The Vitamin C myth

I currently have a mild but annoying sneeze-provoking bout of the flu. At times like these I am more likely than usual to remember my less-than-daily dose of vitamin C supplement. When I'm not sick I usually only take it when I remember that it tastes like orange lollies.

Anyway, just about everyone seems to recommend vitamin C for avoiding/surviving a cold. But while wondering exactly how effective it really is I found this somewhat sad little snippet at webmd.com:

The average adult who suffers with a cold for 12 days a year would still suffer for 11 days a year if that person took a high dose of vitamin C every day during that year.

Which I suppose means that my sporadic little doses probably aren't doing anything at all, except feeding my sweet tooth and delivering, potentially, a little placebo effect.

Mayo Clinic reckons that if you develop a cold while taking vitamin C (ie. this probably does not apply to me or other casual users) you can expect about a 10% reduction in the duration of the cold (15% for children), but there are no significant benefits if you only start taking it after the onset of a cold.

The real winners with vitamin C are people in extreme circumstances. If you're a soldier in the sub-arctic, a skier or a marathon runner, you could use vitamin C to cut your risk of developing a cold by about 50%. Some people get all the perks.

Ankle pulse

Today I was sitting on the couch with my legs crossed and I could literally see my ankle pulsating. I put my fingers on the pulse and it was so clear it was freaky.

How did I never notice this before?

Not enough time spent staring at my ankles?

I think most people know how to find the traditional neck (carotid artery) and/or wrist (radial artery) pulse site/s, but my "friend" Wikipedia tells me that any place that allows for an artery to be compressed against a bone will do.

I think the tibial pulse (inside of the ankle, below the bone that sticks out) and the temporal pulse (on the temple directly in front of the ear) weird me out most, though it's hard to say why.

PS. I think I have actually seen doctors/physiotherapists TAKE my tibial pulse and just not thought about what they were doing.

PPS. I don't like blood. Maybe that's why I'm disturbed by pulse sites (some more than others).