"You're going to die (fall ill, get sick, etc)"

Now and then I run across superstitions regarding how a common, often necessary, practice will wind up killing, or at the last making sick, their practitioners.

The most astonishing one is a belief in South Korea to the effect that having an electric fan on during sleep will cause people to suffocate, as it draws in a lot of air (no comment).

In Mexico the prevailing "you're going to die" practice is using any form of heating. It's true using a wood or coal fire in a non-ventilated room can cause CO poisoning or CO2 buildup which can be lethal. But the superstition is that moving from a warmed space to a cool one will result in illness at the very least, and maybe even death.

Is there anything to this? I really fail to see how there could be.

The cold weather one is old and very common. Pretty much anyone with the title of "grand-" here in the states thinks the same way too. My kid's grandma is always saying the same thing.

Perhaps it's a correlation / causation thing. I know around this time (just starting to snow) I will guaranteed catch a sinus infection. I suppose since it always happens during the season change, people just attributed it to the cold. It's sort of connected; in reality, it's because the cold air plus indoor heat makes the air very dry, and it's the dryness that sets off my SI's. The olds always attribute it to the cold and not wearing a hat =p

I'm the same way with a/c, which is why I loathe it so. If I get stuck in extreme a/c, like I used to working at the casino, an SI is right around the corner for me. Again, because of the dry, not the cold. But it's easy for someone to make the cold - sick connection.

In short, no, there's nothing to it. Saw this particular myth busted a million times. About the only way it's true is if you were nearly hypothermic, which weakens the body and could allow infections take hold that otherwise couldn't.

Quote: Face

The cold weather one is old and very common. Pretty much anyone with the title of "grand-" here in the states thinks the same way too. My kid's grandma is always saying the same thing.

I call some of this "wrong knowing." It's rather common to keep believing in something absurd or demonstrably false, if you were told so during childhood.

Mex City does not get bitterly cold, but it does cool down. Winter days can see a high of 12 C, with temps as low as 5 or 6 C in the morning. That's normal. During a cold snap, it can be 9 C high and as low as -4 C overnight and early in the morning (0 C is freezing, or 32 F). During one such snap in the 80s, the media widely reported a story about a man who had the heater on in his car, and died the moment he stepped out into the cold. I don't recall any details, but people hearing it just nodded as though this was perfectly normal.

I suppose if you were in a comfy, heated place at around 20 C and stepped immediately into a -4 C environment, you'd feel some shock at the change. But I can't see how that would kill anyone. On the other hand, I typically step from a very warm street into a very cool casino in Vegas and feel little but relief at doing so. Then it may get too cool for me after a bit sometimes.

Quote: Nareed

...the media widely reported a story about a man who had the heater on in his car, and died the moment he stepped out into the cold. I don't recall any details, but people hearing it just nodded as though this was perfectly normal.

Seriously? XD

On one 80* spring day, I jumped into a 50* pool. Yeah, I thought I was gonna die and I was "in shock". Probably wasn't technically medical shock, but I was damn surprised. I almost gasped in a lungful of water and it felt like my body stopped working. Perhaps, maybe, a similar situation could overload someone of a certain physical fitness and cause a heart attack or respiratory arrest. But I would think that the person would already have to been knocking on death's door for that to happen. It's not happening to me, or you, or 99%+ of the population.

And the media reported that? Was it The Onion? =p

Quote: Face

Seriously? XD

Seriously

Quote:

I almost gasped in a lungful of water

That would have done it for sure ;)

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And the media reported that? Was it The Onion? =p

I think The Onion was founded later that year.

Of course the Scandinavians think going from a very hot sauna to jump in the snow is healthy. Or sometimes even from the sauna into the frozen lake through a hole cut in the ice. I have never done the lake thing but have done the jump in the snow many times. It feels great for about 5 seconds and then you can't get out of the snow and back into the sauna fast enough.

A spa in BC has a Cryotherapy Cold Therapy room it is at -110 degrees C. A lot of athletes use it for muscle repair, you go into in your underwear.
No deaths reported, so far.

Quote: kenarman

A spa in BC has a Cryotherapy Cold Therapy room it is at -110 degrees C.

I don't think so. I mean, you have one digit too many. -110 C is -166 F.

-10 or -11 C I'd believe.

I've never been in a sauna. But the very last thing I'd want to do after being in one, or in anywhere else, would be to jump into snow. It takes all kinds, I suppose (and Scandinavians may be better adapted to cold).

Quote: Nareed

I don't think so. I mean, you have one digit too many. -110 C is -166 F.

-10 or -11 C I'd believe.

I've never been in a sauna. But the very last thing I'd want to do after being in one, or in anywhere else, would be to jump into snow. It takes all kinds, I suppose (and Scandinavians may be better adapted to cold).

No that is correct

"Cryotherapy Cold Sauna

Sparkling Hill is the only wellness resort in North America offering cryotherapy treatments. Step into the only cold sauna (-110°C) in North America to experience the treatment sought out by professional athletes, European spa-goers, and those seeking relief from pain associated with inflammation. Cryotherapy treatment involves spending up to three minutes in a monitored cold chamber. The effect of this whole-body treatment is systemic; biochemical, hormonal, and immune modulatory processes are activated, which give the immune and circulatory systems a boost."

I wouldn't jump in the snow, but going from a seriously hot soak directly outside in the winter is very pleasurable. Hard to explain, other than it feels like a total body renewal and full mental reboot.

Quote: kenarman

No that is correct

I'll take your word for it.

But I'll also say this: it's a very risky form of snake oil.