You can often hear – to prevent a cold, it is important to dress warmly. Is it really?
Many believe that hypothermia does not lead to poor health. Alas, today there is no clear and final answer to this question. A number of scientists are inclined to the version that cold in no way affects the likelihood of contracting a virus that provokes a cold or a flu-like condition.
This question has interested humanity for a long time. So, in the mid-50s of the last century, scientists conducted an independent study in which 400 volunteers were infected with the influenza virus. At the same time, as an additional load, they were exposed to different temperatures and conditions. The results were convincing: there are no differences in the frequency and intensity of infection between different groups of subjects. A similar study was carried out several years later with the participation of five thousand volunteers, but the results were similar.
There are also a number of studies claiming that the disease occurs against the background of general hypothermia. It has been proven that lowering the ambient temperature provokes a stressful situation in the body. This makes a person less resistant to the influence of the pathogen. Based on data from the Center for Colds at Cardiff University, it can be concluded that a decrease in body temperature provokes the activation of a dormant virus.
He caught a cold because he went out into the street in cold weather lightly dressed. Cold air plays its role in the disease, but this connection is much more complicated.
Simply going outside in cold weather without warm clothing is unlikely to cause infection. But here, significant hypothermia seriously suppresses the defense, which leads to colds. With most symptoms of a cold, the body reacts most intensively and violently to rhinoviruses. In a person with a weakened immune system, in addition, serious complications are possible, in the form of sinusitis, damage to the ears and sinuses.
Cold weather is indirectly responsible for the disease. The narrowing of the superficial vascular elements provokes excessive dryness of the mucous membrane. This situation contributes to violations of physiological processes, when the nasal cavity ceases to act as a powerful filter on the path of harmful agents. Microbes get free access to the internal environment of the body.
Cold can affect a person in different ways, due to wearing wet clothes in the cold season, choosing clothes out of season, low physical activity, and a tendency to frequent hypothermia. Under the influence of low temperatures, the blood vessels in the nose narrow, the flow of warm blood weakens, and the number of protective cells against infection is minimized. The body becomes more susceptible and prone to infection.
A study was also conducted when the participants were divided into 2 groups. Some kept their feet in a dry container, others in ice water. A week later, there were a lot of sick people in the second group, compared to the first. It has been proven that a decrease in body temperature is a triggering factor for the activation of infection, but only if it is present in the body before the moment of hypothermia. The feet are especially sensitive and susceptible to cold.
Why do colds often occur in winter?
The most likely explanation would be that it is during the winter cold that more frequent contacts in close quarters occur. This increases the likelihood of transmission from carriers to healthy individuals. Due to low temperatures, people have to stay indoors more often, so in close groups (kindergartens, schools, offices), the risk of infection increases significantly.
It is important to understand that infectious diseases of the respiratory tract are transmitted mainly by airborne droplets. We are talking about a possible infection when talking, sneezing, shaking hands.
You can prevent the disease in yourself and your family. The best way today is to avoid not hypothermia, but crowded places. During periods of epidemics, it is important to wash your hands more often with soap and take preventive courses of antiviral drugs. According to some reports, mood affects the likelihood of illness. Thus, a positive and optimistic outlook minimizes cold episodes. This is a proven fact.