"Spring Shower"

Time for a now post. Yesterday wasn't one of my most fruitful days. It must have been the weather. The very, very bad weather. I had a lecture at 10am and turned out to be pretty important i.e. I wasn't able to stay at home just because outside happened to be drizzling. So, I went out, walking it all the way from home to University without an umbrella. Since it hadn't rained for a while, I simply forgot where I left it and I had no time to stay looking for it. So, you can imagine how I ended up after 15 minutes walking in the rain. Apparently though, the Heavens thought I wasn't soaked enough. While trying to cross the road I was waiting for the cars to stop, and along comes a Maltese bus. It just had to drive into a huge puddle with an inappropriate speed that, basically, got me soaked. I went for the lecture dripping. One of my lecturers saw my hair, my face and all my clothes drenched, gave me her umbrella and suggested I should go back home and change...to avoid catching a cold! :S Catching a cold? With wet hair and clothes? ...

I must admit, there was one time where I lived with that misconception till one fine day I was given a life home by Joelle (M.D.) and said that I, as a medical student, should know better. So, let me try do something useful and pass on the same enlightenment I was given (by the way, I hope that this will not be the cause of any arguments with your parents at home).

1. The climate is only an enabler and not the cause of the cold
In simpler English, you need the "cold virus" to get the cold. You do not pick up infections from cold weather. You get germs from other people who sneeze or cough in your face or transmit germs with their hands to objects that you touch. A little detail for those who can take it...research shows that the most common way to get a cold is from someone who has a cold, sneezes on his hands, and then shakes yours.

2. But doesn't cold weather make the immune system weaker, or something of the sort?
For the anti-science individuals who are surprisingly reading this post, the immune system is a defence system found in the body that fights germs and infections all the time. But chilling does not really weaken your immunity (body defences). In 1958, some guys who had very little interesting things to do wrote a paper in the American Journal of Hygiene, (Vol. 68, pp. 659-65): "Transmission of the Common Cold to Volunteers Under Controlled Conditions". More than 400 volunteers were exposed to viruses that cause colds. Some were exposed to very cold temperatures while wearing heavy coats, some to 60 degree temperatures while wearing underwear, and some to a very warm 80 degrees. All had the same rate of infection. This shows that the crucial factor that determine whether you get a cold is being exposed to the virus that causes the cold.

Nevertheless here are a few No Nos that will remain despite the research:
1. When you're late for school/work and you're unable to find your umbrella, don't take your sister's! (Oh! A bit of rain won't hurt anyone.)
2. When your parents tell you that you cannot leave the house without being warmly dressed, don't print this blog post and scoff it down their throats. If you really want to make your point make sure you remain civil throughout. Also, there are more reliable educational sites out there written by some doctors and professors that can never be phoned by your concerned, feel-like-they've-been-disrespected parents.