Search

Home > Portable Practical Pediatrics > Grandma Right- Cold Exposure Cause Pneumonia? (Pedcast)


	Podcast:		Portable Practical Pediatrics
	Episode:		Grandma Right- Cold Exposure Cause Pneumonia? (Pedcast)
	Category:		Kids & family
	Duration:		00:00:00
	Publish Date:		2016-02-21 20:01:21
	Description:		Topic Introduction Now here's a question that comes up often in the office, "Does exposure to cold air cause children to come down with coughs, colds and even pneumonia?" When a child gets really sick with pneumonia, parents want to know why that happened, and I can't really blame them. I do too. They often ask, "Is there a relationship between pneumonia and being out in the cold, getting really chilled, having wet feet, or not wearing adequate clothing like Grandma said?" You would think that in the 21st century, we would have answered this basic question, but unfortunately, we have not. The answer seems to be elusive. Well, today, it's time for Doc Smo to weigh on the subject, not with a new study or data, but with my observations and experience -so- crank up that digital media, open up your cerebral cortex, and enjoy this installment of Portable Practical Pediatrics. Musical Introduction Examples of Pneumonia in Association with Cold Exposure Let me tell you about some of the recent cases of pneumonia that I have treated where the subject of exposure to cold came up. Case #1, I saw a 14 year old child not too long ago who had a history of mild asthma who came to the office because of fever and cough. Her asthma seemed to be under control and I think she was compliant with taking her medications. The day I saw her, she had developed a high fever accompanied by a severe cough. She had been mildly coughing for about a week before her fever set in--and that fever happened to be about 4 hours after going swimming in cold water. She admitted that she gotten quite cold while swimming but she was having a lot of fun. She denied wheezing or shortness of breath but she did have a very phlegmy cough. Her history and examination were consistent with pneumonia that I confirmed with a chest X-ray. Fortunately, she was able to make an uneventful recovery but her family and I did wonder whether her frigid swim had something to do with her illness pneumonia. Case #2 This case is actually quite similar to the first except this 16 year old young man didn't have asthma but he did have a cold when he went camping in the mountains this fall and slept on the cold ground for two nights. He does admit that he got cold at times during his slumber, especially early in the morning. The Monday after his cold sleeping weekend, he became sick with fever and an increasingly deep cough. I'll bet you can guess what illness he had-- that's right, pneumonia. He and his mother disagreed about whether he should have gone fall camping in the cold mountains when he was congested, but he had insisted. Certainly his mother believed that sleeping on the cold 40 degree ground had something to do with his pneumonia but even with pneumonia, the child remained skeptical. And Finally, Case #3 My final recent case is that of a ten year old young man who loves to play touch football which he was doing this fall on a particularly cold and wet day. Just like case number 1, he too has seasonal allergy in the fall and spring and he was congested even before he went out to play with the guys. Of course, as his mother pointed out to him five times during the visit, he was not wearing his coat while playing. The boys played for hours in the cold air and of course, rolled quite a bit on the cold ground. Sure enough, within 36 hours, he too had a fever and deep cough that turned out to be on X-ray, a classic pneumonia. What do all three of these cases, real cases, have in common you ask? Well, all have a child with a mild respiratory problem who is exposed to fairly extreme cold, be that cold water, or cold air, or the cold ground. What Did Grandma Say? So what is the Doc Smo theory of why this happens so often and why do so many Grandmothers believe that cold exposure makes a child sick, while the many scientists who have studied this issue and have not concluded that the cold exposure causes sickness. Remember, to Grandma,
	Total Play:		0