4 ms·

Doesn't the cold also suppress your immune system, since you're using up calories to warm your body?

by Asooka 10y ago

richcollins 10y ago
Cold is correlated with low sunlight, which leads to less vitamin D production: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/
flamedoge 10y ago
Doesn't it go both ways? doesn't cold make bacterias weak?
- abandonliberty 10y ago
  Influenza is caused by a virus, and viruses tend to be extremely resilient. They're not alive so temperature changes don't affect internal chemical reactions as it would for bacteria and humans. Bacteria have temperatures at which they grow most effectively, which is why we try to keep food cold. Note that the food in your fridge still goes bad, and it would be pretty damn uncomfortable living at fridge temperature for humans. Bacteria are way more resilient than we are, though it varies by species. Generally the answer is no.
  - Fomite 10y ago
    > Influenza is caused by a virus, and viruses tend to be extremely resilient. Viruses can be extremely resilient or extremely fragile, depending on a number of factors including whether or not they're enveloped, whether or not they're currently protected in an aerosolized droplet, etc.
  - taneq 10y ago
    > They're not alive [...] This is basically the biology version of 'vim is better than emacs'. :P
    - drKarl 9y ago
      But vim IS better than emacs
knicholes 10y ago
I read that being in a cold environment weakens the immune response in your nostrils when breathing in that cold air enough to cool off the inside of your nose, where then the pathogen fails to be destroyed as it would have normally had it not been cold.
- dkersten 10y ago
  I recently saw an article on HN (don't have a link, sorry) that said that cold did not, in fact, do anything to make us sick or help us catch stuff[1], EXCEPT that it made it more likely to spread something due to running nose or other contact with body fluids. [1] it may have been specifically about cold and flu, I don't remember exactly. It was within the past month or two in case you feel like searching...
  - hinkley 10y ago
    Air circulation is compromised in the winter because we close all the windows and doors, and generally we congregate closer together. For a long time that was considered to be the only reason colds happen more in cold weather. This thing with influenza viability would change that (of course, what one study finds another refutes, so who really knows).
    - nkozyra 10y ago
      Here in Florida no circulation season is April - November. And yet flu season is still winter, the only part of the year where people even consider opening windows.

Doesn't the cold also suppress your immune system, since you're using up calories to warm your body?

by Asooka 10y ago

Doesn't the cold also suppress your immune system, since you're using up calories to warm your body?

Cold is correlated with low sunlight, which leads to less vitamin D production: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/

flamedoge 10y ago

Doesn't it go both ways? doesn't cold make bacterias weak?

abandonliberty 10y ago
Influenza is caused by a virus, and viruses tend to be extremely resilient. They're not alive so temperature changes don't affect internal chemical reactions as it would for bacteria and humans. Bacteria have temperatures at which they grow most effectively, which is why we try to keep food cold. Note that the food in your fridge still goes bad, and it would be pretty damn uncomfortable living at fridge temperature for humans. Bacteria are way more resilient than we are, though it varies by species. Generally the answer is no.
- Fomite 10y ago
  > Influenza is caused by a virus, and viruses tend to be extremely resilient. Viruses can be extremely resilient or extremely fragile, depending on a number of factors including whether or not they're enveloped, whether or not they're currently protected in an aerosolized droplet, etc.
- taneq 10y ago
  > They're not alive [...] This is basically the biology version of 'vim is better than emacs'. :P
  - drKarl 9y ago
    But vim IS better than emacs

knicholes 10y ago

I read that being in a cold environment weakens the immune response in your nostrils when breathing in that cold air enough to cool off the inside of your nose, where then the pathogen fails to be destroyed as it would have normally had it not been cold.

dkersten 10y ago
I recently saw an article on HN (don't have a link, sorry) that said that cold did not, in fact, do anything to make us sick or help us catch stuff[1], EXCEPT that it made it more likely to spread something due to running nose or other contact with body fluids. [1] it may have been specifically about cold and flu, I don't remember exactly. It was within the past month or two in case you feel like searching...
- hinkley 10y ago
  Air circulation is compromised in the winter because we close all the windows and doors, and generally we congregate closer together. For a long time that was considered to be the only reason colds happen more in cold weather. This thing with influenza viability would change that (of course, what one study finds another refutes, so who really knows).
  - nkozyra 10y ago
    Here in Florida no circulation season is April - November. And yet flu season is still winter, the only part of the year where people even consider opening windows.