Is it appropriate to exclude cold exposure from the risk factors of Bell's palsy?

Bell's palsy의 유발인자로서의 한랭 노출에 대한 소고(小考)

  • Jang, In-Soo (Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Woosuk University)
  • 장인수 (우석대학교 한의과대학 한방내과학교실)
  • Published : 2006.09.27

Abstract

Objectives : To express an opinion on the controversy about the cold exposure as one of the risk factors of Bell's palsy. Results & Conclusions : It is widely assumed that there is a causal relationship between Bell's palsy and herpes family virus. Regarding cold exposure as one of the risk factors of Bell's palsy, however, some physicians do not accept that cold exposure could be one of the risk factors of Bell's palsy. There is no evidence supporting the hypothesis that the virus causes Bell's palsy, and it has yet to be confirmed. As there are some experimental and clinical reports suggesting that Bell‘s palsy is related to the cold exposure, we cannot exclude the possibility that the cold exposure may be one of the important risk factors of Bell's palsy. It would be necessary to undertake further studies to determine this.

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