Monday, February 18, 2008 11METRO

Most of us struggleinto work with coldsACUTE viral nasopharyngitis is ahighly contagious disease being spreadacross the globe with no known cure.

And the bad news is most of us arevulnerable to what is, in fact, the com-mon cold. Four out of five of us havealready caught it over the last year.

According to Metro’s latest UrbanLife poll, 81 per cent of Urbaniteshave been struck down with a cold inthe past 12months.

One-third of us have caught it onceand another third twice. But spare athought for the 22 per cent who havesuffered even more relapses, somehave struggled through five or morecolds in the space of a year. Only 19per cent have gotten away Scot-free.

Urbanites are troopers when it comesto colds, however: 61 per cent will gointo work but will make sure to doseup on remedies, while 17 per cent willhead to work and forgo the medicines.

Some 13 per cent will do a few hoursbut then feel sorry for themselves andgo home early, while a wussy eight percent will immediately phone in sickand take a day or two off work.

When it comes to attempting pre-vention over cure by using vitaminand mineral tablets, Urbanites havemixed feelings.

While a quarter say supplementsare ‘essential to my wellbeing’, tenper cent think they are a waste of

money, while three per cent thinkthey can harm you.

Of course, the cold isn’t the onlything we’ve been suffering from.

Three-quarters of Urbanites haveendured headaches in the past12months, about a third of which

were migraines. Hayfever was thenext most common affliction,affecting 31 per cent.

More than a quarter of us experi-enced both nightmares and insom-nia during the year, while 11 percent got food poisoning.

So, what is Urban Life?Urban Life is Metro’s innovative study of‘Urbanites’ – young professionals workingfull time in Greater Dublin. Every year, we willresearch the opinions, attitudes and lifestylesof up to 2,000 Metro readers, asking theirviews on everything from current affairs tocool brands, environmental issues to must-see movies, mobile phones tomulticulturalism.

What do I get out of it?The results of your opinions will help to fuela large number of stories in Metro next year.As if that wasn’t enough, we’re also givingaway e27,000 in prizes – hundreds of e30HMV vouchers and one e1,000 cash prizeafter each of our main surveys. And if youstay with us for a whole year and completefive or more of our six main surveys, you willbe entered into our prize draw for onee3,000 cash prize.

What’s involved?Taking part is easy. Urban Life comprises sixmain surveys. All surveys are online, so youcan take them any time of day or night thatsuits you (within our survey periods). We’ll e-mail you when each one is ready tocomplete, with each one taking only about15min.

Sign me up nowIf you are interested in taking part in UrbanLife, please go to the website,www.myurbanlife.ie/join, and follow thesimple instructions. Alternatively, FREE TEXTto 50100 to register your interest.Text TNS (space) first name (space) e-mailaddress (for example, text TNS then yourname, then, yourname@emailaddress.ie).Places are limited, so please register early toavoid disappointment.

Cold shoulder: Most Urbanites will go into work with a cold, but eight per cent will call in sick

Visit www.sunway.ie .Call 01 2311 800

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