 Spring Fever:
It's Not All Just In Your Mind
Strange things happen in the spring. At this season of the year financial conditions are
generally healthy. Three key economic indices - share prices, house values and the general
retail price index - all show a yearly peak during April and May, which is the basis for
the old stock market adage ?sell in May and go away.?
Paradoxically, while the economy and the rest of nature is blooming, human health often
reaches an all-time low. As the days lengthen and the temperature soars, many people are
afflicted by a strange malaise which is marked by a fall in energy, a decline in sexual
vitality and an increased tendency to depression.
Folk lore has always recognised
this cluster of symptoms, which is popularly known as spring fever. You won?t find the
disorder mentioned in any of the standard textbooks of medicine, but outbreaks of it are
common, especially when there is a sudden burst of warm weather after a long and dreary
winter. The syndrome is easily explained.
When the outside temperature rises, the body has to work harder to keep cool. To do so, it
dilates the vast network of blood vessels in the skin, so that more blood is brought to
the surface for cooling. To fill these suddenly expanding channels, the volume of blood
has to be boosted by about 20 per cent.
This increase is initially made by drawing on the body?s water reserves. Later, extra red
cells are formed to maintain the normal concentration of the blood. Since these cells are
responsible for carrying oxygen around the body, there is some reason to believe that
spring fever is caused by a relative dilution of the oxygen-carrying capacity of the
blood; or as Granny would say, due to ?thinning of the blood.?
 To
test this theory, a professor and some of his colleagues at the University of Chicago set
out to mimic the sudden onset of summer warmth by increasing the heat in their rooms to a
steaming 90 degrees F. This dilated their peripheral blood vessels and ushered in all the
typical symptoms of spring fever. Until they became acclimatised to the new conditions the
scientists felt so exhausted that their routine work suffered. They had difficulty
concentrating and reported frequent lapses of memory and judgement.
This seasonal onset of tiredness can be associated with depression, making spring a peak
time for suicides. It can also have a lowering effect on sexual vitality, despite the
traditional belief that spring is the time when passions rise and a young man?s interest
?lightly turns to thoughts of love.? A massive study of well over a million births
registered in New York during a seven year period revealed that most babies are conceived
in the autumn, with the spring the slackest time of the year for productive sexual
activity. This is paralleled by fluctuations in the output of the sex hormone
testosterone, which is at its lowest ebb in the spring but rises slowly through the summer
months to reach an autumn peak.
 Measures can be taken
to reduce the risk of suffering from the springtime blues.
- Increase your intake of iron,
which is essential for the formation of haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment in the
red blood cells. You won?t go far wrong if you follow the old advice ?Pale food cannot
make red blood?, for the best dietary sources of iron are dark foods such as liver, red
meats, kidneys, prunes, raisins, egg yolks, molasses and all the green, leafy vegetables.
- Increase your intake of vitamins
and minerals. Few Western diets are lacking in energy, but many are unbalanced and lack
the nutrients necessary to ensure proper metabolism.
In recent years many people have
reported relief from tiredness by taking supplements of Coenzyme Q10, an enzyme which is
essential for the breakdown of food and the release of cellular energy.
 Coenzyme
Q10 can be bought in capsule form from chemists and health food outlets under the brand
name Co-Q-10. The recommended dose is one capsule per day. |
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 More
medical explanations
An Enlightening Explanation Of
Spring Fever
If you find your mind wandering as the weather
warms, you can blame it on your physiology when the boss calls you back to attention.
Long-recognized by artists and poets as spring fever, now scientist say it is a
physiological reality.
 Spring
fever’s symptoms start popping during the onset of the vernal equinox. In the
northern hemisphere, people begin to feel more energetic, enthusiastic, and amorous. At
the same time, they also begin to feel listless and restless. Men’s sperm counts are
higher, it’s easier to lose weight, and lots of folks walk around, randomly smiling
at strangers.
The culprit of such behavior is the chemical changes that take place in the body in part
because of increased exposure to daylight. Like other animals, we humans are strongly
connected physically to the seasons. Scientist cite a number of factors that cause spring
fever:
Increased light sends signals to the brain’s
pineal gland, which then reduces its production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates our
body clock and controls our mood and energy levels. As the days grow longer, the chemical
disappears and leaves people feeling more energized and confident. Increased light also
transmits to the hypothalamus, the section of the brain that regulates eating, sleeping
and sex drive. Our  other
senses—sight, smell, and hearing—also wake up as blossoms and spring breezes
assault them. Such stimuli can trigger strong emotions, from euphoria to sadness. |
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 Can We Be Cured?
In the spring a
young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of another nap even more often than it does to
amative imaginings, Tennyson to the contrary notwithstanding. “Spring fever,”
that drowsiness and mild lassitude that comes of warmth and well-being rather than of the
crabbed winter of fatigue, has never received the serious attention of research workers in
pathology—and it is to be hoped it never will. They might turn up a cure for it,
which would be most deplorable. |
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MEANDERING
I wanted
something
I knew not what
The want was playing
Down deep in my gut
Why wouldn't it make itself known
I felt out-of-sorts uneasy
Now the desire is full-blown
My stomach is feeling queasy
Was I hungry for something to eat
Did I want to go to a show
Was I hoping some man to meet
Whatever, I just don't know
Is this a woman thing
Or do men have it too
My mind is on a swing
Am I getting the Flu
Why can't I pin it down
I don't like this shilly shally
I need my feet on the ground
To begin to act naturally
Is this what they call Spring Fever
Restlessness saturates me
I can't wait till it's over
So I can regain my sanity
 On the other hand, it
is a change of pace
Meandering around like a sick cow
I wonder what will take it's place
oooOOh! I really don't know what to do now!
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The pop quiz
Four high school boys (and girls)
afflicted with spring fever skipped morning classes. After lunch they reported to the
teacher that they had a flat tire.
Much to their relief she smiled
and said: "Well, you missed a test today so take seats apart from one another and
take out a piece of paper."
Still smiling, she waited for
them to sit down. Then she said:
"First Question: Which tire
was flat?" |
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When
things are slow, boost morale around the office by letting your employees take a couple of
hours off with pay to go to the beach, catch a softball game or attend a recreational
class.
Plan an all-company summer picnic. Form a committee to make the plans and
buy the food. Reserve space in a park or other recreational area. And don't scrimp on the
food or drinks -- a company party is 100 percent tax deductible.
