Healthy Living: Local News
We've All Heard Them...Those Flu and Cold-Related Adages That You Never Quite Know Whether to Believe or Not
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Story Updated: Jan 16, 2012
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FACT OR MYTH
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| Starve a cold, feed a fever. | |
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MYTH Do you starve a cold and feed a fever, or is it feed a cold, starve a fever? Or, is it starve the flu? Actually - forget it. Feed it all. This is going to make sense once you think about it: eating a well-balanced diet keeps your body running well and could even prevent illness. So, why would you ever starve it? Be aware of the nutrients in the food you eat, and perhaps you will never again have to worry about cold or fever. |
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FACT OR MYTH
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| You can catch a sinus infection. | |
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MYTH Sinus infections are not contagious. However, the cold or flu that often precedes a sinus infection is obviously up for grabs, so if your significant other complains of a sinus infection and you come down with the same symptoms days later - it's no coincidence. It's likely (or at least possible) that you have the makings of the original flu or cold that got him or her to the sinus infection stage. Be sure to take good care so as not to progress to a sinus infection yourself. |
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FACT OR MYTH
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| Once you have had the flu in a year/season, you are immune. | |
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MYTH Here's the good news: the flu shot, if you took one, protected you against the three viruses that research suggested would be the most common this year. The less-than-good-news is that there are many different flu viruses, so you could get another virus. Or, you could get a cold. But once you have one particular strain of the flu virus in a season, you are immune to that one. | |
