Can you catch a cold from being cold?

Jstas

ShinAce wrote: »

Actually, yes.

Virii normally infect the respiratory system by means of the sinus and throat. Cold air passes over these areas and they are cooler than body temp.

Ever notice you get a fever(warmer) to fight the cold? Well, the virus likes colder body temps.

There is a tiny bit of truth. However, you can be hypothermic and won't catch anything if a virus does not enter your system.

An infection is usually bacterial hence the need for anti-biotics to fight an infection. The cold weather can give you a greater risk for an infection in the respiratory organs because they are full of warm blood in capillaries. When the cold air hits the warm soft tissue of the respiratory system, it can cause the blood vessels to restrict. Under normal circumstances that is no big deal. But if you are running around sledding, skiing, shoveling snow or whatever outside in the cold, your blood pressure is up. When the capillaries restrict, the blood pressure can cause them to burst and that causes nose bleeds and such. Any open wound is an opportunity for an infection to get in and take root.

Most summer "sinus infections" are more along the lines of allergic reactions to pollen, dust, pet/people dander and mold. You don't get much of that in the winter because the air is too dry and stuff like that isn't as prevalent. Viruses spread easier in the winter because of closed working and living environments usually with dirty ducting. Viruses spread easier in that kind of environment. Besides, all you need is one person with a runny nose from being out in the cold to sneeze all over their hand and touch a door knob.


But Demiurge and others already said it. Colds don't spread because of cold weather.

bigaudiofanatic

Yes it is like when you walk in from the heat into a/c. And you feel the cold air rushing down your throat.

joeparaski

Hmmm....we should submit this to "MythBusters".

Joe

McLoki

COS (crock of ****)

Actual temperature has NOTHING to do with getting a cold other than everyone is inside and the buildings are more closed off. (plus more kids are together in school (kids = breeding ground for germs making illness spread faster.)

I bet if they went to a year round school year, you would see year round cold symptoms.

Michael (no, I'm not a doctor, but I have been to one before, have more common sense than the average bear and know how to search the internet with the best of them....)

Jstas

Probably mold spores. They like those extreme weather changes. It kills off alot of teh bacteria that feed on molds and they flourish quickly.

McLoki

Lasareath wrote: »

What about change of weather?, Mon, Tues & Wed it's 85 degrees out, you are wearing shorts all week long, Thursday you leave your house it's nice out and Thursday afternoon it pours and goes down to 55 and the next day you have the sniffles.

That has happened to me many times, What's that?, just my brain playing tricks on me?, I really don't have the sniffles but because it was colder I just think I have a cold?

This is very similar to the rule that bad things come in 3's. It works because there is no time limit associated with it.

I am sure you have gotten a cold many times after this has happened over the course of your life. How many times has this happened where you did not get sick? Is it like clockwork? Do you get ill every time it rains? How about every time there is a cold snap or heat wave?

The numbers just don't work out for me. You could just as easily say you had carrots yesterday for lunch and had sniffles that evening. Did the carrots make you ill - probably not. you just remember having them because there was a change (your illness) to trigger the memory of the change and everything surrounding it. (I can't remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, but I remember everything about the entire day of my wedding 17 years ago.)

bobman1235

McLoki wrote: »

This is very similar to the rule that bad things come in 3's. It works because there is no time limit associated with it.

I am sure you have gotten a cold many times after this has happened over the course of your life. How many times has this happened where you did not get sick? Is it like clockwork? Do you get ill every time it rains? How about every time there is a cold snap or heat wave?

The numbers just don't work out for me. You could just as easily say you had carrots yesterday for lunch and had sniffles that evening. Did the carrots make you ill - probably not. you just remember having them because there was a change (your illness) to trigger the memory of the change and everything surrounding it. (I can't remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, but I remember everything about the entire day of my wedding 17 years ago.)

Exactly - it's called a selection bias or confirmation bias. You have a preconceived notion about something, so you only notice the instances that support your notion and ignore those that do not. Just like people who convince themselves they see specific patterns in other walks of life, when really they just notice it because they convinced themselves that they see it.

Shizelbs

If anyone can propose a practical model for how cold air would increase susceptibility to infection, I would love to hear it.

b_dick

Shizelbs wrote: »

If anyone can propose a practical model for how cold air would increase susceptibility to infection, I would love to hear it.

Fever is elevated body temperature and gives the immune system an edge in defeating the infection. Getting chilled is depressed body temperature and shifts the balance the other way, i.e. the infection gets an advantage over the immune system. The probability of winning vs. losing is altered.

Getting chilled is not the same as being in cold air, but winter weather brings opportunities to get chilled. Also the pathogen must be present at the same time.

The history of science is a long series of adjustments to what is "known" to be true..