IOW I’m talking about the old chestnut your mom would invariably trot of right before
you were about to go outside into cold weather: “Watch that you don’t catch a cold
out there!”
So is there any truth at all to that old wives’ tale, or not? The only bad cold thing I’ve
had in the past three years was when I went to the 24 Hours of Daytona, stayed out
a bit long past sunset as the temps dipped into the 40’s, and woke up with a touch of
bronchitis which got steadily worse for 2 weeks before it started clearing up. Naturally
I am well aware that illnesses of this sort are caused by viruses and bacteria, but
would being out in the cold during the incubation phase worsen the resulting
symptoms? Or is something else at work (if anything)?
Related question: why does the incidence of such illnesses go up during the colder
months? The ostensible reason I’ve heard for that is that people are congregated
indoors more in the winter hence more opportunity for germs to be spread-but in the
summer it isn’t like nobody is ever inside or that everybody is taking a vacation
(well schoolkids are), that explanation never quite rang true for me.
IANAD but to my understanding, no, the cold weather doesn’t cause the illness… Bacteria or viruses do that, but the cold weather perhaps inhibits the effectiveness of your immune system to fend off those illnesses because it uses its energy to work harder at regulating your body temp…
Cold weather makes your nose run. People tend to subconsciously wipe their nose on their sleeve or with their hands while sniffling. Since the cold virus enters the body through mucous membranes, such as line the nasal passages, I can’t think of a much better way to inoculate oneself with viruses in the environment than that. That’s my WAG on why colds and flu are more common in wintertime.
The big problem with that theory is that it doesn’t actually take cold weather in the winter to trigger a big cold or flu season. Lots of areas of the U.S., Mexico, and beyond don’t get cold during the traditional cold and flu season and it still happens.
Question: Did warmer areas experience cold and flu seasons concurrent with those of colder climates prior to the widespread use of air travel? Worst case pandemic models figure infected parties carrying the infection well afield of the origin site via air travel.
Being out in the cold does nothing to you unless your immune system is otherwise compromised. Apparently, being things like cold and tired can weaken your immune system a tad and that might make you more susceptible to a passing virus.
In this study, people were soaked and then chilled to see if they would get sick. Tey didn’t: Douglas, R.G.J., K.M. Lindgren, and R.B. Couch. 1968. Exposure to cold environment and rhinovirus common cold. Failure to demonstrate effect. New Engl. J. Med. 279:743.
However stick a dry person in a roomful of folks with colds and there’s a pretty good chance dry person will catch one.
All my life I have been trying to disprove my mother’s (and all of my past physicians in Russia) theory that you can
a) Get neuralgia by simply cooling a part by convection. Sitting next to a fan, wind, etc.
b) Catching a cold because you were exposed to the virus when you were cold, that you wouldn't otherwise catch.
I haven’t found anything conclusive but I’ve certainly been sick enough in my life to see a pattern.
Regarding a) - overcooling local spots on your body sometimes makes them hurt deep inside. This is especially true of neck and lower back. I don’t know why, but this doesn’t happen that often so I haven’t really researched it.
Regarding b) - this gets tricky. I have never gotten cold symptoms without experiencing some sort of a completely uncomfortable temperature extreme almost immediately prior. Either freezing cold or uncomfortably hot. However, I feel this is a symptom and not a cause.
First, this happens usually 6-18 hours prior to the start of first symptoms. I don’t know, I’d guess it would take longer if it actually caused infection (but if it simply allows an already incubating infection to develop where otherwise it would dissipate without symptoms, then it’s still a possibility)
Second, I can’t rule out that it’s a symptom. Of course viruses don’t control the weather, pretty much any weather can either be perceived as too hot or too cold if one is in the right frame of mind. It’s entirely possible the first symptom of common upper respiratory infections is a temperature freakout making the world seem a lot colder/hotter than it actually is. The times where I’ve also gotten wet in addition to being cold (a contributor according to a lot of grandmothers) and then got sick, I’ve gotten wet accidentally and usually due to doing something stupid - something I might not have done were I not already sick.
Third, I can’t rule out that it’s a cause but the several dozens of colds I’ve gotten in my life weren’t viral infections. They all follow a predictable pattern with me, sore throat, then half a day later stuffed up nose and blocked sinuses, fever, headache. Symptoms last five to ten days. I mean, viruses can do this, but I am not ruling out that it couldn’t be some weird reaction to temperature shock.
Fourth, the temperature shock only occurs in conjunction with the above symptoms (but I do not recall a single time I’ve gotten the above symptoms without a temperature shock preceding). It did not precede the two cases of flu I’ve had and the two cases of pneumonia I had. When I say flu I mean ‘most likely influenza because I couldn’t walk’ - I generally assume that if I can make it to the bathroom unassisted it’s not the flu.
Fifth, the above symptoms are not more likely to occur during any particular season with me, although I’ve “caught” somebody else’s colds before they all were much more random and a lot less severe and were not accompanied by a temperature shock.
So maybe I’m just weird, or maybe people are just not nearly stubborn enough to pay attention to their own diseases. Either way, I have no proof, so I put my hope on the shoulders of dopers. Confirmation bias is a powerful thing you know.
Everything I’ve read suggests that it has more to do with inside spaces being less ventilated during colder weather, allowing the virus/bacteria to exist in greater numbers.
