quote:

Originally posted by solare:
I have often wondered how they can manage in sports cars or motorini ?????????? tutta quel' aria

Again, the problem is NOT the air itself, it's the temperature. Besieds, you wear bike gear on a bike or a moped. if you don't, you are stupid for more reasons than those connected with a sore throat. if you morve around on a two-wheel mean of transportation, you need a halmet, gloves, boots, pants and jacket (and possibly also back protection).

Whenever I've had inflammation, I've been told to put ice on it to reduce the swelling.

quote:

Originally posted by Ramona:
She also said that many mums at the hospital insist on dressing their newborns in multiple layers and wool in the middle of summer even after turning off the AC. Poor babies!

These are called silly excesses. This spring I have seen a poor baby being brought around in a series of layers of fleece and wool on a day when most adults were wearing a t-shirt and a sweater. At a certain point, the mum (in cotton sweater) screamed at the baby's father who left the pooor baby encased in his wools in a place where there could be a bit of draft from the open doon "Il bimbo prende freddo" she screamed, dn ran to cover up the pram's top!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
Whenever I've had inflammation, I've been told to put ice on it to reduce the swelling.

It dipends on the type of inflammation. For instanc,e if you put ice on a osteoarthritis-related inflammation you worsen your condition. In such cases you need to threat the part with some warmth. For isntnace with those seed-filled cushions that you need to put in the oven to warm them up.

By the way, in almost 40years o being an italian, I never heard the term "colpo d'aria" until I met the expats. It's "colpo di freddo".

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill 2:
Whenever I've had inflammation, I've been told to put ice on it to reduce the swelling.

It dipends on the type of inflammation. For instanc,e if you put ice on a osteoarthritis-related inflammation you worsen your condition. In such cases you need to threat the part with some warmth. For isntnace with those seed-filled cushions that you need to put in the oven to warm them up.

It was my knee. The doctor had me ice it every day- helped with the pain by reducing swelling.
Using a heating pad made it hurt worse (heat makes things expand).

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
By the way, in almost 40years o being an italian, I never heard the term "colpo d'aria" until I met the expats. It's "colpo di freddo".

It gets 248,000 hits here:
http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&q=colpo+d%27aria&btnG=Cerca+con+Google&meta=

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
These are called silly excesses. This spring I have seen a poor baby being brought around in a series of layers of fleece and wool on a day when most adults were wearing a t-shirt and a sweater. At a certain point, the mum (in cotton sweater) screamed at the baby's father who left the pooor baby encased in his wools in a place where there could be a bit of draft from the open doon "Il bimbo prende freddo" she screamed, dn ran to cover up the pram's top!

Yes, the thing is that I witness these "silly excesses" all the time here in Italy.

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:

quote:

Originally posted by Amy Cortese:

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
sitting on a cold surface can cause urinary tract inflammations, which may turn into full-fledged cystitis.

I've always thought that Urinary Tract Infections and Cystitis were caused by bacteria infecting the urinary tract.

If you have read carefully my statement, I didn't stay that the cold could CAUSE cystitis. I wrote that it could cause inflammations which can trigger a cystitits. If the bacteria are present the cold can weaken the immune system and therefore make the infection far more probable. The cold, instead causes the inflammation.

Cystitis occurs when the normally sterile lower urinary tract (urethra and bladder) is infected by bacteria and becomes irritated and inflamed. Seems to me that the bacteria causes the inflammation and the irritation, not the cold. What you're saying seems to be quite a stretch.

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:

quote:

Originally posted by Amy Cortese:

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
sitting on a cold surface can cause urinary tract inflammations, which may turn into full-fledged cystitis.

I've always thought that Urinary Tract Infections and Cystitis were caused by bacteria infecting the urinary tract.

If you have read carefully my statement, I didn't stay that the cold could CAUSE cystitis. I wrote that it could cause inflammations which can trigger a cystitits. If the bacteria are present the cold can weaken the immune system and therefore make the infection far more probable. The cold, instead causes the inflammation.

If you could cite a reputable medical journal which says this I might believe it.

To compare this to your earlier example (that us non-Italians seem to think that sun exposure causes various types of skin cancer) numerous medical studies have demonstrated the link between UV exposure and skin cancer (just google it) whereas this colpa di freddo (although I have heard colpa d'aria maybe it's regional?) causing cystitis theory appears not to be backed up by any reputable medical studies.

quote:

Originally posted by Alice Twain:
By the way, in almost 40years o being an italian, I never heard the term "colpo d'aria" until I met the expats. It's "colpo di freddo".

According to my girlfriend, colpo di freddo and colpo d'aria are two different things. Guess 40 years isn't enough time to get to know every single italian person/custom/intricacy...

To elaborate... it seems to me the colpo di freddo is the real thing, being simply "catch a cold", as we all do from time to time. Colpo d'aria is the more superstitious of the two, seeming to me more like "getting a chill"... with dubious and ominous consequences!

I don't think colpa di freddo is catching a cold it is about getting cold. Does anyone remember the report of a British study that did find some connection between getting cold and getting a cold. I don't know if there was a follow up or not.

I don't think cold causes inflammation, just the opposite, ice on a sprain for example. Women tend to get more urinary tract infections because of the short urethra as compared to men. They are caused by bacteria, probably more likely to be a problem in a hot environment than a cold one.

OK... I think I'm getting it (maybe not)... she (my girlfriend) is saying that with a colpo di freddo you can catch the cold (raffreddore)... so that would make it like a chill...

The colpo d'aria she says leads to the list of questionable maladies and doesn't have the prerequisite of having to be cold... the air can also be warm and still supposedly do all this harm! Seems like an "old-wives tale", but not surprising... there is also a fair amount of airtime on major networks here devoted to giving the horoscope!

Is colpo del'aria the same as colpo della strega? Except in the obvious way...???

I literally can't stop laughing after reading this whole thread. I have not yet made the move to Italy but have visited many times (family in Sicilia and boyfriend in Pescara) and every time I go I am amazed at the fear of air and water.

This past trip to Pescara (about 2 weeks ago) I ended up getting a cold (sore throat, cough etc.) I was starting to feel a little sick before I lejavascript:void(0);
Add Attachment?ft NYC but stupidly didn't go to the doctor. Well by the time I got to Pescara, about 2 days into the trip I couldn't get out of bed. The boyfriend's mother, immediately started blaming him for keeping the a/c on in the car and at night. The poor boy was convinced that it was his fault. I tried to explain to her and to him that this wasn't the case but of course they did not believe me. So for the whole rest of the trip Fabio drove with the windows up, a/c off and pulled me away from the a/c at the house every time I stepped near it and apologized when he would put it on for a few minutes everyday because even he couldn't take the heat. So in all the pictures from this trip I look like I was in a sauna...

Then of course there's the water issue. We would go to the beach about 1/2 hour after eating lunch everyday. After sitting out in the sun for another 45minutes I would get so overheated that I needed to go cool off in the water, and each time he would tell me it was dangerous and I could die so I must be fast. And then watch me intently as I waded into the water.

I don't really get annoyed at him for all this crazy paranoia. Instead I look at him straight in the eye, smile and say "Che paranoia!!"... followed by "Relax Little (my pet name for him,) I'm a big girl. I'll be fine." Then he laughs but in the corner of my eye I still see him doing his little good luck thing you know the whole grabbing your ermm... left **** with your right hand. Occasionally he'd tell me to do the female version of this and touch my left breast with my right hand. And just to humor him I would... laughing the whole time of course. I tried to teach him to knock on wood instead because its less embarrassing than having to feel myself up in public places but apparently that's not good enough.