Cold weather is a bigger killer than extreme heat – here’s why

TheConversation: Most people are acutely aware of the toll the heat can take on human life, particularly since the extreme heat of Black Saturday in 2009 and the European heatwave of 2003. So it may come as a surprise that more Australians die from the cold than the heat. A new study published in The Lancet shows 6.5% of deaths in this country are attributed to cold weather, compared with 0.5% from hot weather. Most deaths will be from cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as it’s the heart and lungs that struggle when we are outside our comfort zone.

Paying close attention to your health as winter approaches could be a matter of life or death

Queensland: A multi-country study published in The Lancet has found that temperature is responsible a significant number of deaths and that most of this mortality burden is due to colder days. Research Fellow Dr Yuming Guo, from UQ’s School of Public Health, said the study found that cold temperatures were related to more deaths than hot temperatures. “During the winter months people should be mindful to cover up and protect themselves from the cold weather,” he said.

Cold and flu tablets: which product is the best?

TheConversation: Winter is approaching. Your nose is stuffy and you feel a cold coming on. You head to the pharmacy to find an aisle full of cold and flu tablets. Each year Australians spend more than A$500 million on cold and flu medicines. Choosing between the hundreds of different cold and flu tablets available in Australia can be difficult, as each product may contain three or four different medicines. So, which product is the best one for your symptoms? And will it really help you feel better?

Flu and freezing weather may be driving up winter death rates

NHS. UK: "The current death rate in England and Wales is running about one-third higher than its normal rate for this time of year," BBC News reports. A combination of flu and very cold weather may be responsible.
The BBC's story comes from the latest official statistics on deaths in England and Wales. They show that in the last three weeks of January, death rates were significantly higher than predicted for the time of year.
In addition, over the last six weeks a significantly higher than predicted death rate was reported in people aged 65 and above living in England.