Could Cold Weather Increase The Risk Of Catching A Cold?

Scientists have long-debated if weather has much to do with getting a cold or not. Yet the results of a new study confirm that colder temperatures do indeed increase this risk.

For the study, researchers at Yale University took cells from the airways of mice and examined them closely for any immune response to the rhinovirus. Some of the cells were incubated at 37 degrees Celsius, while others were incubated at 33 degrees Celsius.

Findings revealed that the cell's natural immune response to the cold virus was impaired at the lower temperature. Furthermore, the research even showed that the temperature drop hindered the immune system's ability to properly fight off the virus.

Molecules that detect viruses inside cells, ordering them to produce interferons, were found to be less sensitive at colder temperatures with a lower sensitivity that reduced production not only of interferon but also of proteins that chop up virus genes and harm the ability to kill certain infected cells.

"At the core body temperature, the rhinovirus is detected by the host immune system better, and the factors that block virus replication, type-I interferons, work better at the higher temperature," said study co-author co-author Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D, a professor of immunobiology and molecular biology at Yale, via Yahoo News. 

While exposure to the rhinovirus is still a prerequisite to catching a cold, when a few viruses begin to enter the cells of the nasal cavity and replicate, it lowers the immune systems ability to properly respond.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 

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