“Bundle up or you’ll catch your death a cold!” Sound familiar? If your mom was anything like mine, it probably does. But is it true? Can you really catch a cold just by being cold?
Though it is widely debated, most scientists think not. After all, a “cold” is caused by a virus- not by the temperature outside. So what could have caused this theory? Well, a few things. First, when do we usually get sick? In the winter, of course. And the winter is usually pretty cold in most areas of the world. But another thing we often forget is that in the winter, we’re indoors (in closed quarters) a lot more often than in the summer. So germs can pass from person to person a lot easier, hence giving the illusion that the cold weather is directly responsible for our illness.
Another idea might have come from illnesses such as hypothermia, which isn’t caused by a virus at all, but by the decrease in blood temperature. Still, many people don’t know a lot about hypothermia, as it just isn’t that common anymore, what with L.L. Bean down jackets and indoor heating. And because you are cold when you develop hypothermia, maybe people just assume that hypothermia is a cold. Speaking of which, the fact that it isn’t called a “warm” may also be working against the “cold” theory. But maybe it should be called a warm. I mean, think about it. When you get a cold, your temperature rises, you eat hot soup, you stay bundled up in bed…Hmm…
