It's difficult to ignore your mother when she tells you to 'wrap up warm' or 'dry your hair or you'll get a cold' - but colds are not caused by the cold: they are caused by viruses! Walking around with wet hair or a T-shirt in winter may look silly, and will make you feel cold, but you will only get a cold if you come into contact with an infected person. The best way to avoid viruses like these is to wash your hands regularly when there's a bug going around.

Despite the huge medical advances that have been made over the last century, the common cold is still incurable and medicine does little for the symptoms either. Antibiotics won't help as your cold is caused by one of over 200 viruses. The only time you may need them is if you develop a throat or ear infection.

Otherwise, go to bed and drink lots of fluids and wait till you get better.

Acne is a condition that causes the skin to produce too much oil. However, research has failed to find any connection between eating fatty foods and acne - although too much fat in your diet might be bad in other ways.

Incidentally, washing too much can make the condition worse. It's best just to wash gently twice a day and don't rub the skin too hard.

Arthritis affects all kinds of people, including young children who have never started cracking their fingers. Suffering from a viral infection may lead to developing the condition, as might jobs which involve an overuse of your joints, but doctors are still not sure of the real cause.

You can buy foods that are advertised as being low in cholesterol or able to reduce how much you have, so you might think cholesterol is an entirely bad thing. You'd be wrong. Cholesterol is essential for life and is produced naturally by the body. The body also adjusts how much it produces based on what you eat. If you eat food containing a lot of cholesterol, your body simply produces less in order to balance its two sources. This means it's difficult to reduce cholesterol in the body through diet. Some doctors have even questioned if there is any link between cholesterol levels and heart disease.

They point to factors such as lack of exercise, smoking, stress and high blood pressure that are far more likely to lead to heart attacks.

Don't worry. Stories that chewing gum will stay in your stomach forever or block your insides have no basis in fact. However, it has no nutritional value which means you won't get any benefits from eating it.

The caffeine in coffee is a stimulant that makes your body speed up: your heart rate increases and it wakes you up. You may see these things as benefits, but caffeine also has a number of negative side effects. It's addictive.

People who suddenly stop drinking coffee may suffer from headaches or be irritable and restless. Caffeine has also been linked to other problems, but, like most things, coffee is fine if you don't drink too much.

Remember this is for information only. If you have any worries about your health, you should always consult your doctor.