Man Flu and other health myths

Author: Diane Maclean

Each one of us will catch, on average, between two and five colds this year - up to ten if you're a child. Not surprisingly, there are a bundle of myths and old wives tales about colds and flu. So are they worth considering or just a (soft white aloe-infused) tissue of lies?

Man Flu

When man flu was "discovered" and its conditions noted, women across the planet gave a collective sigh of agreement. They knew first hand the debilitating effects of man flu … on them, as they were expected to minister to their men folk making a flu mountain out of a cold molehill. Women knew what research backs up.

A survey by Benenden Healthcare found that two million British men take time off work for a sniffle, compared with just one and a half million women. That’s because women are far less likely to think that their runny nose is a new strain of flu, but realise that it is simply a bit of a cold.

Feel the pain

It would be tempting to think that if men are such big babies when it comes to colds, then they must over-react to pain and discomfort generally. Women tend to think of themselves as the braver, more resilient sex (they do the childbirth after all). Yet research suggests that it is men who feel pain less - women report more incidences of pain during their lives, and in more places and for longer duration. Men either don't feel it so badly, or are more stoical in their reaction – except, presumably when it comes to colds.

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases

This catchy little ditty didn’t just come about because it rhymes so well. It is the truth. Cold and flu viruses are spread by spluttering, sneezing and other delightful ways of sharing your mucus. So if you see someone building up for a big explosion, move away from the line of fire. They might feel better after their sneeze, but the chances are you might start to feel a lot worse. But there is good news for young lovers. Kissing doesn’t cause contamination. The mouth is relatively sterile, so this kind of close contact should only spread the love, not the disease.

Feed a cold and starve a fever

When Mark Twain wrote his essay “How to Cure a Cold” in 1863, he set about detailing all the information – or misinformation – given to him by well-meaning friends. The advice given to Twain included everything from wrapping himself in mustard, drinking quarts of salt water or glasses of gin and onion. But the most recognised “cure” was to feed a cold and starve a fever, which a surprising number of people still swear by today. Like drinking gin, or wrapping yourself up in mustard, it is not the best advice. If you’re sick you need nutrients and liquids – even if you don’t feel like it, you’d do well to try and give your body a little bit of what it needs.

Injection misdirection

Don’t be put off by an urban myth that will put the frighteners up you by suggesting that the the flu vaccination will give you the flu. It is not full of live flu bugs - the people who make it are actually properly trained and realise that this would be foolish.  So they have cleverly devised a jag that injects you with bits of dead flu bugs.  This means that you won’t catch the flu from the vaccine. Ta-da!

Wrap up

Can there be any mother in the whole of the UK who hasn’t said to their children at some point that they have to wrap up well or they’ll catch a cold? This instruction is so widespread that it appears that it must be given to mums on receipt of their newborn baby. Latest studies show that there is no statistical evidence that leaving the house without enough clothes on causes pneumonia. Colds are caused by viruses, not the cold. That said, you’d probably be a lot more comfortable in winter putting on a coat than not.

Chill baby, chill

Along with dictum on wrapping up comes advice about not leaving the house with wet hair or letting your feet get chilled. Recent experiments at the Centre for the Common Cold in Cardiff chilled volunteers’ feet and did indeed show that people who have had their feet chilled seemed to catch a cold. One reason for this might be that the chilling constricted the blood vessels in the nose which inhibits the immune response therefore allowing an already present virus to replicate.

Oranges anyone?

Back in the 1970s, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Linus Pauling suggested that dosing up with vitamin C could help stave off the common cold. His ideas are still popular today with some people upping their vitamin intake, or Satsuma eating, if they feel the first symptoms of a cold. Whilst eating citrus fruits is probably a good idea generally, according to research by the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki, there is no evidence that vitamin C can directly fight a cold.

Chicken soup and whisky

Although chicken soup might soothe and nourish there is no actual evidence that it gets rid of the flu. Neither is there any back-up for the notion that hot toddies are the trick. Alcohol is best avoided altogether if you’re feeling under the weather, but the chicken soup is probably a good idea - even if it won’t actually cure the flu, it is comforting.

And finally

Just to send you on your merry way, here are a few more old wives tales, and health myths which you are quite at liberty to ignore:

• If you pull a face, and then the wind changes, your face stays that way forever.
• If you swallow chewing gum it stays in your digestive tract for seven years.
• Knuckle-cracking causes arthritis.
• If you swallow an apple pip, an apple tree grows in your stomach.