Cold Weather Myths: Healthcare Triage

[@jackthemapper]

Not to start a war here but for future videos please include metric units (when you say 80* i am assuming allmost boiling hot temperatures). The rest of the world contains more viewers than you might think. Even if you dont want to mention them, a little annotation can go a long way.

[@josephang9927]

Maybe europeans should consider create their own videos on science. The United States is a big country that still using old units that you may not like, but people use and prefer.

[@abonynge]

I'm with Joseph here, remember that you are watching an American channel, we don't use the metric system. It isn't hard to tell by his accent that he is American.

[@vectoredthrust5214]

Joseph Ang I work for a British Engineering firm where we have to deal with your crazy units all the time because you're a large chunk of our customer base, and how did we solve the problem? Dual Dimensions. Every Dimension drawn on our diagrams is in both Inches and Millimetres, so we're fully flexible Moral of the story: Give measurements in both unit sets so everyone is happy

[@dwood2001]

It's not American vs European units, it's scientific units vs non-scientific units. This is a science channel, therefore they should be using SI units primarily, or at a minimum they should include both. Furthermore, he might be American, but the internet is international. This channel even looks at international healthcare systems. It seems somehow doubtful that the only intended audience is Americans. This isn't an "American channel", it's a KZbin channel created by an American. I don't really consider that to be the same thing.

[@dwood2001]

David Wood For a little further clarity on my post: it's not that Americans don't use the metric system -- it's that American laymen don't use the metric system. American scientists DO use the metric system.

[@ericvilas]

Hypothesis: Part of the reason for people thinking being outside gives you a cold is because some symptoms of having a cold are very similar to some symptoms of being in cold, dry air (runny nose, sore throat, etc) so it's natural for people to mix the two.

[@loganwolv3393]

Yeah most of the time i go outside i definently get runny nose. And obviously let's never forget the cold hands.

[@mepeck316]

The usefulness of alcohol is still relevant. If you know you're going to be in a warm place soon, but you need to temporarily forget about the cold (in order to finish up whatever you're doing in order to get to the warm place), drinking alcohol to make you think you're warm is useful.

[@RoScFan]

Yes, I was thinking something along those lines. Our body's reaction to cold is to keep as much heat as possible for the main organs. While that improves chances of staying alive, it also increases the risk of loosing your extremities - no blood and no heat to fingers eventually results in necrosis;necrosis results in amputation; that's no fun; Besides, do you always die when you get hypothermia? What about all those cases of people surviving hours at the bottom of frozen rivers and lakes? It would seem there is an intermediate step between hypothermia and death and that is hibernation. Our bodies want to stop that hibernation happening. It also prefers to sacrifice fingers to do that. You know what? I say evolution fucked up on this one. I want to keep my fingers and I just might need more dexterity when in a survival situation. Maybe I'm not all that concerned about the core body temperature, and more about all my body parts in a more egalitarian fashion. In conclusion, the usefulness of alcohol in cold is... dependent on context.

[@HiddenDragon555]

RoScFan like so many things in life.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

RoScFan Hypothermia occurs when your core body temperature drops so far below the normal range that the body's normal functions start to fail. These normal functions include rational thought, and the normal physiological processes (like shivering) which help to regulate body temperature. Because of this, once have hypothermia, you are basically unable to recover by yourself. It does take quite a long time for hypothermia to actually kill you. During that time period, if another, non-hypothermic, human finds you and is able to re-warm you correctly, you can survive. However, re-warming someone with hypothermia is difficult. If it is done incorrectly, it can actually cause the patient to die. These days we have enough medical knowledge that trained paramedics and some first-aiders know how to do this and have access to suitable equipment (eg. giving warm IV fluids or warm humidified oxygen by mask). However, in the past this was not the case, and hypothermia was even more likely to end in death than it currently is. It makes absolute sense that your body would do everything it can to avoid a state of hypothermia. "I want to keep my fingers and I just might need more dexterity when in a survival situation." Ideally, you would have both. The body does try to maintain core temperature by other means before it completely abandons blood supply to the extremities. However, your fingers are of little use to you if your brain is unable to come up with something sensible to do with them, whereas your brain can tell your legs which direction to walk in even if your fingers are numb. Therefore you let the fingers go first.

[@tyrant-den884]

Fact: if anime character spends even two minutes outside in the rain they will catch a cold.

[@marcotigno2902]

Lmao

[@stephupurlyf]

While I agree that the body being exposed to cold temperatures doesn't give you a cold, I feel you should have explained more as to why some people DO get "cold-like" symptoms when suddenly exposed to cold temperatures, after previously being in a warm state. Or even experience irritation when entering a warm room, after being in a cold state. It does happen. For example people will get runny noses because they are out in cold weather. It doesn't mean you have a "cold virus" but it does perpetuate the myth. Saying: "It could be that people noticed their runny nose more" just doesn't sound helpful at all.

[@sophieisawesomeoh]

Cold climate/winter = staying in doors more. Which means around more people more often. Which means you are exposed to the flu more so then in warm climates/summer.

[@sophieisawesomeoh]

The going from warm to cold thing. Is probably the shock of different temperatures. And becoming a custom to it.

[@CiszHelion]

I agree. When I go out and forget my scarf, I get a sore throat within the hour. If I sleep with an open window or low heating, my throat gets sore as well. I don't care that much if that's a cold or not. I know to avoid it, because I can feel seriously sick. And ofc I advise others to do the same. Maybe calling a certain group of infections "the cold" is a misnomer, because what "the cold" actually is, is a group of symptoms caused by exposure to cold. Some infections mimic those symptoms, but they are not caused the same way.

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

A runny nose is a result of the mucosa in your nasal cavities overproducing mucus. If you have a cold infection it's meant to shed virus particles and wash them out. It's possible the same kind of overproduction of mucus protects the mucosa from cold air.

[@Correctrix]

Sophie Macdonald One doesn't simply "become a custom".

[@Ichgibdirgleichot]

So why does the immune system get stimulated when it's colder? There most be a reason for that...

[@mikaylasmith3111]

This is very interesting to me. As a child, like many other children I am sure, I was told most of these things during the winter considering how I live in Michigan. "Put on your coat you are going to get sick." " make sure your hair is dry before you go outside if you are going to take a shower in the morning." "make sure to layer up so you won't get sick." Watching this video I was somewhat in disbelief, it somewhat made me feel as if my mother lied to me all these years as a child! Of course, I know that is not the case but that is what we all believed back in those days. Obviously mothers do want to take good care of their children and keeping them warm in the winter is just another one of those things that they do in order to keep us safe. Now that I have watched this video and I actually think about it, I can see how going out into the cold weather is not the determining factor of becoming more sick, it is however the other circumstances that we do to take into consideration when we are in the comfort of the warm weather seasons.

[@IcEye89]

That St. Bernard thing with the barrels is a myth as well, it stems from a single painting and was introduced by a Victorian painter I think. There is a thing in the QI book about that.

[@LaceNWhisky]

An English kid in 1820 named Edwin Landseer painted it. mentalfloss.com/article/20908/why-are-st-bernards-always-depicted-barrels-around-their-necks

[@andriyshevchenko6689]

My grandma is constantly scared when there's the tiniest whiff of wind in a room for fear that I might get cold >.> I was waiting for a long time for this video, finally someone reputable debunks cold myths!

[@BrianHutzellMusic]

3:35 Who else at this point in the video flashed back to reading Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" for school?

[@MarkSanso]

There is no doubt you are more likely to get cold when its cold cause you're not likely to get cold when it's warm. Wah wah. Thank you very much. I'm here all week.

[@f2white]

I would go for a healthcare triage regarding why people lose their voices - and the effectiveness of the so-called preventative methods. Thanks!

[@EdGloss]

My mother posted an article to our fridge about twenty years ago where they studied people sitting on blocks of ice and if they got sick at a higher rate. Turns out they don't.

[@monicasmith3544]

The title of this video really caught my attention. Just like many other individuals, my mother used to tell me going out in the cold would make me sick. Occasionally I actually did get sick, but what I later came to find out is that the fact that I went outside and I got sick was purely coincidental. I found it very interesting that the cold actually seems to jump start the immune system. The fact that people get sick more in the winter is no surprise. Children at school do not go outside as much for recess and parents do not want to take their kids out in the cold. If everyone is in close proximity all of the time and one individual gets sick, than most likely other individuals who are constantly around the sick individual will get sick as well. I was also amazed at the fact that researchers took the time to figure out if bundling up would make individuals less likely to get sick. I honestly cannot believe some of the things that get researched. I believe researchers could be using their time more wisely. What I do not understand is why individuals would go outside wet to begin with. I can see if it is an individual’s hair that is wet and they are in a hurry, but just to go outside wet is kind of ridiculous in my opinion. Personally I do not drink alcohol so I was really curious to see the results of this study. I was not surprised that drinking alcohol actually makes you colder overtime. It is obvious that when blood is flowing faster it also gets exposed to the cold more resulting in a cold individual. Out of this whole video the thing that surprised me the most is the fact that they conducted research by putting droplets of a virus into the nose of individuals. How desperate do people get for research? They must have paid people very well for this study, because there is no way the average individual would be a willing participant.

[@NotTotallyHopeless]

So I'm debating explaining this myth to my parents. I'm home for the holidays and I caught a bad cold. If I tell them they'll stop telling me how this is because I'm not wearing thick enough socks, but on the other hand they're turning the heat up in our house while I recover which feels nice. Decisions, decisions. :p

[@SandTiger42]

As a medical professional I generally agree with what is said. But this time it felt like it was insinuated that nobody gets sick in winter, which is definitely not the case. You stated that staying indoors might lead to getting sick. That makes absolutely no sense. If I never left my house, how would I get exposed to the bacteria or virus? Next video please talk about why more people tend to get sick more in winter versus other seasons. There is a reason we call it "cold and flu" season.

[@InorganicVegan]

Staying indoors in warm, heated environments with other people is a breeding ground for bacteria.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

Diana Peña The common cold is caused by a virus.

[@aap-ce8vz]

This video was so interesting to me. It made me have to laugh because although my grandma was a nurse and worked in the hospital for years she surely knows me going in the cold without a coat is not going to cause me to become sick, but still tells me anyway. I must admit I am a little disappointed that drinking alcohol does not indeed make my body warmer, and according to the video actually lowers my body temperature. I would have liked to hear a little more in depth research about why that is as well. It is interesting at how alcohol vasodilates and makes blood rush to the skin so you just feel warmer. Although it does not truly warm you up, I think alcohol is still kind of a good idea as to why the dogs in the mountains have barrels around their necks instead of blankets because at least the alcohol temporarily warms you up faster than a blanket might.

[@gamersuic]

So, I always thought that the deal with giving yourself a 'beer blanket' was that you got drunk enough that you just didn't really notice the cold, not that people actually thought it would warm them up.

[@Zuraneve]

Yep, mom insisted we had to bundle up in the wintertime, or we'd get sick. And grandpa insisted we had to keep the inside temperatures at least 80F (25C-ish) in the wintertime, or we'd get hypothermia. Don't even get me started on having to bundle up INSIDE because it's cold OUTSIDE.

[@Kinan.Eldari]

Thank you for the reference to the Mythbusters doing a similar experiment with alcohol and cold a few years back. : )

[@anime130]

i wanna know if drinking alcohol get you warmer faster when your bundled up.

[@froniccruxis1049]

I would like to see actual studies done with children in large fit coats and car seats. It's been such a hassle these past few years not using a coat and dragging a blanket around for our child. It seems mostly everywhere I searched there has been nothing done to study risks. I do see people asking for it and only getting results about how loose fit restraints cause higher amount of injury, nothing related to large jackets.

[@Froggy711]

In regards to the St. Bernards thing, that was a myth as well. St. Bernards did serve as rescue animals, but they did not go around with barrels of brandy around their necks.

[@BowlMasterAsh]

I would buy a to the research t-shirt. Yall should make one.

[@MaximumCrash]

I suppose the concern with alcohol is about people getting lost in the cold or passing out at which point they're at the mercy of the elements.

[@holly9321]

I found this interesting because many of the myths that they spoke about I was told when I was younger and even by some of my roommates in college. Though I was told when I was in middle school that wearing a coat and bundling up in the winter would stop you from getting sick was not true, I always wondered how the myth had started and why more people didn’t know that it wasn’t true. I still hear many adults say it to their children and often wonder if it is because they really believe it or if it is because they just want their child to put on their jacket and other winter apparel. Even if these parents are telling their children to do this just so they will wear their winter clothing, it is continuing this myth to the next generation because many parents won’t tell their child they lied to them just to wear a coat. So it seems this myth will just keep continuing as long as children refuse their jackets and parents need a way for them to actually put them on. As for the portion on the fact that alcohol consumption doesn’t make a person warmer, rather it lowers their body temperature, I did not know that this was true. I found that part to be very interesting as it was all new to me and learning about what actually happens to make people believe they are getting warmer was really intriguing.

[@chnuesp]

The St. Bernards probably never had barrels of brandy around their necks. It is said, that the trope was a later addition from an english painter.

[@mrKreuzfeld]

I have heard that the reason that you get more colds in the winter is that you get dryer mucous membrane and you often get more crammed into public transports. these two factors incfrease the risk of getting infected. (the studies you mentioned didn't answer these reasons completely). Also the alcohole has the advantage of not freezing in the cold, so if you really need fluids it is a good thing.

[@mustardsfire22]

Dr. Carroll, would you please educate us all about what causes a sugar rush if sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity?

[@Cliffdog01]

Most of the alcohol tests take the still in a cold environment aspect of the myth. I feel that the idea is that once you are out of the cold and are in the process of warming up then you add the alcohol. The theory being that the blood thins and gets access to the warmth faster, allowing you to stave off iceburn faster.

[@Dizzienoo]

The St. Bernard image was actually all from a painting by Edwin Landseer in the early 1800's. Before that it is never mentioned and wasn't really the practice. Just a bizarre little preconception that stuck. After there may have been some people silly enough to fit dogs with them, but who knows, there used to be consensus that blowing tobacco smoke up the bottom of a person who had almost drowned would somehow help revive them. Great channel by the way, thanks and keep it coming :)

[@videotrash]

just a small remark: afaik, natural killer cells and granulocytes are in fact each a subgroup of leukocytes (at 0:47)

[@Greatmount]

I know what the science says, but if I dare leave my home on a chilly day without a coat I will have sniffles and a sore throat! I don't know if it is also because of having allergies and asthma, but I played the no coat game and it never goes in my favor.

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

Sniffle is caused by the contrast between the temperature of the nostril and the temperature outside causing a dew affect. You're just sniffling water formed from humidity. Sore throat can also be caused by irritating effect of post-nasal drip and that water causing mucus to end in your throat. Neither symptoms by themselves means you have caught a virus necessarily. I suggest you to read the writing of Wim Hof who is known for climbing the mount Everest in in underwear. He studied the protective and immune-stimulant effects of cold temperature and from the day I have started following his advice I haven't caught a cold or a flu and it has been almost 2 years and i used to be a very sick, frail, person always feeling cold, always covering myself too much, always keeping the heathers on high, always avoiding going out when it's cold. Now I run when it's raining and I swim outside in november on windy days.

[@TiffanyWestNyc]

They want us to get sick to keep us at the doctors to make money!! I know I get sick more when it's cold

[@saber1epee0]

As far as i'm concerned (not that my anecdote means Data), the alcohol of course doesn't warm you up, but it DOES make you more numb to the cold. And it's probably at least partially a placebo, but it certainly makes shoveling the sidewalk less miserable.

[@pyrotheevilplatypus]

My understanding was that when you're cold, your body has to reallocate resources to keeping you warm, so if you were *already* fighting off something, it made it more likely it would take hold.

[@sdrawkcabnipyt]

Lowering your core body temperature would then make the same temperature air feel warmer, since there is a greater difference in temperature then before. Also, if your cold your body tenses up, but your muscles can regulate heat much easier when they are at a relaxed state. So if alcohol is able to relax you enough you probably will warm up more. There is more testing to be done!

[@jimmyplayscds]

I just love how your throw all these myths in the garbage! Here's what I think you should cover in the future: -homeopathy -chiropractic theory -other alternative medicine -laughter therapy and other bogus treatments for depression (most of which haven't even been tested) and treatments that actually work (like cognitive behavioural therapy)

[@marshawoods1493]

I think it depends on a person's immune system if you get sick or not. proven over and over. I love this site and agree 99% with this doc!!

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

Gradual increasing exposure to cold temperature increases the resistance to virus infection. This process is called "hardening" and quite common in cold climate countries (and not surprisingly epidemiological studies found an higher incidence of cold infections in warm climate countries not freezing cold ones) Wim Hof is a man who used to be often sick and started putting hardening into practice. Now he has known for climbing the mount Everest in his underwear and researching the effect of cold exposure on the immune system. Many people have following his advices have gone from sick and frail always with the heathers on high, covered with thick coats and never going outside when it's cold and at least 6 cold infections a year to exercizing with shorts on the snow, swimming in freezing cold water and never getting sick one in 3 years. Check Daniel Bissonnette, a 10 year old kid who stays shirtless on the winter snow and swim on glacial lakes at december and you'll see the difference between a weakened by modern paranoia practices kid and a hardened kid. Kids are sicker nowadays despite better medical conditions than my great grandparents had as children and the difference if that when my great granparents were children it was common to be outside all day, with shorts even in winter (because long trouseres it's something you had to earn by becoming a man) working before school even when it was raining. Nowadays health care is better but parents are as paranoid as they have never been before in the history of humankind, they keep their kids warms, overfed, off the street/park and in from of the Wii for hours expecially if it's winter and the result is the sickest frailest generation of kids ever.

[@JosephHourany]

Could it be possible that the bacteria that is already present in your body grows at an optimal temperature that is lower than your core body temperature? Maybe that is why we feel sick when we're cold. Just a thought.

[@birddog2017]

Ah, but psychologically, there is nothing like a nice glass of bourbon to warm those cockles of your heart.

[@wafelsen]

4:10 What is a placebo for alcohol? Non-alcoholic beer? Mocktails? Or were they simply given a beverage with no one pretending it was alcoholic?

[@BrotherAlpha]

1:45 ... And no longer hungry. Thanks.

[@jlfanargen]

And a bit nauseous.

[@KMAsKorner]

And I was eating... key word... was.

[@thecoolguy010]

Pfft, casual...

[@Offwego]

Thank you for being here.

[@KaiCalimatinus]

I would posit the hypothesis that being cold could supress the immune system, so in response the body boosts activity to counter it so in a healthy person it increases overall effectiveness, but perhaps malnourished patients or those with already compromised immune systems don't see this effect? I will try to find any research done that, could be interesting. Edit:some typos and a touch of grammar correction. 

[@aimeeparent3390]

well i have a compromised immune system and an inability to regulate my body temperature, so im always cold... hmmm

[@JoeKoenen]

Serious Question: Alcohol does not warm your body. But, does it have any effect on frostbite? Will vasodilation or thinner blood save your fingers or toes? Thanks for going to the research!

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

It might help with the fingers and toes, but the danger would be that the blood coming back from the cold extremities would be cold, so it would reduce the core body temperature, potentially causing, worsening or preventing recovery from hypothermia. While it would be nice to keep all of you fingers, not dieing would be a priority for most people.

[@JoeKoenen]

Thanks!

[@MrStephenfull]

Mythbusters beat Dr Carroll by a few years here.

[@healthcaretriage]

Was that episode before our first book was published in 2009? Otherwise, it's hard to say we were "beaten" to it. We published a lot of this then. :)

[@InorganicVegan]

Dr Carroll has been a doctor since before mythbusters existed,

[@MrStephenfull]

Healthcare Triage Touché :P

[@KemaTheAtheist]

Dr. Carroll is also reporting actual scientific studies. Don't get me wrong, I love the Mythbusters, but the experiments they do rarely even come close to constituting any kind of actual trial, either because the methodology is flawed or their sample size is too small. The results might be intriguing enough to justify more experiments, but they don't compare to actual scientific studies.

[@KemaTheAtheist]

TheSwoleBroscientist Linking WebMD instead of an actual scientific paper? Really? Fail

[@laxisusous]

There is some evidence to show that alcohol's effect on core temperature is that it depresses the circadian variation in core temperature. For a person with no alcohol in their blood, their core temperature is warmer during the day and cooler at night. With alcohol, that variation is decreased toward the mean. That means the intoxicated person is less warmer during the day and less cooler at night. Thus at night, an intoxicated person's core temperature is warmer than it normally would be. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11404278

[@The1Helleri]

3:23 The Keg Collar is a myth popularized by artists who had likely never seen a real rescue dog. And, who probably had the idea that the dogs went off on their own. The time between a rescue dog sniffing someone out and if need be beginning to dig them up; And, that of the people escorting the dog catching up to it, is probably in the range of of a few seconds to a minute or so. There is no need to strap anything to the dog. They are not roaming the mountains solo dragging wayward travelers back.

[@Edgewalker001]

This is obviously anecdotal evidence but I do remember Jaques Costeau writing in one of his books that when they started experimenting with various diving regiments they actually tried the whole alcohol thing. And as you can guess, he also reported that doing so is more likely to make you even colder. Same thing with smearing fat all over your body before going for a swim apparently. He recommended making two bonfires on the beach, and standing between them to warm back up instead. =p

[@mishyman]

people say to me that going outside while its cold and going back straight inside while it's hot is going to give me a cold its like how?!?!

[@MathAndComputers]

Although alcohol consumption doesn't reduce the risk of hypothermia, since that involves one's core body temperature, might it reduce the risk of frostbite, since that primarily involves the temperature of skin and extremities? (Not that I'd condone drinking alcohol in very cold weather either way, because people can easily slip/trip/fall and hurt themselves, or end up stuck in a snowbank all night.)

[@EricJohansson]

Well, it is called "a cold" so it's easy to see why people might think it's related to being cold. Personally, I often get a runny nose after spending time in the cold. Not sure why, but that doesn't mean I got a cold - it's just a runny nose. But that too could be cause of the misconception that cold temperatures gives you a cold.

[@josephang9927]

I know it's a testimony, but I live in a tropical country and it seems it's easier to get sick if you, for example, hñget wet outside, im the rain, or go to a cold pool. Of course, maybe it's not sickness, but it seems somehow moccus sometimes seems like a cold.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

Have there been any studies where they exposed subjects to the virus *before* exposing them to the cold? If exposure to cold temperatures did make people more likely to experience 'cold' symptoms as a result of a viral infection, I imagine the mechanism would be that the body is less able to fight a newly introduced virus if it is having to invest more energy than usual in maintaining core body temperature. If the core temperature is lower than it should be this slows down all metabolic processes, including the development of white blood cells and the synthesis of antibodies. This could make it less likely that the body will be able to control an existing infection before it reaches a stage which causes symptoms.

[@morodaye1417]

I got sick after a cold day. Mind you I kinda stuck my head in the snow for 15-30 minutes so that might have something to do with it. Or maybe I was already sick and that was why I was stupid enough to stick my head in the snow for that long.

[@DeadCreativity]

Due to the vasodilating effects of the alcohol is it possible that it will raise your overall temperature in the extremities and core faster after transitioning from the frigid temps to a warm area?

[@Doryuu1989]

I know it should be pretty obvious that it's effective but I'm curious if there is any research showing how effective covering you mouth/nose is when you cough/sneeze in limiting the spread of disease.

[@storera21]

So its been known for decades that rhinovirus replicates better at cold temperatures when you infect cells in a dish. It was just published in PNAS that rhinovirus replicates better at colder temperatures not because of an effect on the virus, but because innate immune viral detection pathways were impaired at cooler temperatures (ie: in the nose). Thoughts?

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

the rhinovirus replicates better when the cell environment is at a temperature of 33 degree celsius. But the environment of our cells will always be 36-37 degree celsius and not kind of extreme weather condition can change the internal temperature of our body (unless we're dying from an heat stroke or hypothermia) The nostril will have a temperature of 36-37 degree even if you've walked on your underwear on the snow for 1 hour (by the way there are people who do this and have never got sick since the day they started this practice which they call "hardening") So yes we know cells fight infection better at high internal temperature, which is why the body trigger fever as a fighting mechanism, but this is irrelevant to what happens when we expose ourselves to cold temperatures.

[@mr88cet]

A while back, I heard of a study suggesting that cold weather can “cause” colds because of the confluence of two factors: 1. Rhinoviruses incubate inside you nose, and 2. Cold weather reduces the temperature in your nose, making it hard to fight off that incubation. More specifically, we use fever to fight the incubation of infections, and when our noses are cold, the temperature won’t go up enough. Is there any truth to that “Theory”?

[@herbbowler2461]

You eat a cold buy eating mucus forming foods. Also winter air is more polluted. If you avoid mucus forming foods you will almost never get a cold or flue Avoid dairy and all proccessed food You will be amazed

[@symbolxchannel]

The immune system is more efficient at high temperatures… This is why fever is a thing. When your immune systems enters in an alarmed state (like after recognizing a severe infection) it increases your body's temperature to help it fight the pathogen. Higher temperature also increases fluid circulation (like the lymph)… At least, that's what I learned at school. So in other words, *temperature affects your immune system!*

[@stellarfirefly]

What this makes me wonder is why then does the body attempt to elevate ones core temperature when it is actively fighting an infection? Is there an HCT episode that answers this?

[@alexvandenbroek5587]

Isn't a high body temperature roughly a response which increases the white bloodcell count and diminishes the capacity of bacteria and viruses to multiply, in other words it is meant to assist fighting off the infection.

[@stellarfirefly]

Alex van den Broek That makes sense to me. But then it would suggest that lower temperatures overall will give rhinovirus and many other infections a greater chance of success in making someone ill, as opposed to being stopped before things get that bad, which somewhat negates the findings mentioned in this video. There must be more going on.

[@luke53285]

+stellarfirefly proteins are very temperature sensitive, a fever is an evolutionary defense to viruses and infections as an attempt to raise the temperature enough to denature the foreign proteins. unfortunately this can have negative effects on the brain. Your assumption that cold then would have the opposite effect is not entirely true either because cold retards metabolic functions. In other words, each protein has a thermal sweetspot that it proliferates in. Too cold and bacteria and viruses die this is why fish and chicken needs to be kept cold until it is prepared, too hot and they break down and die too, it's only in the middle that there is a problem. Hope this helps

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

Because there's a difference between core temperature and external temperature. Not even the most extreme weather conditions can change your core temperature, your cells will always function on a enviromental temperature of 36-37 degree celsius. But when a virus bound to a cell in order to infect it, that's when a raise in the internal environment makes it harder for the virus to infect the cell. All of this though has nothing to do with the external temperature and at what external temperature the virus breed better. Rhinovirus breeds better at higher temperature, which is why is often found in the winter in warm closed spaces and why the incidence of cold is extremely lower in sinti and rom population living mostly outside in non cold-proof hutch. In summer the hot climate should theorically increase the presence of the rhinovirus but, June to Agoust are actually the "dormant phase" of the virus which "blossom" in September, not because of climate but because of its natural cycle, which is why the rhinovirus peak is always September and Junuary whether in a country it's summer in Junuary.

[@stellarfirefly]

I'm not sure that I buy into your claims. You say that raising the temperature makes it more difficult for a virus to infect a cell, but the core temperature is raised only after an infection has taken hold and spread. Also, can I get a source for the dormancy information for rhinovirus? I haven't heard of a seasonal spread of rhinovirus in southern hemispheres during their summers, coupled with it largely going away during their winters, as should happen if it truly is an annual cycle.

[@TheYear-dm9op]

As a boy I used to make my way tol school with hair wet from showering, even at freezing temperatures. It didn't give me a cold. I rarely have colds at all, thoug this might be du to the fact that I don't have much contact with people so there ist no chance to get infected. I don't drive by bus either. In retrospective I can't make out any circumstance that could have an effect on the occasions I got a cold. Could happen every day, summer or winter.

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

In colder climate countries the incidence of cold infections is lower than in warm climate countries like for example Morocco or Canary. That alone should put the myth to rest once for all. And yes avoiding contact with people (or washing your hands often if you have contact with them) is the only true epidemiological known factor in reducing the incidence of infections. Unlike you I used to get sick very often, up to 9-10 times per year. I was a very sensitive to cold person, always wearing thick coats, staying outside most of the time expecially in winter, keeping my heathers on max, avoiding wind and rain. I haven't had a cold for 2 years and just three days ago I biked 10 miles under the rain with a 40 F weather. Now I also cover myself very little, to the point of being with such a t-shirt on 60 F weather and never feel cold, my heathers are shut off most of the time and if I know there's a cold epidemic I try to spend the most time possible outside in the park, under the rain, in the wood, lakes or at the beach. At the same time I also keep a get disinfectant in my pocket and always wash my hands quickly after touching points of contacts of intercting with people.

[@kelpsie]

Been waiting on a video on this topic for so long.

[@GuitarLove4624]

Can you do a episode on arthritis? Like myths and facts? I.E cracking bones.

[@QCftw97]

Does the temperature affect the transmission of pathogens? Like air-borne ones especially?

[@LKfan1234]

Just out of curiosity, if you were to come in from the cold and sit in front of a heater, would drinking alcohol increase blood flow to the skin, thus warming you up faster, or would that be negligible as the body is already responding to the warmth and is causing vasodilation?

[@Farfromhere001]

What is placebo alcohol?

[@basblob]

Placebo means inert or in this case not alcohol. A placebo is used to make a subject think they were given the real deal when, in reality, they weren't.

[@Farfromhere001]

Sasha Sirota Ya so what substance do they use to trick people into thinking they're drinking alcohol? They pound 5 non-alcoholic beers?

[@Rushmanyyz]

Farfromhere001 You could use capsules.

[@Farfromhere001]

Dennis Pearce Alcohol CAPSULES? I wouldn't suspect that was a placebo....

[@Rushmanyyz]

Farfromhere001 Why? The point of a placebo is to diminish the effects of bias. It would be a great way to do this. 50% of the subjects would get actual alcohol in their system and 50% wouldn't. No one would know for sure which they got. Then you test the differences in cold symptoms/recovery-times and report the findings.

[@lizkasper]

Aaron, I believe that cold itself doesn't make someone sick, but I have always thought that when you get cold, your body's energy is directed toward returning its core temperature back to normal and is thus less able to fight off infection when it comes. True?

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

no, when you have a fever the temperature is raised as a fighting mechanism mediated by the effect of immune system on the hypothalamus and it will lower itself naturally when the threat is over, which is why fever is always a good thing, never dangerous (high fever causing brain damage of convulsion is another common myth) and shouldn't be artificially lowered (most of the time)

[@vincentnovotny5619]

LD.Tube that wasnt even what he said lol...

[@Nox444]

I have to say, I'm not sure I think the sick-person's-mucus-in-the-nose studies are very well conducted. I feel as though IF, by some chance, there was a small benefit from "bundling up" (or whatever other remedy that's under question), that benefit would be completely offset by dripping that mucus in the subjects' noses. It's as if you tested the ability of ceramic plating as a fire retardant and used a NUKE to test it. Obviously, it would fail. Well.. I doubt we have any research on it so...Maybe??

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

on the other hand a test using the "proximity of someone infected" would introduce too many variables like the type of interaction, the distance, how much and if they talked, the fate of where that drop saliva might end...

[@YogiliciousP]

Hey Aaron Caroll, I think you made a mistake for myth #3: You state there was no infection introduced at the beginning of that segment, but at the end you state that people had a cold virus stuck up there nose, so which is it!

[@mvzalbertolopez]

Hi. Did you consider the decreased cilia activity induced by cold? Wich can promote infections.

[@space5339]

Does the cold make it more likely for the disease to be transmitted, however? I recall reading about optimal temperatures and humidities for the flue.

[@BFoltyn7]

Digg brought me here. Good stuff, new sub! Happy Winter Solstice!

[@Mystro256]

Don't viruses thrive in the cold more due to a solidification of the membrane around the virus? or some sort of inability to thrive/vulnerability in heat? I was told this was why "sweating it out" with fever when infected by a virus can help, due to the elevated internal temperature of the body. Or is this also a myth?

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

in the moment a virus in infecting a cell and replicating, then an higher internal temperature is an hindrance to this process. But this has nothing to do with the external temperature, with wind, rain and snow that even in the most extreme condition can't lower your core temperature or your nostril temperature (unless you're dying from hypothermia)

[@4loscomments]

I question how credible the study of the effects of cold on the immune system that you cited is, as certain leukocytes, particularly macrophages, have been shown to increase their activity with higher temperature. Furthermore, it would help to explain why the body induces fever, rather than hypothermia, upon immunological insult.

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

there's a huge difference between internal and external temperature. As you know short of getting an heat stroke or almost dying of hypothermia, there's no way the external temperature can change the internal temperature of the body and its cells which is always between 36-37 degree celsius. Fever on the other hand is an internal mechanism that raises the internal temperature in a way that no external temperature could ever do. We all have read that study about how cells responds better to infection when their temperature is 37 degree celsius, evern better at 38 degree celsius and is impaired at 33 degree celsius. Well, there's no way on earth to get your cells to be at a temperature of 34 degree celsius, even if you sleep naked on the snow. On the other hand we have an internal mechanism to get thatdisease-fighting 38 degree celsius when needed.

[@Pyotyrpyotyrpyotyr]

Would alcohol decrease the likelyhood of you getting frostbite.

[@Zertog3000]

If it would be a myth, it would be awesome! No more wearing annoying coats, gloves or hoods! But I just dont believe this. From my personal experience, I only get sick when I freezed in the days before and/or some family member or friend i was together with was sick and infected me. I'm pretty sure those studies were not well planned in some way, maybe the cold exposure times were just too short..

[@leavemydogalone]

Do one on nutritional supplements and whether they are really helpful! :)

[@beatrix1120]

Am I the only one whose nose ALWAYS runs when I'm outside in the cold.

[@houndoom1234]

Conversely then, would drinking alcohol in the summer be a good way too cool off?

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

If you're in warm environment, the blood supply to the surface of the skin increases anyway, so you don't need alcohol to cause it.

[@ManuelGutierrez-zb5xm]

Wouldn't that depend on the external temperature. If it is more than 98 degrees outside, then no, it would actually make you warmer right?

[@drewseleski2136]

I may be misremembering but isn't there a reaction in your body where you get a runny nose when you have been cold and are then warmed up? I think,when multiple people are all having fluid leaking from their noses it would be more likely that if one is carrying the virus transmission will happen than if they all have fairly nonleaky noses.

[@nitrogliserin]

Wet hair most likely will result as a headache.

[@brittnyking7718]

It seems that they were viewing whether or not people got sick based on if they felt cold, and not being actually being outside in harsh conditions. I thought that the risk was more so with going outside and possibly getting an earache due to not wearing a hat or getting a cold for not bundling up--not getting sick because you dipped your feet in cold water and were then exposed to a virus. Cold weather does seem to make a person's nose run quite a lot so it must have some effect right? It just seems that the questions most people would have weren't really answered. Since it says that the cold stimulates your immune system, wouldn't that mean that your immune system is reacting for a reason? It would make me think that my immune system is being stimulated to prevent me from getting sick. Thinking that if my immune system is heightened then I must have a higher chance of getting sick.

[@LDTube-pz9fq]

your immune system can't make pubmed based predictions and reacting to an hypothetical theorical threat. It can only react to something happening at the physiologic level like an infection actively occuring or for example a feeling of cold. In fact the temperature-raising effects that would help you to adapat to a colder temperature (you know, you always feel colder when you go from a warmer place to a colder one but then after few minutes you feel less cold and eventually you feel warm) is linked to the same hypothalamus mediated mechanism that triggers a fever and both occurs via the immune system.

[@kendallstainton4798]

I find this interesting, because even some of these myths I thought were true. Also, I do not know who would volunteer to these studies as they are disgusting, but hey, whatever gets the job done. It is nice to know now that I will not have to worry about getting sick in the cold weather, but I will probably stay indoors just as frequency as I do now. But who knew it did just the opposite! That your body actually increases sickness-fighting cells. Maybe when we are outside our noses run more because we can feel it, and we are shivering cold and our bodies drop in temperature? But now I can tell my mom that being out in the cold actually won't make me anymore sick.

[@thomaskishmanii2675]

I've always thought cold weather does the following: *no humidity in air, which means no bacteria to grow *cold temps kill bacteria just my 2 cents.

[@Infinatus25]

Yeah, but all this does not mean that I can just go about strolling through the blistering cold in my undies! There's hypothermia and frostbite to worry about!

[@lahdeedah87]

the whole 'sick-person-mucus-drip' made me gag. uggghhhhhhh

[@StalkerNaturaliste]

That's... disturbing...

[@Ash-do7bn]

I've always heard this both ways. There's the people who would tell me that the cold makes you sick and the people that said the cold doesn't make you sick. Now it's nice to know it doesn't. I'm not planning on going outside when it's freezing and there's a blizzard but at least now I know I won't get sick from going outside and enjoying winter. I had no clue the cold actually stimulated your immune system and increased the activity level of sickness-fighting cells. This is definitely good information to know just as it's about to get cold. Being indoors when it's cold is how people get sick. Being in warm, close spaces to other people makes it easier for colds and viruses to spread. I must say, the experiment performed was absolutely disgusting. Never would I ever be a part of an experiment that puts someone's sick mucus in my nose. But I guess the concept of it was valid, to know that everyone has the same risk of getting sick no matter the temperature you are in. I also always believed going outside with wet hair would make me sick because my parents told me this. Sometimes people wake up late and need to leave after they shower, so now I know this has no effect on whether a person gets sick or not. But the reason everyone believes the cold can make you sick is because of the cold like symptoms you get from standing outside in the winter. How does that get explained? The most common symptom I get from the cold is a runny nose, if the cold doesn't make you sick, how does that happen?

[@ionz75]

Alcohol doesn't make you warmer, it makes you FEEL warmer.

[@ChocolateTeapot93]

So alcohol doesn't increase your chances of getting hypothermia? So is it just walking home at night drunk that does it?

[@sorrow413]

Healthcare Triage the myth buster i like it

[@tulipgirl19]

Could you do a video on msg?

[@PINGPONGROCKSBRAH]

Why does my nose run when it's cold?

[@sydneyhunt6681]

What about the man who survived the titanic sinking and was in the water for a while before he was picked up drunk and alive because of the alcahol ???

[@mrbobspongeful]

They must pay a lot of money to get people to participate in these studies.

[@davidalearmonth]

What about pneumonia?

[@XDTape]

Caused by buildup of fluid in the lungs. Not directly caused by cold weather, but it's really nasty if you have pneumonia out in the cold.

[@Daniel300017]

Hell yeah. I have been telling this to people since I was 12. I am 22 years old now.Why the fuck are most of the people immune to logic. Keep it up man. I love your videos.

[@zeedar412]

Hi! Maybe my voice will be better heard here. In the most recent Mental floss video they said that cold hinders the immune system which is in direct contradiction with what you said here. Since you people are in the same network, could you somehow work this out?

[@laurinesax]

+zeedar412 I think it was the latest research - this video was probably earlier www.nature.com/news/cold-viruses-thrive-in-frosty-conditions-1.13025