWIW: wet weather leads to conditions where viruses remain viable for longer on surfaces (eg doornobs, ATM buttons, handrails etc). Also less UV to destroy viruses. This fueled with people close together.

My god..the germs are everywhere ...gimme gloves and a paper mask.