When it’s cold, people are more likely to spend longer periods indoors at close proximity to others. Portsmouth, Hampshire, Reshaping capitalism to drive change What Is The Fibonacci Sequence? By Roshini Rajapaksa, MD January 16, 2017 Once and for all: Being cold is not, by itself, going to make you get a cold. Or are there other factors associated with winter that’s making us ill?

In the 16th century, the term “a common cold” was widely used to denote much the same illness we experience today. Brendan has a Bachelors of Science degree in Biotechnology from Mumbai University (India). She could be forgiven for that. Large studies have tried very hard to substantiate this myth. So when we call it a “cold”, don’t we also imply that the temperature outside was the cause? When you think about it, many of the symptoms are very similar. What Would Happen If You Shot A Bullet On A Train? But just because you can’t catch “the cold” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear your winter woollies. The Conversation UK receives funding from these organisations. Cold air and respiratory disease are connected, but the connection is more complicated than just 'cold causes colds.'". we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Updated on: 9 Feb 2017 by Brendan D'mello. — Merlin Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Cold air and respiratory disease are connected, but the connection is more complicated than just 'cold causes colds.'" Essentially, merely being chilly isn’t enough to give you a cold, especially if there are no viruses in the air around you. Colds are more common in the cold winter months.

You breathe faster and your heart rate picks up. So indirectly, rugging up and going outside does reduce your risk of getting a cold. Go out on a cold and frosty morning and inhale deeply through your nostrils – you do get a tingle in your nose. For instance, you when other person who sneeze or cough in your face or transmit germs with their hands to objects that you touch. Furthermore, winter brings with it decreased humidity levels, which in turn directly affect the way our nose functions. Bypassing the nose's ability to filter inhaled air, combined with dry indoor air, allows the inhalation of virus-bearing mucus, which may trigger colds and lower respiratory infections. Essentially, merely being chilly isn’t enough to give you a cold, especially if there are no viruses in the air around you.

Sign up for our Healthy Living Newsletter! "These are old wives' tales from an era when we had no ability to treat fever or other complications of infection. During the winter, because most of our time is spent inside our homes, in addition to shorter days with less sunshine, our bodies produce less vitamin D through the skin. People may think that going outside with a wet head or no jacket solely causes a cold, but people in the early stages of an illness may actually feel hot. How Are Your Anxiety And Digestion Connected. Mucus is crucial for stopping germs in their tracks before they invade our bodies through our airways. Firstly, the cold temperature constricts blood vessels in our bodies, meaning that white blood cells (the body’s first line of defense against pathogens) take longer to reach the virus and combat it. "Bad air around swamps was once believed to cause malaria," says Anatoly Belilovsky, MD, a pediatrician in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Mosquitoes, also plentiful in swampy areas, actually carried the disease. Due to the decreased humidity, less mucus is secreted to line the inside of our nose. On the contrary, cold weather appears to stimulate the immune system, according to a study by the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, says Dr. Belilovsky. This makes it easier for infectious droplets of mucus, which are coughed, sneezed, or passed on via hands, to transmit from one person to another. More likely, I wasn’t listening that closely. Take a deep breath in through your mouth and your throat feels strangely dry and coarse. References: Huffington Post; Discover Magazine A number of theories have been put forward to explain how cold weather may influence our susceptibility to viral attack. In this paradigm, a cold is caused by inhaling the cold wind (a yin qi).