Bloody cold

[Drooper]

I'm off work with a cold [sniff]. "Poor diddums" says the wife in suitably patronising tone [sniff].

But it made me wonder about catching colds and I need an answer from you medical boffins.

The question is, does the old addage of "rugging up" to avoid a cold have any scientific merit? Am I more likely to fall foul of a viral infection if I am cold, or "catch a chill"?

What about if I go out in shorts and t-shirt in 3 degrees with a cold? Am I more susceptible to complications, or worse?

[scotth]

Catching a cold (or flu) is all about being exposed to a virus.

Running around naked during a sleet storm (for example) would only...

1) Look pretty silly.
2) Be very uncomfortable.
3) Get dangerous due to hypothermia if you persued it long enough.
4) Would probably reduce your chances of getting a cold/flu (very slightly) as you would probably be exposed to a lower density of virii strutting around in the cold as you would had you stayed in the warm house/office where the other virus factories (people) are at.

[Jaggy Bunnet]

It was claimed on a TV quiz last night that having a cold nose made it more receptive to the the virus.

I have no idea if this is true or not.

[athon]

Most experimental evidence seems to suggest not. Being warm will not necessarily offer better protection than being cold. However, epidemiological evidence seems to contradict this.


So why is there a typical cold anf flu season? There are several hypotheses.

One suggestion is that the cold induces mucus production. Viral particles move about as an aerosol in fluids produced by the body (hence it is beneficial for a cold virus to take advantage of your body's increased mucus production, something it does naturally to get rid of most other viruses). Hence being cold won't necessarily make you sick, but if you are sick, it helps for you to spread the virus more.

The second theory I read had something to do with increased time spent indoors, again allowing aerosol-spread viruses to move through a population.

I personally still wonder if there is a more solid connection. I would imagine that being cold would be a stress on your body, decreasing its immunity responses in some small (but significant) way. Yet the evidence just doesn't seem to be there.

Athon