College is a time in life where going out at night in the winter does not call for a parka, gloves, a hat and scarf. “Frackets” are a phenomenon that I have never heard of before coming to Penn State. I suppose being warm is outdated, or everyone is just afraid of their nice coats being stolen. It is all understandable, but everyone tends to blame their annual winter cold on putting themselves through the agony of the frigid weather. My roommate has convinced herself that the pneumonia she acquired last semester was 100% a result of her duct tape Halloween costume that left her body without much protection on that late October night. Most people have probably heard from their grandparents or an elder: “You better wear a scarf and a hat or you’ll catch a cold!”
I usually don’t speak up when I hear this discussion, but in my head I always question if being cold actually does make you ill. It has always sounded ridiculous to me.
First I thought about the things I already know.
#1. A cold is a virus
#2. Viruses come from germs
My mom always used to tell me that “being cold doesn’t give you a cold”, but she also mentioned that the cold weather weakens your immune system.
So maybe being cold just leaves your body in a more vulnerable position to catch a cold? I have always had a lot of questions that I hope to answer for myself and everyone else within this blog.
After doing some research, I learned that colds are most definitely only caused by viruses, which derive from germs. In order to get this virus, you must come in contact with these germs. Illness is more common in the winter because people are more frequently inside, and not getting as much fresh air. According to a CNN article about cold weather and colds, Dr. Sorana Segal- Maurer says that when the air is dry and cold, people are more at risk of catching viruses due to dry mucosa. I have never heard of mucosa before but apparently it is located in the backs of our throats and sinuses. When it is dry and cold out, the mucosa is also dry and more vulnerable towards viruses.
In another article I found that cold weather weakens the nose’s immune defense. According to a team of Yale scientists, cold weather makes it harder to fight off infection. They conducted an experiment on mice, where rodents were infected with a strain of the cold virus and then tested the cells lining their airways to see if different temperatures affected the mice’s ability to fight it off. A conclusion was made that colder temperatures resulted in a weaker immune response, or more prone to infection.
Moreover, I think I had the right idea that the cold weather does not form a cold virus. However, there are factors in the colder months that contribute to the more frequent attainment of viruses. It is probably a smart idea to bundle up in the winter, but more so to protect from frostbite than viruses!
(http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/health/upwave-colds)
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/scientists-finally-prove-cold-weather-makes-sick/)
Pictures:
https://www.rooshvforum.com/archive/index.php?thread-53198.html
https://blog.pkids.org/category/germs-2/
Hey Amanda! I truly enjoyed this post. Growing up, my father would constantly pester me about buttoning up my jacket and putting on a hat in fear that I’d catch a cold. During my swimming days, I’d walk home from practice in the winter with hair that was dripping wet. My parents believed that I was setting myself up for pneumonia. Little did they know, sicknesses are caused by VIRUSES. I’m glad you brought attention to that in this post. I found an article that disproves the myth of catching a cold with wet hair.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/25/cold-wet-hair-germs_n_6739144.html
I agree with the obvious fact that cold weather itself cannot infect you and give you a virus. But as far as the answer to your original question goes, I think that the answer should be yes- possibly. I can’t imagine anybody believing that the cold itself makes you sick, but in your post you acknowledge the fact that being cold weakens the immune system. In this article, you can see that the likelihood of contracting the cold virus increased in cold weather.
In short, cold weather causes an increase in cold virus contractions through the mechanism of inhibiting body cells’ ability to prevent infection.
Based off of that fact, I believe that your ultimate conclusion (and that picture!) was not correct and possibly misleading.
Intresting post. I personally have never believed that the cold causes you to get sick. However, it is news to me that the cold weather weakens your immune system. Is it worth it to layer up in the cold still? Not entirely sure, but I know personally I would much rather be warm when the low temperatures hit. The winter always does seem to be the more sickly season because I personally can’t remember the last time I was sick in the summer. January and February, when the temperatures dip, the sniffles, and coughs seem to kick in. To further inform myself on this topic, I searched which season is the most “sickly.” An article I found here explains why people get more sick when the seasons are changing. Another article I came across describes how when the temperatures drop, more people stay indoors, and the closer quarters cause more people to become infected with viruses. This makes sense to me. I hate being sick and will try to do whatever I can to stay as healthy as possible. If that means putting on an extra jacket in the winter, so be it.
Isn’t is amazing how when something is repeated often enough, we grow up just taking it as fact? I bet the majority of people, although knowing that a cold is a virus, will never give a second thought as to whether being cold really causes a cold.
This reminds me of the old myth that half of our body head is lost through our heads. Although this really has no scientific backing, we seem to have grown up hearing it–possibly because we rarely cover our heads in the winter, so the head feels the coldest? (Gammon 2013)
Anyway, according to this article ** http://www.livescience.com/34411-body-heat-loss-head.html ** written by Katharine Gammon, the head loses only 7-10% of body heat. This is a stark cry from the 50% suggested in the old wive’s tale.
The mere suggestion that we lose 50% of our body heat through our heads is as mad as the suggestion that colds cause colds, and I, for one, am remarkably glad the internet is here for us to research such seemingly-trivial questions.
Edited:
Isn’t is amazing how when something is repeated often enough, we grow up just taking it as fact? I bet the majority of people, although knowing that a cold is a virus, will never give a second thought as to whether being cold really causes a cold.
This reminds me of the old myth that half of our body heat is lost through our heads. Although this really has no scientific backing, we seem to have grown up hearing it–possibly because we rarely cover our heads in the winter, so the head feels the coldest? (Gammon 2013)
Anyway, according to this article ** http://www.livescience.com/34411-body-heat-loss-head.html ** written by Katharine Gammon, the head loses only 7-10% of body heat. This is a stark cry from the 50% suggested in the old wive’s tale.
The mere suggestion that we lose 50% of our body heat through our heads is as mad as the suggestion that colds cause colds, and I, for one, am remarkably glad the internet is here for us to research such seemingly-trivial questions.
Hi Amanda,
I really liked the relevance of your post. Not only is “fracket” season nearing closer but we are also still in the first few weeks of school which means more sickness. It is nearly impossible to find a student who doesn’t have a cold of some sort. I liked that your post dissected the correlation between cold weather and colds. It looks like from the information you gathered, we can conclude that colds and cold weather are not directly correlated and there is in fact some third variable that causes a cold from cold weather. I think it would be interesting to look in to whether or not the current weather conditions have an affect on why so many students are sick at the beginning of the year or if that as well is affected by third variable>such as new exposure and everybody being in close proximity.