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Just being my natural curious self, after having watched a cool movie called 'Skeleton Key', I did a bit of research on this ideology.

What brought about this spurt of curiosity was the assumption that hoodoo only works if you believe in it.

Isnt that really true of anything? I mean prayer for instance.

But researching on home remedies, these in particular have a certain chemical action on the body whether we believe or not, dont they?

I suppose what I am getting at, is a discussion on the power of the mind, home remedies, and ancient old wives tales.

Does anybody know any, and do they work?

There's an old wives tale that was told to me as a kid by my grandmother. She insisted the best way to get rid of the flu was to have a long cold shower/bath. Since I never had the balls to do this when I've had the flu I had no idea it worked.

A year or so ago, I read that there was a basis of medical truth in what she believed. Apparantly the bugs that give us the symptoms of flu need a certain high body temperature to survive any length of time. They fool us into thinking we are cold and as a consequence, we "wrap up" excessively, thus raising the body temperature even more. By having a cold shower, this lowers the core temperature of the body and supposedly kills of the germs.

I know of no one - certainly of my generation and younger - that has ever had the desire to try this method. Most of us would do the exact opposite and lounge in a hot bath, creating the perfect environment.

She also swore by Olbas Oil and used it as a cure all for absolutely everything

Influenza is caused by a virus entering the body and reproducing using the body's cells. A bath won't do much for it so no need to hop into freezing water

Smallpox, which is now extinct, was eradicated by a virus developed from cowpox. The old wives tale that worked was the realisation that milkmaids, who got mildly ill from cowpox, rarely got smallpox. Edward Jenner observed this and experimented on his own infant son to show that vaccination against smallpox could protect against it.

Folk remedies are interesting, scientifically researched remedies are more effective.

Royd Fissure;1316809 wrote: Influenza is caused by a virus entering the body and reproducing using the body's cells. A bath won't do much for it so no need to hop into freezing water

Smallpox, which is now extinct, was eradicated by a virus developed from cowpox. The old wives tale that worked was the realisation that milkmaids, who got mildly ill from cowpox, rarely got smallpox. Edward Jenner observed this and experimented on his own infant son to show that vaccination against smallpox could protect against it.

Folk remedies are interesting, scientifically researched remedies are more effective.


As far as I understand its not so far fetched, although my reasoning was as wayward as my grans

So Could a Cold Shower Beat the Flu? - Health News - redOrbit

Cold showers: Scientific studies have now backed up what naturopaths have been saying for years - that taking a cold shower every day can greatly improve your immunity to viruses. The theory goes that the shock of the cold water stimulates the body into warming itself up and raising its core temperature - which destroys cold and flu viruses. If you are suffering from flu, taking a cold shower may seem like purgatory but the same study concluded that it can shorten the duration of an infection, too.




In an article from Cold Shower Cures the following benefits of cold water were noted

* Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body.

* Cleans the circulatory system.

* Reduces blood pressure on internal organs.

* Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood.

* Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.

* Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes.

* Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs.

Scientific studies have now backed up what naturopaths have been saying for years - that taking a cold shower every day can greatly improve your immunity to viruses.


No citation in the article. "Scientific studies..." is a bit general. I'm not saying it's wrong, crumbs I'm not a scientist or someone involved in medicine (except as a grateful consumer), so it might be correct, but I do know I won't accept the article's assertion without citations.

The argument is - I think this is accurate - cold water helps the immune system to become more effective. That's a pretty bare statement and it's my description but I think I need to see evidence that says cold water baths/showers do make the human immune system more efficient.

But there's a bit more. The immune system "recognises" an influenza virus only if it (the immune system) has the ability to do so. RNA influenza viruses mutate, unlike DNA viruses which remain constant and are "recognisable" by the immune system and can be dealt with before they do too much damage. So when a new RNA infuenza virus hits the poor old immune system (unless there is a natural immunity in the individual) can't do anything about the virus because it doesn't recognise it as a threat. Therefore the efficiency of the immune system is irrelevant and cold baths/showers to bolster it won't help if the immune system isn't programmed to deal with the new RNA influenza virus.

Sorry, my OCD (not kidding, I have a slight tendency towards it) must be kicking in

Raven;1316802 wrote: What brought about this spurt of curiosity was the assumption that hoodoo only works if you believe in it.

Isnt that really true of anything? I mean prayer for instance.
Wouldn't that be cool if it worked both ways? "I know you see the fire-breathing demon swooping towards you. He will eat you if he catches you. But if you just stop believing he's there......... " :yh_ooooo

The placebo effect certainly packs a punch.