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Related: About this forumLink Between Cold Weather & Colds Is No Medical Myth, According To Study.
Whether cold temperatures have anything to do with catching a cold has long been a question that supposedly separates believers in old wives' tales from the scientifically savvy. But while the cold-cold connection is widely considered a medical myth, a new study finds otherwise.
Even a slight chill increases the speed at which rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold, multiply in lab mice, said the study published on Monday by Yale University scientists. Cold temperatures also trigger immune-system changes that let the viruses replicate virtually unchecked.
Scientists have suspected for more than half a century that rhinoviruses thrive in a slight chill. A 1960 study found that they multiply more quickly at 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) than at body temperature (37C, or 98.6F.).
The new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirmed that finding, showing cold viruses replicated more efficiently and produced higher levels of infectious particles at the lower temperature.
But it also extended the 1960 results, pinpointing three biological effects of chilly air that can increase the likelihood of developing a cold.
In cells lining the mice's nasal passages, genes that produce the virus-fighting protein interferon were less active at 33C than at 37C, Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki and her colleagues reported.
In addition, molecules that detect viruses inside cells and then order the cell to produce interferon were less sensitive at colder temperatures. That lower sensitivity reduced production not only of interferon but also of proteins that chop up virus genes, block the release of virus and kill virus-infected cells.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/cold-weather-colds_n_6418802.html
niyad
(113,581 posts)PADemD
(4,482 posts)Link Between Cold Weather & Colds Is No Old Wives' Tale, According To Study
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)Last edited Sat Jan 17, 2015, 01:33 PM - Edit history (1)
the "To Figure This Out, You Had To Do A freaking STUDY?" Category.
rocktivity
P.S. Last year's "You Call this NEWS?" Awards have been posted.
Response to elleng (Original post)
rocktivity This message was self-deleted by its author.
mopinko
(70,235 posts)iirc the first experiments on the link between respiratory infections and temperature were done by the nazis.
there is no link, tho. this is puff.
science here-http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/no-they-did-not-just-prove-that-cold-weather-causes-colds/
Chemisse
(30,817 posts)that rhinoviruses are nicely adapted to initiate infection in our noses.