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Temperature and sickness

I've noticed that many cultures have rules/superstitions/beliefs about the temperature of a room causing someone to be ill. In Korea, when giving birth women are told a/c is "dangerous" for the mother and baby and the maternity wards (from what I hear) are kept at like 85 degrees. DH on the other hand thinks the heat will make sickness worse (especially nausea) and if I feel sick the first thing he does in summer is turn on the AC. What are some beliefs you've heard from other cultures/ countries about this?

Re: Temperature and sickness

  • It's the same superstition in Chinese culture.

    My MIL constantly tells me that I'll get sick if I don't wear a coat outside at 60F or below, and long sleeves at 75F or below. Apparently her culture also dictates that babies under a year old need to be kept in layers with hats on, even in the summer. They believe if a baby's head gets chilly (think body temp) that they will get sick.

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  • The Dutch believe that antibiotics are the devil :)
  • Many Italians mistrust air conditioning.  They believe it's unhealthy.  That's here in the rural south, ironically, where it's hottest!
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  • Germans don't like a/c, either. I love reading my german friends' tripadvisor reviews of places they were at in the states. They love the place, but think the a/c makes them sick. A German friend finally explained it in a way that makes sense to me. Going from the hot to the cold room is what she thinks makes her sick. I told her that typically (at least in Florida) people aren't in the heat long enough. They go from the air conditioned car, park as close to the store/house as possible, then run into the a/c'd building.

    I read that fans and babies room are bad to Koreans. My mom doesn't think you should iron and then wash dishes. My old boss blames long hot showers for muscular disorders, especially if you do it right after working out.

    I was glad my son was born in November since the hospital I had him at here does not have air conditioning, but I have to say, I had the radiator on in that room as high as it would go and I was still freezing. 

  • The French stick a scarf on, pretty much regardless of the weather. I mocked it until I ignored my MIL's suggestion to put on a scarf because I wasn't cold and then ended up with a nasty case of laryngitis and bronchitis while on a visit in France.
  • AC is bad for you. period.  I grew up in SE Asia where we never use AC.  Never.  Not even when it's 100 deg F outside.  We didn't have AC in our house even though we could totally afford it.  

    And electric fans are bad too.  So is drinking iced water.  When the weather is hot, you just sit quietly in the shade, maybe drink hot tea.

    But I think things have changed in the last 10 years or so. 

  • I've also noticed a strange relationship with the air conditioner in this country.  When DH got sick last summer, he had not one but 2 doctors tell him he had the "air conditioning virus" and then prescibe antibiotics for said mysterious air conditioning virus.  My Israeli MIL tells me I shouldn't run my air condtioner all day--she doesn't and believe me in Israel during the summer it is 80 degrees in her house. 
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  • imageTotZiens:
    The Dutch believe that antibiotics are the devil :)

    It`s the same in the UK :) But they LOOOOVE Parecetamol...for EVERYTHING :) 

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  • imagebogarka83:

    imageTotZiens:
    The Dutch believe that antibiotics are the devil :)

    It`s the same in the UK :) But they LOOOOVE Parecetamol...for EVERYTHING :) 

    I found found that to be true at all.  I have been on antibiotics many times.   Once for about 6 weeks straight after a super bad infection in my gut.

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  • Sometimes I have the window wide open and DH will say one of two things. 1. Your giving my neck a kink or 2. If the window is open I'll get a UTI.

    Seriously wtf... UTI? We've been together three years and you've never had one.. really the window being open!?

    Personally I felt ill last week from the heat in our apartment. No matter how much water I would drink I would have headaches and pains.

     

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  • There are many beliefs surrounding this topic in Korea.  The strangest one is probably 'Fan Death'. They believe that if you sleep in a room with a fan running and no open window, you could die.  My husband thinks that it is all just a cover up for suicides.

     As mentioned, they won't put a/c on in the baby wards of the hospital it it is an absolute oven in the summer so I'm really glad that my baby is due in Feb.

    And just last night I read that older Koreans think it is dangerous to have a baby outside that is less than 3 months old.  Other expat mothers report that you will be approached and told to go home and that you need to have a pretty thick skin when taking the baby out (older Korean ladies can be quite blunt and a little scary).   

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  • imageVABeach08:
    Many Italians mistrust air conditioning.  They believe it's unhealthy.  That's here in the rural south, ironically, where it's hottest!

    Same with Spaniards!  AC is the root of all evil.  I think it's because they overblast it when they do use it so they get sick from the temperature change.   

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  • imagekimchi Canuck:

    And just last night I read that older Koreans think it is dangerous to have a baby outside that is less than 3 months old.  Other expat mothers report that you will be approached and told to go home and that you need to have a pretty thick skin when taking the baby out (older Korean ladies can be quite blunt and a little scary).   

    This happened to me.  I took DS out to see the snow this past winter.  He had never seen snow and it rarely snows in Busan.  And I had a VERY angry granny yelling at me for taking him out in the snow.  He was in a fleece snuggie thing that covers his legs and zips up to his chin and under a rain cover.  She even tried to get the other Koreans to tell me too.  A man who spoke English reiterated this where I showed him the fleece bag and told him that my son was warmer than him.

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  • DH says that if I don't blow dry my hair immediately after getting out of the shower I will have migraines later in life.

    I hate blow drying my hair, and my stylists used to give me such compliments on how healthy my hair was because I air dry. But now I blow dry just so DH can't say, "I told you so" every time I get a migraine (and I do get them, but that's just coincidence).

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  • imagejen&L:

    AC is bad for you. period.  I grew up in SE Asia where we never use AC.  Never.  Not even when it's 100 deg F outside.  We didn't have AC in our house even though we could totally afford it.  

    And electric fans are bad too.  So is drinking iced water.  When the weather is hot, you just sit quietly in the shade, maybe drink hot tea.

    But I think things have changed in the last 10 years or so. 

    There is AC all over the place here.  Malls and public indoor places are so cold that I need to carry around a sweater to wear inside even though it's 33 degrees outside.  

  • Even in the US and UK they keep the Maternity floors warm. Bruce was born in November and I kept opening the window in our room becuase I was so.f'ing.hot. He was wrapped in like 20 layers of blanket and had a hat on and was on the other side of my bed from the window that only cracked about 2 inches and the nurse must have come in 20 times to shut it. It was miserable. I don't remember the room in the US being quite that hot but it certainly wasn't cool.
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