The mirror

Anyone who feels bad or sniffles at this time of year thinks they have ‘the flu’. Nonsense, says Belgian virologist Marc van Ranst. The flu is a serious disease that kills people. He explains how to notice the difference.

“You cannot say when a cold started. Suddenly you’re sniffling and you notice that runny nose. At most you know that it has been there ‘since this morning’. Or so you think. This is different with the flu. You can be perfectly healthy at noon and still be at two o’clock. And then at three o’clock (snaps fingers, ed.) you are suddenly shivering with a fever of 39 degrees and you feel deathly ill. When in doubt, there is the At home-, Family– or Netflix test. If you still feel like watching, it’s a cold. When you really have the flu, you want to lie down and sleep in the dark. Even those who are still tweeting or typing while sick in bed probably have a cold. In fact, anyone who describes their symptoms as a ‘flu’ is suffering from a cold.”

Bron(nen): Newspaper

It is a very distasteful sight, but almost everyone (secretly) picks their nose sometimes. It seems like an innocent activity, but there are several reasons why it is better to stop this nagging. Nosebleeds, infections and boils… can they even give you Alzheimer’s?

Bloody nose

Picking your nose irritates and damages the mucous membrane, which is just as important for your (nose) health. It ensures good blood circulation and warms, humidifies and cleans the air you breathe. Damaged blood vessels can cause a nosebleed.

Infections

A fingernail can make small wounds in the nose, which germs like to use. This increases the chance that the dangerous bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, among other things, will enter the body and cause a serious infection.

Bone and cartilage damage

If you are an avid nose picker, you can damage the septum (nasal septum). That’s the part of bone and cartilage that separates your left and right nostrils. It is even possible to pick a hole in the septum. Snorting drugs such as speed and cocaine can also cause the nasal septum to become chronically inflamed and disappear.

To swear

Picking can cause ulcers with painful scabs to form. This is the work of Staphylococcus. It is best not to pluck or pull hair from your nose, because this will pull the hair out of the nose together with the hair follicle. A nasal furuncle or boil can then develop due to an inflammation of a hair follicle in the nose.

Dementia?

It sounds bizarre, but researchers have linked nose picking to dementia. However, this concerns a study with mice, which showed that certain bacteria (Chlamydia pneumoniau) can enter the brain via the olfactory nerve from the nose. As a result, the cells in the mice’s brains started to produce beta-amyloid proteins that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. According to the scientists, this evidence ‘may also be frightening for humans’. Follow-up research is needed to prove that there is also a link between nose picking and dementia in humans.

Bron(nen): Margriet ANP HOLLANDSE HOOGTE ROBIN UTRECHT