A positive attitude beats cold and flu

'Tis becoming the season to be jolly.

'Tis also the season to catch a cold and flu.

But, as it turns out, if it is your season to be jolly, then most likely it will not be your cold season.

It seems that the jolliest among us are the most immune from catching that common cold bug. This, according to some very good new studies that confirm a growing body of research that our "emotional styles" have a definite influence on our physical health.

At Carnegie Mellon University, researchers interviewed more than 300 folks as to their emotional styles. They then shot a dose of the rhino virus (the cold bug) up their noses and observed them for several days to see who became sick.

I would say that anyone who would let a stranger squirt a virus up their nose is a pretty jolly person. But as it turns out, it was the ones who scored low on "positive emotional style" who were three times more likely get the cold than the high scorers.

Furthermore, those with high "negative emotional style" scores -- the most hostile, anxious and depressed -- were the cold sufferers who reported the most protracted and difficult symptoms.

By the way, a positive emotional style not only does battle with the cold virus, but also its evil cousin that everyone is especially worried about this season, the flu virus. Studies show that those who were known to be most involved with negative emotions had the lowest level of flu virus antibodies six weeks after getting the flu vaccine.

So who are these jolly people and what do they have that the rest of us don't?

According to the Carnegie Mellon folks, those with positive emotional styles were vigorous, calm and had an overriding sense of well-being.

This conforms to the literature on psycho-immunology, which consistently supports exercise, a good night's sleep and healthy relationships as the lifestyle factors most conducive to maintaining a healthy immune system.

Maybe our mothers were right, after all: Get a good night's sleep, exercise and be nice to your brothers and sisters.

OK, fine. But what if you are like my friend, Gordon, who told me recently that he will take his vitamins, even go to bed at a reasonable hour, but he is not going to be jolly. Especially not this year.

Is there anything else Gordon can do?

A lot of people still swear by echinacea, an herbal remedy that is still very popular even though it has been discredited. According to Consumer Lab, echinacea "has not been proven effective in preventing disease and is not recommended for long-term use, since the practice may actually depress the immune system."

Zinc, another substance touted as a warrior on the cold front, fares better. Taken either as a lozenge or as a nasal spray, it promises to shorten the duration of a cold while also lessening the severity of the symptoms.

I recently spoke to a woman who proudly proclaimed that she was counteracting the stress of the season (and therefore the invitation to a cold) by taking zinc every day. She is making a big mistake, one that a lot of folks do who are enamored with those brightly colored zinc lozenges.

Zinc should only be taken during a cold or when it is suspected that one is stalking you. Continual zinc therapy will actually suppress the immune system and can even reduce levels of the good heart-protective HDL cholesterol.

We all know by now that it is generally a good idea to wash your hands often. And it is usually not a good idea to kiss strangers. Now you know that one of the best things you can do this cold and flu season is to keep smiling.

Dr. Michael O.L. Seabaugh, a Cape Girardeau native, is a clinical psychologist who lives and works in Santa Barbara, Calif. Contact him at mseabaugh@semissourian.com.