Air drafts make you ill, do you believe this? - Germany

I was just at a brunch in a restaurant when this subject came up. It was quite a warm day, especially inside of the reserved room we had. So, a few of us made the suggestion to open up a few of the windows- but some of our group (it was mixed between Germans, Americans, Italians & Polish) didnt want more than 1 window open as it would create a "draft". (and it would render them unable to move the next day from muscle stiffness...)

I have always considered a draft to be a current of cold air coming thru a room when the weather is cold already. When a current of cooler air comes thru a hot room- I've always called that "a breeze". What could possibly be the difference between a breeze inside, or one outside, where it isnt considered a draft?

Is there any scientific evidence that such a thing makes one ill? Or is this just another silly german old wives tale?

IMHO- its a wives tale, but they (most central europeans) believe in it. I work with 2 Dutch girls, that also don't like the windows open due to the draft! Drives me nuts! I have actually gotten blankets for patients as I refuse the close the window when the sunshines, and its warm out. Even in the winter, I like fresh air coming in the room- as I don't think it ever gets cold here!

The weather does affect people with various preexisting conditions. Pressure and humidity can make people with arthritis uncomfortable, the rest is a bunch of hogwash. You don't get sick from a draft or a breeze.

From what I can tell, nearly every German who goes to the US for the first time promptly catches a bad cold, because Germans are not used to air-con (the kind that directly blows cold air at you from somewhere). Once they do get used to it (after staying there for a few weeks, for example), most people don't mind anymore. To me, air-con and cold draft are basically the same thing.

I find when I sit on my sofa for long periods of time working on my laptop with the door open behind me and a cold breeze constantly blowing on my neck and back, that afterwards I tend to have more stiffness and pain then if I sit the other end of the sofa in exactly the same position.

It is a fact that cold air makes muscles tense up (which is why it is recommended to cover exposed areas of the body up when massaging) and I guess it could strain the muscles more than usual when you move...

Colds and flu are due to viruses, not AC. Almost every German that goes to the US for the first time promptly finds out that they have allergies (except those going to Arizona).

Disagree. For example, the same happens to people going to Southeast Asia, where air-con is also prevalent. It used to happen to me in the past, but once I'd been there for longer periods of time, I no longer got sick. Don't think it has anything to do with allergies.

(edit: of course I don't disagree with the virus thing. But it's conceivable that the body's defences are weakened by cold air - why not? Don't have any scientific evidence, just observations how I myself and other Germans experience it)

All scientific evidence points to allergies. AC homes are less ventilated than opening a window to let a draft or a breeze in.

My Polish boyfriend gave me a hard time when we were on holiday in hot weather and I drenched my head in cold water as he said it would make me ill... never heard that and never had a problem personally... as far as I am aware it is good to cool the body down when it is too hot. :} Anyone had similar experiences?

I am always getting into arguments with people on buses, trains, and at the office, that an open window does NOT cause a cold or flu, but a virus! I often in winter run across the street to get my lunch, and the girls I work with yell at me I will catch a cold because I don't have my neck covered! Drives me bonkers!

Us Germans, we are weird. Trust me, I know!

no its more a quirk! We all have somekind of quirks- its part of our upbringing!

I seriously hate those neck scarves being worn to stop a cold. I just want to pull it and spin them like a top.

"The Draft" is just another excuse for workshy, hypochondriacal Germans to take time off work and, at the same time, give them something else to moan about. It is the biggest load of bollocks I have ever heard and I do not even take any notice of it when confronted with it. Indeed, I will go out of my way to open EVERY window in a train compartment if the weather is hot just to see how long it takes before I here a

"Excuse mee. vill you pleez close ze vindows as ze draft vill make me ill"

Never takes longer than 3 minutes... And I always tell them that if it bothers them then they should look for another compartment as the 15 other people here are not bothered by it at all...

Maybe we should build special air-tight containers for these people. OK, so they will not be able to breath but if it stops the moaning then so be it...

Now, if you will all excuse me, I have to go and close a few windows as I feel a draft somewhere...

Bloody right. Absolutely ridiculous. I make a point of risking nasty follow through, and squeezing out a small fart every time I hear it. Try and teach them that fresh air is a good thing.

@Don_riina

I got into a few arguments on trains, as I do the same as you... (esp During Summer) After a few times I went to the local hardware store and got one of those square/triangle key things they use to lock the windows (Open or closed).. It's funny watching these people try to close the locked windows.. And it will only set you back 2-3 EUR

You guys are conspiring to make poor, innocent Germans fall sick! You should be deported! Imprisoned! Confined to a small cell where the windows don't open and the temperature is 30 degrees! Shame on you!

Thought I must post this. I was teaching a conversation class full of "senior citizens" last winter. One older female member came deliberately early, turned off the heating and opened all the windows even in January. The rest of us sat there with our jackets on. Finally, after curing a threatening cold (chill?) with alcohol and getting stung by a mosquito in summer I gave up the course. On my final evening, probably the one and only baking hot summer evening of this year, we went to an Italian restaurant. Both I and the one young German student were looking forward to sitting outside - only to be informed by this elderly idiot that it was much too draughty and we had to sit inside. I asked what would happen if we sat in the fresh air - the answer came unanimously from all the old "dears": "You get ill." Any comments?

Hmm. I normally don't have a problem with moving air, but I have a theory about the draft.

Think about that your throat has a lot of blood circulating near the surface. Same with your lower back (kidneys). Cold air moving across your lower back and/or throat could slightly lower your body temperature there and therefore lower your resistance to a virus. It's not a very scientific theory and I'm not so attached to it as to argue it continually, but I do know I'm not really crazy about cold air blowing across my back when I'm in a room and I'll close the window if I can. Cold air, mind, not just air.

If your body temperture droppexd that much from air on your skin or throat you have a problem with your hypothalamus...in moderate temperatures (we warm-blooded animals-and I know you are one) can regulate our internal temperature almost perfectly.

Actually not all people can. People with Raynaud's Syndrome (aka Raynaud's disease) can not regulate their own body temperature like other people. Event at temperatures between 50-60 F these people can loose cirulation to their extremities which then turn white to blue. It's really a normal reaction to cold temperatures but it's hyperactive in these people. After they get cold they cannot warm themselves back up and require an external heat source to warm back up. I should know since I have it.

However, despite this hypersensitivity to cold I DO NOT get sick from drafts. It's total crap. The people on the trains are more likely to get sick with the windows closed because if anyone on the train car is sick they are closing themselves up with the germs rather than circulating fresh air through.

Regarding the comment that Germans get sick when they go to the US, it has nothing to do with the AC. Many US people get sick when they go to Europe. My theory is different virus strains that we don't have a natural built up immunity. Also a big factor is that you are cooped up on a plane for 8 hours breathing recylced air the whole time.

Our first baby (born in the UK) was 8 weeks premature. Young babies cannot regulate their body temperature and you need to do this for them via clothing etc.

The German in-laws were over when he first came home in Summer. They wrapped him up like an eskimo baby, and almost screamed at me if I opened the car window when he was inside etc. In truth babies suffer more deaths from "overheating" than being too cold. Little Oliver's face would be nearly bright red in the car.

Once over I think around 12 weeks old they can self-regulate. There is a very simple rule then for what clothing they should be wearing - the same as makes you comfortable! There is no reason for a baby or toddler to need more layers than you are wearing yourself.

Drives me bonkers when they make my kids where ear muffs and scarves at the slightest sign of Winter - seem to think a cold draft in the ear will make them deaf/sick or whatever.

I now love turning up at their house in Winter with 9 year old Oliver and we are both wearing T-shirts when its snowing! Just to wind them up.

Just plain ignorance. You don't catch a cold from walking outside with wet hair, or having a cool draft on your neck, etc. YOU CATCH A COLD FROM A VIRUS (as other people have already mentioned!).

The reason Germans travelling to the States get sick so quickly is that 1) there is a whole other set of viruses running around in the States than in Germany and 2) they've probably been on a plane in close contact with people from a bunch of other countries with a lot of other viruses. When I first came to Germany I had a bunch of colds in the first year. My mother, a doctor, told me that is was the reason - all the new viruses that my body did not yet have immunity for.
Simple and scientific.

That overheating can also lead to SIDS.
It is easy to warm up, it is not easy to cool down. There is one level of cold that is bad and that is hypothermia. There are several levels of overheating.

I am with Don on this one.. If they close the windows then just let out periodical farts... that will teach them...

Drink loads of weissbier and eat loads of sauerkraut to keep the gas levels at a consistant level, allowing you to strike at will...

Don't forget the cheese to add the edge.

hi -

it's not necessarily allergies that give people unused to airco cold-like symptoms... i believe that in many cases they do catch colds, but it's not due to the temperature... it's due to the fact that airco makes the air really dry, which irritates nasal/lung linings making one more susceptible to viruses & bateria...

so much for my two cents worth...

ciao !

If drafts are so bad why do so many Germans claim riding a bicycle is good for you? Aren't they also pretty drafty? Or is that a 'different kind of draft'?

@PiePiper

Stop trying to bring logic into the discussion

Cold air or drafts causing illness is a myth that originates from people getting sick more often in winter. It just so happens to be cold in winter in Germany, so naturally the association of cold air making you sick. The fact behind the myth is that people do get sick more often in winter from colds and flus. Unfortunately, many people missed the press release on the disproving of the theory of spontaneous generation and therfore still believe germs are created spontaneously from cold air. When such a person is confronted with said press relase, they generally still continue to believe cold air makes you sick, but usually admit that it doesn't in and of itself create germs.

The reason more people get sick in winter is becasue they spend more time indoors, with closed windows, in close proximatety, breathing the same air as other people. This allows germs that are readily transmitted through the air to more easliy infect another person. Air conditioning also increase your chances of catching cold. You are breathing the same air being circulated about the building.

The moral of the story is: open windows and drafts will reduce your chances of getting sick, not increase them.

unless a bird with flu flies in the window and hits you on the head

Simple answer,when they say Es zieht either deliver a Chuck Norris Roundhouse or just a simple " fuck off! "

Drafts DO make you ill – it’s far more healthy to close all windows and light up several cigarettes.

Drafts making people ill? Utter guff. If anything it makes you tougher. Forget about spinach and all that lark; open windows and deal with the draft!!

Don't strike a match though!

Es zieht! Es zieht! and that look of panic! Like there is a real problem.

Tossers!

so what about an american who moved to germany in her early 20's and has been here 8 years then goes back to the u.s. for a short visit? i started getting a pretty bad cold on day 9 of my trip. the people i was around had suffered from some allergies, but i had headaches, a slight fever, aches and a sore throat (but no stuffy nose) and a cough so it wasn't an allergy attack. didn't stop me from enjoying NYC, but it was knocked out by the evening and slept like a baby.


so in theory, AC does cause colds!

i always go out of the house with wet hair in the winter, except when it's minus and windy cause then the wet hair causes combiined with wind causes me to get a cold head and a headache, but otherwise i've always done this. and i love wearing scarves. i find that if my neck is warm, so is the rest of me. even back home these last 2 weeks i always wore a scarf in whatever restaurant i was in. never used to do that before i moved to germany. same goes for wearing long undershirts in winter (camisoles). if my lower back is warm, i feel much more comfortable.

your immune system has changed, so that is why.

We had the AC on this week at the Office about 50% of the patients like it, then about 30% are okaywith it, 20% ar all pissy because its too cold in the rooms- I have to explain its on the lowest setting, that its for the whole office and we cannot turn it off in only one room, and that we have to work the whole day in this heat, I am sure they are okay for about 45min in the room.

There was a discussion at work this last week about this very topic. According to the German we asked, you can get stiff necks from open windows in buildings or in cars, trains, etc. You can't get a stiff neck riding your bike or rollerblading - even if it's into the wind. He doesn't know if you'll get a stiff neck from riding a scooter or a motorbike. He got pissed off before we could ask him about sailing or other water-sports or extreme sports.

No scientific evidence was given.

Conclusion: It's bullshit.

Cold drafts in my ears can make my ears hurt and give me an ice-cream type headache - this is especially true on my bike. I also chill easily. But on hot days, bring on the draft. The colder the better.

I like fresh air. I generally have the window open in my Arbeitszimmer at home.

However I try to avoid driving for long periods with the window open. When flying I usually open the small window that lets in a jet of air (when thermalling for those to whom this means anything). Snag it its only on the left.side and I have on numerous occasions got a stiff neck from this. So when flying for any period of time I have an old scarf as protection - does help.

I am yet to find an airline which is happy for me to open a window during a flight.