It did not take me long for me to catch my first cold in College. From working out in the gym, using a public bathroom, sharing drinks, and staying out late during the weekend are all a few reasons why a college freshman might get sick. I read an article online that discussed why college freshman get sick. Being in a new environment that your body is not use to can often lead to colds. Simply just living in a new dorm can lead to a cold as well, since our body is not yet accustom to this new living situation and not accustom to sharing a dorm with another person. Sinus Infections, the Flu, Mono, a cold, and Strep throat are all common sicknesses for college students.
A reason behind these various sicknesses is not as complicated as it might seem. College students tend to lack sleep and do not have a healthy diet, especially first year freshman that are away from their parents for the first time in a while and are getting their first taste of freedom. On average teens need about 7 through 9 hours of sleep to keep our body fresh. Lack of sleep makes it easier for viruses to enter our body and causes sicknesses. Our immune system relies on the sleep we get so if we want to combat sicknesses a quick way to start is by getting a lot of sleep to allow your body to combat the cold.
Having a healthy diet is an easy step to combat sickness in college despite that many college freshman do not do this. Simply supplementing french fries for a fruit like pineapples can help prevent colds, the flu, and other illnesses that plague your body. Also, replacing soda with water allows your digestive system to wash out any unhealthy bacteria that might be causing you to become sick. I look forward to using these few tips to combat my sicknesses in the future and hopefully become a healthier college student.
Links:
http://sicklyadvice.weebly.com/research.html
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why
Being a college freshman myself this post really intrigued me. It is only the third week and I feel as if all my friends are dropping like flies. Everyone complains of headaches and a sore throat but aren’t really sick. However this post opened my eyes to why. The change of routine has really taken a toll on us all and this post helped me understand it more. Really relevant to this time of year, great work!
I can definitely say i can relate to this post. Every morning I wake up and my throat is so dry I can barely even speak, not only that, but I wake up to the worst cough. I don’t know why I wake up to this mess, but it probably has to do something with what you’ve written about. A combination of poor eating choices, new surroundings, and staying out late probably have a lot to do with it. I’ve been trying to eat healthier within the past week like you mentioned in your blog and I have noticed an improvement in overall feeling. I’ve felt an overall feeling of more energy and increase in health from just eating a salad everyday for lunch. If any of you would like a guide of how to stay out of the doctor’s office during college check this link out: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/slideshows/how-college-students-can-avoid-getting-sick
I enjoyed reading this post because within the first two weeks I had a cold and two of my good friends got strep throat. This was very informative but also enjoyable to read!!
This post is relatable, as I know there are several students in our class who just cough and cough repeatedly throughout class. Sharing such huge lecture halls of 350 students should be a viable reason for sickness. But all your factors for becoming sick seem relevant to all, as we are never in solidarity anymore with always some compromise that could potentially get us sick. A well balanced diet and sleep pattern will help, but the immune system can only fight so much. This article gets to the point well, but could further elaborate on the necessity for Vitamin C within the immune system, or why we get immunization shots before college, or even why we receive various shots before entering any other country. Sickness is a vast subject, but we seem to be very relevant to the subject as the cold winter season is foreseen.