THE DOC REPLIES

If nicotine is a stimulant, why does a cigarette seem to calm my nerves?

Nicotine is indeed a stimulant but is also a depressant. It is also an exceptionally addictive substance, no matter in what form you take it. Your nerves will be calmed when you take a cigarette because your body is essentially becoming agitated because of the addiction to the nicotine. Taking nicotine in this case will calm this particular part of the body’s nervous system. You probably know that smoking is bad for your health and I would recommend that you seek help to try to stop. Your local chemist should be able to help with this.

I drink five cups of coffee a day. Could this be the cause of my high blood pressure?

Excessive cups of coffee, which contain caffeine, can certainly put the blood pressure up but it’s debatable whether this is the actual cause of your high blood pressure. However, taking excess caffeine can make high blood pressure worse. There is some evidence now that smaller amounts of coffee can possibly be beneficial to us in the long term. Though taking excess can also be bad for us. Two or three cups of coffee a day is probably more than enough, and certainly if you have high blood pressure I would recommend reducing from your five cups a day.

My daughter sends her children to school with wet hair from baths. I wondered if this made them more susceptible to colds?

Going out with wet hair after a bath or shower can make people cold more easily in the winter. However, it doesn’t necessarily make us more susceptible to catching common colds.

Unfortunately the Doc can’t directly respond to each query, or guarantee a reply. When in doubt contact your own GP