Isaan getting chilly

[webfact]

Isaan getting chilly

BANGKOK, 29 October 2013 (NNT) - Dr. Sarayuth Uttamangkapong, director of the Disease Prevention and Control Office for the lower northeastern region stated that Isaan is getting colder, and warned local residents of illnesses that follow the sudden change in temperature such as, the flu, asthma, repertory infection, pneumonia, and sore throats.

Those who are most at risk are small children and the elderly. Dr. Sarayuth advised locals to try and keep warm and prepare enough clothing for the coming winter.

Furthermore, he pointed out that drinking alcohol to keep warm is actually harmful to the body - and may even cause death. The reason is that ethyl alcohol contained in the beverage hinders the brain to function at its normal capability.

Consuming too much ethyl alcohol, Dr. Sarayuth stated, will result in dizziness, fatigue, and becoming unconscious. Those who are drinking outside in the open cold are at higher risk, as the body would need to work harder to pump more oxygen into the blood stream, which may lead to the body shutting down and dying.

More information can be attained by calling the Health Department hotline at 1422.


-- NNT 2013-10-29

[Jip99]

Sound advice about the alcohol, Sherlock.

A pleasantly cool 19 degrees this morning.

[Thaddeus]

As a westerner from a different climate I love this time of year.

For the locals who have lived here all their lives it can be quite hazardous, especially the old folks.

[bergen]

My favourite time of the year is coming up!

[Lupatria]

Sound advice about the alcohol, Sherlock.

A pleasantly cool 19 degrees this morning.

19 degrees. At least someone understood what kind of info a reader would expect from this headline.

[MJP]

Consuming too much ethyl alcohol, Dr. Sarayuth stated, will result in dizziness, fatigue, and becoming unconscious.

Ethyl alcohol?

This must be the chemical nomenclature for either anti-freeze or Lao Khao?

He also said using Lao Khao in your car radiator was not good for water pump seals.

[chuckd]

That statement by the good Doctor about alcohol is ridiculous.

When I drink my singing voice gets better, driving skills improve, I can dance like Fred Astaire and I am much smarter.

This is a proven fact in my case.

[Thaddeus]

Actually MJ

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/194354/ethyl-alcohol

[Asiantravel]

My favourite time of the year is coming up!

Do you have an electric water heater in your bathroom? I have visited Si Saket many times during November December January and

I love the fresh air in the evening in the morning time but I hated having to take a cold shower involving the ladling bowls of water

[MJP]

Actually MJ

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/194354/ethyl-alcohol

I know Bruv, it's a gag gone wrong.

[Thaddeus]

Aha .... that happens to me quite a bit too.

[MJP]

Aha .... that happens to me quite a bit too.

Sometimes I can't can't stop myself typing stupid things and pressing the 'Add Reply' button . . . but I am undergoing treatment for it.

Dr. Sarayuth says I'm making very good progress and the prognosis is a good one.

[lineofentry]

Actually just being a bit cold doesn't make you ill, closing all the windows and huddling together with people with viruses makes you ill.

[bangon04]

Isaan getting chilly

the annual blanket market will be here soon....

[jackinbkk]

Too much alcohol will be harmful yes, not only for the reasons the doctor highlighted but a little may actually be beneficial. As the body cools, the blood vessels constrict and pull more blood into the core of the body. The body acts to remove the excess water it now finds in it's core, actually making the blood thicker and harder to pump. The density of the blood rises.

In the European studies, the incidence of heart attacks actually rises as the weather gets colder for this very fact. A little alcohol could help blood vessels relax, preventing the blood thickening, but you'd need to stay in a warm environment to avoid hypothermia.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130901154113.htm

There is also the evidence that shows cholesterol levels rise when the body is cold in the process of keeping warm. I don't know how alcohol will affect that situation. Just stay warm.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23824-wrap-up-warm-to-avoid-heart-attacks-in-winter.html#.Um-n-RBiIvU

Still 19 degrees is cold? That's hard to imagine now that I'm living in the UK again for 3 years now.

I can remember fishing in Bangkok when the temp dropped by about 10 degrees from the day to the night relatively quickly with a cool wind. I think it was still 26, but it felt cold at the time.

Edited October 29, 2013 by jackinbkk

[bergen]

My favourite time of the year is coming up!

Do you have an electric water heater in your bathroom? I have visited Si Saket many times during November December January and

I love the fresh air in the evening in the morning time but I hated having to take a cold shower involving the ladling bowls of water

Lightning killed my water heater nine years ago. New ones are bought , but yet not installed,so until then, I've made it a habit to shower in the afternoon, and not in the bl@ddy freezing mornings.............

[crumpled]

19 degrees, that would be heavenly at the moment compared to chilly England where I have the cental heating set to a pleasant 24 deg. Snuggled beneath my quilt at night, all alone

Roll on December and I am back in Issan away from the cold.

I have to admit the family in Issan are now enjoying the benefits of a hot shower on a morning since I bought them an electric shower earlier this year. Blankets might also be a good investment, though I can picture everyone sleeping in the g/f bed because she has a quilt and they do not. Good job it is king sized

[godden]

Is ther a market there for fake fur coats?

[Pinot]

Actually just being a bit cold doesn't make you ill, closing all the windows and huddling together with people with viruses makes you ill.

I wondered if anyone else was going to pick up that. It is weird that a Dr. made the statement. You don't get a cold from being cold. Viruses spread faster in winter because people are together more often and schools, a breeding ground for illness, are open.

It does seems like whatever I get here takes twice as long to get over. That could be the tropical climate or me just getting old. I end up having to take an antibiotic to finally throw off a cold.

[Thaddeus]

It does seems like whatever I get here takes twice as long to get over. That could be the tropical climate or me just getting old. I end up having to take an antibiotic to finally throw off a cold.

Don't do that, colds are a viral infection and not caused by bacteria.

All you are doing is building up your body's resistance to antibiotics and teaching the bacteria you do have how to mutate and survive the treatment, which could cause you grave danger later in life.

One of the big failings in the medical system here is that, it doesn't matter what you walk in to the hospital with, you will usually walk out with a big bag of paracetamol and antibiotics, does much more harm than good.

[barrybankruad]

I've got the ultimate of luxuries an electric blanket! Looked all over for one here but couldn't find one to buy, eventually had to get a friend bring me one from New Zealand. I read yesterday that it is estimated that 25,000 people, mostly elderly, will die of hypothermia this UK winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes. I wonder what the figure will be in rural Thailand. Impossible to estimate I would say.

[MJP]

I've got the ultimate of luxuries an electric blanket! Looked all over for one here but couldn't find one to buy, eventually had to get a friend bring me one from New Zealand. I read yesterday that it is estimated that 25,000 people, mostly elderly, will die of hypothermia this UK winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes. I wonder what the figure will be in rural Thailand. Impossible to estimate I would say.

I remember a big spread in the BKK Post about this about 10 years ago. It was all about desperate pensioner poverty in the UK, poor housing conditions and fuel costs and how an estimate XX,000 people would die this winter because of it.

[socksy01]

Does it take a doctor to give this 'common sense' advice and why has this even made News?

Try having a round of golf in the afternoon in Issan at the moment.

It's boiling.

[outsider]

Any docs in the house who could explain what 'repertory infection' is?

[rct99q]

Is ther a market there for fake fur coats?

Nope...real fur coats are cheap....nobody would buy an expensive fake fur coat.

[rct99q]

19 degrees, that would be heavenly at the moment compared to chilly England where I have the cental heating set to a pleasant 24 deg. Snuggled beneath my quilt at night, all alone

Roll on December and I am back in Issan away from the cold.

I have to admit the family in Issan are now enjoying the benefits of a hot shower on a morning since I bought them an electric shower earlier this year. Blankets might also be a good investment, though I can picture everyone sleeping in the g/f bed because she has a quilt and they do not. Good job it is king sized

I am sure the gf has no problems keeping warm while you are away..........just kidding.

Some four years ago I installed a hot water shower and thought.....yes everybody now will be able to enjoy a hot shower.......to date it has been used about 3 times (all by me) and realized no matter how "cold" it is they still prefer the Thai shower...."refreshing" is all I hear.

[Thaddeus]

Any docs in the house who could explain what 'repertory infection' is?

Very dangerous, been known to wipe out an entire theatre.

[Thaddeus]

19 degrees, that would be heavenly at the moment compared to chilly England where I have the cental heating set to a pleasant 24 deg. Snuggled beneath my quilt at night, all alone

Roll on December and I am back in Issan away from the cold.

I have to admit the family in Issan are now enjoying the benefits of a hot shower on a morning since I bought them an electric shower earlier this year. Blankets might also be a good investment, though I can picture everyone sleeping in the g/f bed because she has a quilt and they do not. Good job it is king sized

I am sure the gf has no problems keeping warm while you are away..........just kidding.

Some four years ago I installed a hot water shower and thought.....yes everybody now will be able to enjoy a hot shower.......to date it has been used about 3 times (all by me) and realized no matter how "cold" it is they still prefer the Thai shower...."refreshing" is all I hear.

Long time ago, when I first moved here and was living in the In-laws house, been there about two weeks and it was early February, I saw MIL with a big pan of water on the gas burner, I asked the now ex what it was for, she said "Papa, he hate cold water shower"

I followed suit later, as my testicles had started to vanish inside my body.

[crumpled]

I've got the ultimate of luxuries an electric blanket! Looked all over for one here but couldn't find one to buy, eventually had to get a friend bring me one from New Zealand. I read yesterday that it is estimated that 25,000 people, mostly elderly, will die of hypothermia this UK winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes. I wonder what the figure will be in rural Thailand. Impossible to estimate I would say.

I remember a big spread in the BKK Post about this about 10 years ago. It was all about desperate pensioner poverty in the UK, poor housing conditions and fuel costs and how an estimate XX,000 people would die this winter because of it.

And with the recent rises of 10% on gas and electric here in the UK., a lot more people will die this winter. If they heat their homes they will be warm and die of starvation. Alternatively, eat and freeze.

Are they giving out free blankets in Issan again this winter? I recall a lot of older people inThailand do die from the cold weather.

I have fond memories of life in the village, sat round a blazing fire outside and drinking a beer or three.

[MJP]

I've got the ultimate of luxuries an electric blanket! Looked all over for one here but couldn't find one to buy, eventually had to get a friend bring me one from New Zealand. I read yesterday that it is estimated that 25,000 people, mostly elderly, will die of hypothermia this UK winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes. I wonder what the figure will be in rural Thailand. Impossible to estimate I would say.

I remember a big spread in the BKK Post about this about 10 years ago. It was all about desperate pensioner poverty in the UK, poor housing conditions and fuel costs and how an estimate XX,000 people would die this winter because of it.

And with the recent rises of 10% on gas and electric here in the UK., a lot more people will die this winter. If they heat their homes they will be warm and die of starvation. Alternatively, eat and freeze.

Are they giving out free blankets in Issan again this winter? I recall a lot of older people inThailand do die from the cold weather.

I have fond memories of life in the village, sat round a blazing fire outside and drinking a beer or three.

Yes, Sir John Major was very clear on this the other day, that many in the UK will, if the UK has a hard winter, be forced to choose between keeping warm and eating. He even backed Ed Miliband's attack on fuel price rises.

No sign of blankets yet, but this village is no longer really classed as poor. You can tell from all the new 3m Baht houses (not farang houses either) being built and all the new cars here. It was third world 13 years ago when I first came here.

How times have changed.

I did get lost one night on the scooter thing years back when it dropped to around 6 celsius. That was a chilly ride.