Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox Baker

I smiled when I saw the e-mail from a medical expert at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Kurt Rongstad says folks who wind up with a cast on their right foot should not drive.

What, I thought , if you had a torn Achilles tendon and your foot just hurt? What if you sprained your ankle?

No word on those conditions. But yes, I’m the one with the now pretty-much-healed Achilles tendon. That injury happened about four years ago and I haven’t done a great job of following expert advice to solve the injury. For example, I continued to drive, and just did it through the pain.

That is not recommended, of course. Casts, orthopedic boots or “cam walkers” slow braking time enough that driving with them is unsafe. The doctor said he knows this is an unpopular opinion. “It’s one of the biggest concerns people have,” he said. “They want to know how long they’ll need a chauffeur.”

The doctor couldn’t find published data to support his position, so he ran a field test. He timed 42 subjects on how quickly they could lift their right food off the gas pedal after a light flashed. It took about 25 percent longer for them while wearing a cast, compared to regular shoes. They did better if they wore a wedge-type orthopedic shoe, common for patients after bunion surgery.

Colds, he said, gesturing in wide circles to his head, are felt mostly up here. The flu, he added, grandly gesturing to below-the-neck part of the body, is more likely to painfully affect this area.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently released a check list of the differences between the two types of virus. Here you go:

1. Influenza has an abrupt, significant onset.

A. Colds may come on slowly, with mild symptoms.

2. Influenza infections involve a fever of 100 F or greater and a cough and/or sore throat.

A. Colds may result in a low-grade fever.

3. In addition to respiratory symptoms, persons with influenza often have body aches, chills, and extreme malaise. Influenza duration in adults is a few days to two weeks.

A. Colds often linger longer than influenza, but symptoms overall are more mild

4. Influenza may result in serious complications like pneumonia, which lead to hospitalization.

A. Colds generally do not.