Frequently Sick in winter? Are there more viruses or weakened immune system is more prevalent?
Posted on: January 12, 2014
We’ve all been nagged by elderly parents about staying warm in the winter: “You don’t want to catch cold!”
Is that old saying absurd?
Medical research tell us that colds are only caused by viruses, right?
In warmer seasons, we have flies, mosquitoes, pollen… transferring all kinds of viruses and bacteria. And we sleep bad, we breath with difficulty, and fail to recover from any kinds of exhaustion
Yet, why do we feel that we fall sicker in cold seasons rather than in warmer ones?
Getting sick in warm seasons catches the mind because we suffocate and we miss out on the outdoor opportunity. In winter, we are tucked in our warm bed and have an excellent excuse not to confront the cold weather, the slush, the dirty snowy streets, the brutal wind…
Can we suspect that dry weather contributes greatly to weakening the immune system?
Or dry weather turns viruses more virulent and aggressive?
Most probably, it is the dried up mucus (in noses, mouth, larynx…), our first and most efficient front-line defenses against the intrusion of particles in our system that facilitate the incursion of unwanted sickening elements… Possibly, many kinds of cells also perish in dried environment…
Actually, I mostly feel uncomfortable in air-conditioned environment and tend to catch cold as this prolonged dried up internal climate persist in close work environment… And I don’t believe that adding humidifiers can make a qualitative difference in prolonged dried environment.
I believe that close entrapment in crowded areas during the cold season and the lack of opportunity to exercise in the fresh air contribute to the dissemination of viruses and bacteria.
The weakened immune system in that season, exacerbated by anxiety and depression from lack of adequate natural light, permit the viruses to invade deeper our system.
Well, it’s complicated.
It’s not necessarily the cold itself that gets you sick; it’s all the different aspects of winter weather as a whole (dryness, lack of sunlight, etc.) that combine to make the perfect storm of prime cold conditions.
However, that doesn’t mean a drop in temperature doesn’t contribute at all.
Watch the full video from ASAP Science above to found out how, and stay bundled up out there—winter’s only just begun. [ASAP Science]
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