But why am I writing about this on a fitness / bodybuilding blog? Well, being sick in my opinion does in fact fall into the realm of health and wellbeing. Also, being sick is something that can keep you out of the gym for a considerable amount of time, or have an impact on your nutrition, which are things that any person trying to attain aesthetic success doesn't want. Furthermore, as someone with degrees in both biology and public health, this is a topic that really interests me.
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| Source: medclient.com |
Before we get into the ways you can help prevent yourself from getting sick, let's talk about the biggest myth that comes along with illness, while also covering how some of the most common pathogens during this time of year spread.
When it comes to causation of illness during this time of year, the biggest myth that seems to be perpetuated by most people I have discourse with on this topic is that it's the cold making people sick. It seems people will debate me until they're blue in the face that a decrease in temperature has some magical power to infect you with disease. That forgetting to wear gloves or having the audacity to not put on ONE more layer of clothing was the gamechanger in inviting mother nature into your soul to wreak having and incapacitate you for days or weeks.
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| "YO INFLUENZA! COME AT ME BRO!!!!" Source: wordpress.com |
Now, I actually accept that the cold may play SOME role in making you more susceptible to illness in that perhaps your body's biological mechanism of decreasing bloodflow to your extremities and pulling warmth in towards your core may decrease the efficiency for your white blood cells to optimally patrol your body and destroy pathogens. Temperatures during colder months may also be the optimal temperature for some pathogens to survive for longer amounts of time, thus increasing the likelihood that they may find and infect someone. The cold may also lead to dryer nasal passages, which may decrease the amount of mucousal protection you have when inhaling pathogens. Furthermore, the cold may actually strengthen the membranes of said pathogens and make them more resilient, sturdy, and tough, thus making them harder to destroy once entering the body.
But make no mistake about it. The cold can kill you, but it cannot inoculate you. What I mean by that is that humans are not evolved for colder temperatures / climates (which is why people who say they enjoy the cold are out to lunch), and can die from prolonged exposure to cold temperatures without proper protection. But the cold is not an agent of infection. The cold is not a pathogen. Viruses like the cold and flu ARE pathogens, and can infect you in the right situations regardless of what month or season it is. And, if there are no pathogens around, regardless of whether or not it's cold or hot, there is nothing to infect you and you will in turn not become sick or infected. People often look at me with shocked faces, or looks of disgust, when they see me walking around town this time of year with shorts and a tank top in 20 degree weather because I refuse to bring pants and a jacket to the gym. They tell me I'm going to get sick because of it, and each year the cold never gets me sick.
So then what causes people to be sick? Well, many things. Many agents work in many different ways. And while I'd love to discuss all the different pathogens and their modes of transmission, I'd like to focus on the two most commonly discussed during this time of year: the cold and the flu.
Rhinopharyngitis (The Common Cold)
The common cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract, which mainly affects the nasal area of infected individuals, and is most commonly caused by a rhinovirus (wikipedia.com). The cold is spread by aerosolized (airborne) droplets from one infected person to another, or direct contact with nasal secretions containing the virus. The symptoms related to the cold are an immune response to being infected.
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| Source: virology.wisc.edu |
The cold is the most common human disease and affects all people globally. The elderly are at increased risk due to a weakening of the immune system as they age.
The incubation period (when the virus is replicating inside you but you do not yet experience symptoms) for the cold is 1-3 days and symptoms can persist for a week or two (healthtap.com).
Influenza (The Flu)
The flu, or influenza, is a ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus from the family Orthomyxoviridae. Flu infections are infections of the respiratory system and can be transmitted contagiously as an aerosol through inhilation of viral droplets from coughing and sneezing from an infected individual. The main types of flu types are types A and B (type C is also possible) and are responsible for seasonal flu illness (cdc.gov). Type A viruses mutate very fast and can take on many different serotypes (variations among species depending on surface antigens) and cause the most severe illnesses. Type B flu viruses mutate slower and aren't as varied as type A flu viruses and is easier to build an immunity against and prevent (wikipedia.com). Individuals are contagious and can spread the flu a day before symptoms are present to around 7.5 days after symptoms are present, and symptoms can persist for multiple weeks. The young and elderly are especially vulnerable to becoming infected with the flu.
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| Source: magnet.fsu.edu |
Because the flu virus is a virus, mutates frequently, has a long contagious time frame, and has an extremely efficient mode of transmission, it is hard to combat and prevent individuals from getting infected by it.
Each year, a flu vaccine is created to combat what is believed will be the most common flu types circulating each season.
Techniques for Preventing Sickness:
As someone who considers himself to be extremely germophobic, I've developed some techniques for myself that I think have greatly helped me in preventing myself from being sick. You may agree or disagree but, through my understanding of how germs spread and aseptic technique, I think that some of these could really help you in preventing sickness during this time of year and even year round.
WASH HANDS ALL THE TIME / WATCH WHERE YOUR HANDS ARE
It all starts with the hands folks. They are the one part of your body you need to be most concerned with when transferring disease. We do everything with our hands, and in turn touch everything with our hands. From gripping old dumbbells in the gym that 50 people before you have touched in the last hour, to high-fiving a friend who forgot to wash their hands 10 minutes ago after going to the bathroom, to touching doorknobs that everyone else in your office who coughed and sneezed all over their hands before touching said knobs have come into contact with before you, our hands serve as a rally point for all sorts of germs to wait patiently to infect you.
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| Source: positivelygoodproductions.com |
This is why you have to always be cognizant of what you've been touching on a daily basis, so that your dirty hands do not come into contact with food or rub your eyes / touch your face, which are entry points for pathogens to set up shop inside you and start to spread. If at all possible, do not let your hands come into contact with your face at all, and make sure there is some kind of barrier between your hands and the food you are holding (a wrapper, utensils, etc). Consider also using the outside of your palms instead of the inside of your palms to touch your face with if absolutely necessary.
If washing your hands are not THE #1 method for which to prevent the spread of disease, it's certainly close. Making your hands as close to a sterile environment as possible is of utmost importance. They just come into contact with too many germs and infectious material for you to disregard this. You rub your hands on your face way too much for you to ignore this. Wash your hands, and wash them often. It takes almost no time at all, is cost effective, and goes a very long way at making sure you're staying healthy and free of illness. And this doesn't just go for colder months, but year round as well.
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| Source: msutoday.msu.edu |
During colder seasons however, hands tend to become dryer. That fact, along with the fact that soap drys your skin further, can lead to cracks and bleeds in your hands. I recommend having a good skin lotion available to rub your hands with on the regular along with frequent hand washing to make sure your skin stays smooth and healthy and free of annoying cracks and tears, whilst also keeping them as germ free as possible.
SLEEP
Everytime I get to talk about sleep, I will highlight to you that it is the most underrated supplement of all time. Nobody seems to want to talk about the importance of sleep, and yet it affects pretty much EVERYTHING about you, from temperment, to muscle growth, to energy, and to health. If you are not actively trying to pay attention to your sleep patterns and how you can get as much sleep as possible in the most efficient way possible, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. I've discussed the importance of sleep in a blog post before, which you can view here.
Your body heals itself when you sleep. But most importantly, as it pertains to this blog post, your immune system is strengthened or weakened depending on how much sleep you are getting. Lack of sleep has been linked to T-cell impairment (webmd), as well as other factors that lead to immune system repression.
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| Source: i.telegraph.co.uk |
Lack of sleep can lead to more frequent and more prolonged sick days. Make sure you're getting enough of it. Devoting a few extra hours to sleep to me is well worth the consequences of not doing so. And I feel you should feel the same way.
AVOID INTERACTION WITH THE SICK
I don't care if your girlfriend / boyfriend questions how much you love them. I don't care if you spotting a guy who's still infectious in the gym on bench / dumbbell press looks awkward because you don't want him blowing in your face. I don't care how awesome your friends are. If any of these people are sick, interaction with them compromises your health. Is it really worth it? And if any of these people are really worth it, they would understand that you don't want to perpetuate a virus / other infectious agent by having it constantly infect the both of you or spread to you so that you could potentially spread it to someone else.
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| Source: cache.desktopnexus.com |
If you know someone is sick, keep your distance from them. Do not let them cough or sneeze in your face. After shaking hands with them, immediately wash yours. Stay away from any material that they have come into contact with, and cover your nose and mouth if they start coughing and / or sneezing in front of you without covering their face.
It's kind of like a game of keep away!
OTHER TIPSThere are other techniques you could use to improve your chances of preventing yourself from getting sick. Here are just a few:
1) Drink lots of water
2) Clean surfaces and objects in your house
3) Don't stress out easily
And there you go. Now that you have a better understanding about the modes of transmission for some of the most common infectious agents during this time of year, along with some ways for you not to become infected, you can do your best to prevent yourself from falling victim to sickness and being sidelined from dominating the game of life and giving your all to do the things you want to accomplish most in life.
Feel free to offer some advice of your own in the comments section below!
Stay healthy Jtrain Nation!
-Jtrain
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