The cost of living... what can we do?

I'm not saying it didn't happen, it probably did, but i can't remember hearing the word hypothermia until the 80s maybe.
Houses we draughty and I don't know how we survived winters like 1963 but being a kid it was mostly just fun, there must have been lots of people dying of the cold but I don't remember hearing about it. I think it was just an accepted fact that it was winter and some people were going to die.
I never knew either of my grandfathers, one died at 40 and the other in his 50s, people died, mostly, younger than they do now.
Good job we have moved on a bit since then.

 

Just watching two people entering a cold lake, one is used to doing it, the other not.
I think it shows you can acclimatise to lower temperatures.

 

There has been studies about, does extreme cold or heat kill more people. They concluded, when you take out the winter influenza season and other non weather related factors, severe heat waves produce larger spikes in mortality, than serve cold weather.

 

I think we've all got use to heating in our homes, double/ triple glazing , insulating every possible gap that is found.....not saying that this isn't a good thing..on the whole it is.

I think though it plays havoc with our bodies when things change, our natural thermostat doesn't adjust accordingly or quickly enough anymore.

Getting back to basics.....animals either hibernate or naturally acquire more blubber or a thicker coat of fur to cope with the temp drop.

When I see people out and about I sometimes think that we have forgotten how to dress appropriately to match our weather....even little tots are dressed imo very inadequately.

Dampness is worse than cold I think, windows are seldom seen open in winter for fear of losing precious heat. Not only will it provide ventilation but also refresh the air and blow away any harbouring bugs. Even a 5 min blast of fresh air in each room is beneficial.

We are fortunate not to live in a really cold place like some others here do..Lori comes to mind.!!

When we were young parents( mine included) use to place their babies in their prams outside for their daytime naps even in Winter. I must admit that I did this too ( obviously not in really extreme weather conditions) for one of their daytime naps if we weren't planning on going out elsewhere that day. They were 'parked' right outside our patio doors and were well monitored.
A visiting Health Visitor even commented on how good it was to see as she too could remember such good practice from her childhood.

Working in the childcare field for over 25 years I have noticed a ( maybe unrelated ) big increase in children suffering from a wide range of respiratory ailments.......

I'm not saying we are moddle codling our bodies but we should allow them to work as naturally as possible (with of course, some modern day help ) before they lose the ability to completely.....then we are well and truly in trouble.

 

We have vents.....but still think a good blast of fresh air is best. Also are the vents cleaned regularly....or are they a winter home for spiders and more often than not...Ladybirds !! It's surprising how critters squeeze themselves into the tiniest of spaces.

 

I think the problem occurs when people can't move around very well.
Anyone who is fit and healthy should spend at least some time outdoors each day if possible.
I know I feel awful if I just sit around for a whole day.
And you can have the heating on and still feel cold

 

You don't see all of this here. New builds might have such. The British in particular complain here about the lack of insulation and dampness but that is norm on old homes (homes are considered old here pre-1951) and as such we pay little property taxes (ours are under 60 Euros per year). New builds do not always have all the benefits either.

You can get double glazing now but I have never seen a carpet shop here, ie, for fitted carpets. As all floors are tiled you use an area rug ... obviously in winter the house feels very cold, also with kitchens and bathrooms fully tiled. Under floor heating is popular on new builds and some renovations. A friends of ours had it and thought it a curse as you couldn't 'turn it off suddenly'. Okay, we have 60cm/2 foot walls which keeps the house wonderfully cool in summer but cold in winter. We are fortunate living in the South as we don't have extremes but it is bitterly cold up North which is beautiful to visit but I wouldn't live there.

Maybe it is not so bad for us to adjust as all three homes in the UK were 200+ years old ... but we went to that from all the mod cons in America. We just adjust.

 

Oh totally agree Pete and yes it's very awful, but that has sadly always been and always will be so, unfortunately our bodies react negatively to all extremes as we age.
My main concern is how today's young generation will fair healthwise in their old age with this increase in respiratory issues...which at one time was more widely thought of as an elderly persons ailment.

They say the age of retirement will keep going up but will they be fit enough to continue in work .

 

It does seem strange that the more removed from the outside world we become the more unhealthy we seem to get.
Allergies must have rocketed in recent years, all I remember was people used to get hayfever, but now some seem to be allergic to all kinds of things.
I know medical science has moved on but surely all these other allergies cannot have been so prevalent years ago or people would have been dropping like flies with unknown problems.

 

Too true, at one time I had 4 children on my work register , from 4 different families that had differing allergies. Whenever we went out I had to ensure that I had packed, meds, Epi Pens, inhalers etc.