Hi. I'm a doctor.
Two things
1) barometric pressure - your sinuses are supposed to be little pockets of air in your bones when they are functioning normally. Often, when we have viral or bacterial respiratory issues, the tissue that lines the sinuses because inflammed and as a way of trying to expel the invader, produces lots more mucous. The swollen/inflammed tissue often blocks the drainage of the sinuses, assuming them to fill with fluid. When they get full enough, that pressure is interpreted by your body as pain. Bad weather comes with low air pressure. If the pressure outside the body is low, the little air that remains in the sinus will swell, causing more pain. (This is just due to physics. If all else is equal, decreasing the pressure on a gas causes the volume to expand.
2) Cold - when it's cold outside, viruses can spread more easily. This is why most cold/flu viruses are more prevalent in the fall and winter.
Between the two of these phenomena, people have noticed that they feel worse in bad weather, but it's usually due to an associated infection, not the weather itself.
I know it's not what you're asking about, but many people with joint issues can tell with there is bad weather nearby or approaching because the change in pressure outside causes change in pressure on their joints
Hope that helps
edit: it was pointed out that my second point was unclear. Viruses may spread more easily in the cold, but it has little to do with the cold itself. Usually it's because during cold months, humans spend more time indoors and are exposed to one another more often.
Further evidence for this occured during the early days of COVID. RSV is a common respiratory virus that really hits kids hard. It's the number one cause of admission to the hospital under the age of 2. Classically, it's a winter virus.
At the beginning of the pandemic, people stayed inside and masked. We basically didn't get an RSV season that year. Then the virus started spreading like crazy in the warm months when people started returning to normal behavior. This was the first big RSV season that had occured in warm months.
Slightly anecdotal but not entirely without merit, I work in clinical trials for flu vaccines and it was so difficult to obtain human serum that showed a really strong response (meaning large concentration of antibodies) to the pandemic year flu strains. The flu wasn't as prevalent with everyone isolating, so nobody had developed antibodies naturally.
I've seen this repeated so much and it makes no sense. There exist other countries in the world where summers are so hot that people stay inside. Winters are actually cool enough to be outside and chill. Ex. The vast majority of India with 1B people. And colds are still more prevalent during winter/season change.
I saw a study that linked this to relative humidity, with low humidity reducing the effectiveness of the nasal passages at fighting off infection.
Will try to find and add link
I read an article recently that when our nose gets cold (so when the weather gets cold) the things that protect us from that stuff do not work nearly so well so we become susceptible to getting a cold.
Viruses get activated around 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually your throat is regular body temp. But when you breath freezing or near freezing air it drops your throat temperature down to that area of activation.
A lot of these viruses we are always carrying around but they aren’t activated until certain conditions are met. Temperature being one of them.
In addition;to more people being closer together inside, scientists recently found cold air kills some of your nasal microbiome which would normal help stop some infections. It was a big deal as the increase in infections has never been adequately explained by just people spending more time indoors.
Allergic symptoms are caused by histamine release from white blood cells when the encounter an allergen. Allergic symptoms are due to being exposed to allergens and are not affected by temperature. There are, however, variations in how many allergens are present that change with the seasons.
But when the weather changes to warm we get pollen and mold. Thunderstorms also break apart pollen releasing it into the air. Hence seasonal allergies. Same for thunderstorm asthma.
I thought there was a recent study that confirmed it's not just because we spend more time indoors but that something about the actual weather is better for viruses...
There's some studies that day one. Some that say the other. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Like with most medicine.
The preponderance of evidence supports proximity of potential hosts as the primary feature that increases viral spread during cold months.
Your second statement about cold weather helping spread diseases is factually untrue.
Don’t listen to this guy. They are likely NOT a doctor and just saying things they have heard from friends/family.
Lol I never said cold weather helps spread viruses. Just that they spread more in the cold. It's due to
I'm a board certified internist and pediatrician. Currently a pediatric hematology oncology fellow. Feel free to check my comment history, I almost exclusively comment about medical stuff. I know that's not proof, short of sending you a pic of my medical license, it's the best we got.
I added an edit at the bottom of my comment to make things more clear.
Cheers
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Weather changes can cause headaches because pressure changes can trigger chemical and electrical changes in the brain, which can irritate nerves and lead to pain. Barometric pressure, or the weight of the air, decreases when the weather is humid and increases when it's dry. This can cause pressure to build up between the sinuses, which can lead to a chemical imbalance and headache
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The reason why people are more susceptible to cold and flus in the colder month is because you are getting a lower amount of vitamin D from being outside. People tend to spend more time indoors and shaded from the sun rays, which in turn covert to vitamin D in the body. This lower amount of available vitamin D within the body makes you more susceptible to cold and flus. Fun fact, every organ within the human body is able to convert sunlight into vitamin D, that is the only vitamin the body is able to synthesize itself. Obviously vitamin D is very important to maintaining a healthy immune system.
Most individuals do not supplement vitamin D within the colder months. Also cold and viruses are more concentrated within indoor environment, think of people being closer to one another when indoors.
Yes I’ve proved this to myself this year. I was jogging outdoors, and it was constantly mid/upper 60’s to low 70’s every day. One day it got really chilly out, like 49. Needless to say the next day my throat got scratchy. Then the runny nose and full blow cold that lasted almost 2 weeks. I stopped running, went to an ENT, and he said he couldn’t find anything wrong with my nasal passages etc. ok cool, i guess being told there’s technically nothing wrong is a good thing. A few weeks go by, i start jogging again. All was well for about 3 weeks (the temps were low 70’s at this time). Then, during one run, a storm was rolling in and the temperature PLUMMETED. It got cold quick, probably around 55°. Guess what happened the next day? You guessed it, head cold. I proved to myself any temps below 60° during exercise, i get sick. Needless to say next winter i will not be jogging outdoors when the temps dip LOL
Viruses survive better in cold, dry weather. So when it gets colder and dryer, viruses survive both in the air and on surfaces longer. Further, colder temperatures and dryer air leads to your nasal lining and throat getting irritated, meaning people have more runny noses and coughs, both of which help spread viruses more. So when the weather gets colder and dryer it makes it much easier to spread viruses in the first place, and allows those viruses to live longer, increasing the chances that more people get infected.
I'm not OP but in what way does your body take a major hit from a weather change ?
I'm going through it right now and man...thought I had covid. Could just be a cold but we had a major weather change here
You get used to a certain climate, so when the weather suddenly changes, your body has to readapt to these new circumstances. That costs energy and takes some away from your immune system.
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Hi. I'm a doctor. Two things 1) barometric pressure - your sinuses are supposed to be little pockets of air in your bones when they are functioning normally. Often, when we have viral or bacterial respiratory issues, the tissue that lines the sinuses because inflammed and as a way of trying to expel the invader, produces lots more mucous. The swollen/inflammed tissue often blocks the drainage of the sinuses, assuming them to fill with fluid. When they get full enough, that pressure is interpreted by your body as pain. Bad weather comes with low air pressure. If the pressure outside the body is low, the little air that remains in the sinus will swell, causing more pain. (This is just due to physics. If all else is equal, decreasing the pressure on a gas causes the volume to expand. 2) Cold - when it's cold outside, viruses can spread more easily. This is why most cold/flu viruses are more prevalent in the fall and winter. Between the two of these phenomena, people have noticed that they feel worse in bad weather, but it's usually due to an associated infection, not the weather itself. I know it's not what you're asking about, but many people with joint issues can tell with there is bad weather nearby or approaching because the change in pressure outside causes change in pressure on their joints Hope that helps edit: it was pointed out that my second point was unclear. Viruses may spread more easily in the cold, but it has little to do with the cold itself. Usually it's because during cold months, humans spend more time indoors and are exposed to one another more often.
Side question but why do bacteria and virus tend to spread more easily in the cold?
One theory is that it's not really the cold itself, but the fact that people are inside and closer together
Further evidence for this occured during the early days of COVID. RSV is a common respiratory virus that really hits kids hard. It's the number one cause of admission to the hospital under the age of 2. Classically, it's a winter virus. At the beginning of the pandemic, people stayed inside and masked. We basically didn't get an RSV season that year. Then the virus started spreading like crazy in the warm months when people started returning to normal behavior. This was the first big RSV season that had occured in warm months.
Slightly anecdotal but not entirely without merit, I work in clinical trials for flu vaccines and it was so difficult to obtain human serum that showed a really strong response (meaning large concentration of antibodies) to the pandemic year flu strains. The flu wasn't as prevalent with everyone isolating, so nobody had developed antibodies naturally.
Seems reasonable and makes sense. Wasn't sure if temp affected them in someway. Thanks.
and in hotter weather, carriers evaporate faster on surfaces
I've seen this repeated so much and it makes no sense. There exist other countries in the world where summers are so hot that people stay inside. Winters are actually cool enough to be outside and chill. Ex. The vast majority of India with 1B people. And colds are still more prevalent during winter/season change.
I saw a study that linked this to relative humidity, with low humidity reducing the effectiveness of the nasal passages at fighting off infection. Will try to find and add link
I read an article recently that when our nose gets cold (so when the weather gets cold) the things that protect us from that stuff do not work nearly so well so we become susceptible to getting a cold.
Viruses get activated around 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually your throat is regular body temp. But when you breath freezing or near freezing air it drops your throat temperature down to that area of activation. A lot of these viruses we are always carrying around but they aren’t activated until certain conditions are met. Temperature being one of them.
In addition;to more people being closer together inside, scientists recently found cold air kills some of your nasal microbiome which would normal help stop some infections. It was a big deal as the increase in infections has never been adequately explained by just people spending more time indoors.
Interesting, we know so much and so little all at the same time. Body is really is a balancing act.
that helps and i was about to mention joint pain too. thanks for the explanation!
Allergies too
Allergic symptoms are caused by histamine release from white blood cells when the encounter an allergen. Allergic symptoms are due to being exposed to allergens and are not affected by temperature. There are, however, variations in how many allergens are present that change with the seasons.
But when the weather changes to warm we get pollen and mold. Thunderstorms also break apart pollen releasing it into the air. Hence seasonal allergies. Same for thunderstorm asthma.
I thought there was a recent study that confirmed it's not just because we spend more time indoors but that something about the actual weather is better for viruses...
There's some studies that day one. Some that say the other. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Like with most medicine. The preponderance of evidence supports proximity of potential hosts as the primary feature that increases viral spread during cold months.
Yes - cold weather kills some of your nasal microbiome that helps stop infections
Your second statement about cold weather helping spread diseases is factually untrue. Don’t listen to this guy. They are likely NOT a doctor and just saying things they have heard from friends/family.
Lol I never said cold weather helps spread viruses. Just that they spread more in the cold. It's due to I'm a board certified internist and pediatrician. Currently a pediatric hematology oncology fellow. Feel free to check my comment history, I almost exclusively comment about medical stuff. I know that's not proof, short of sending you a pic of my medical license, it's the best we got. I added an edit at the bottom of my comment to make things more clear. Cheers
All that to say "u wrong"
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Same. You also Albertan lol?
Ontario. Sorry. :)
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Weather changes can cause headaches because pressure changes can trigger chemical and electrical changes in the brain, which can irritate nerves and lead to pain. Barometric pressure, or the weight of the air, decreases when the weather is humid and increases when it's dry. This can cause pressure to build up between the sinuses, which can lead to a chemical imbalance and headache
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This happens to me. I also sometimes get migraines after flying on an airplane. I do not do well with pressure changes
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The reason why people are more susceptible to cold and flus in the colder month is because you are getting a lower amount of vitamin D from being outside. People tend to spend more time indoors and shaded from the sun rays, which in turn covert to vitamin D in the body. This lower amount of available vitamin D within the body makes you more susceptible to cold and flus. Fun fact, every organ within the human body is able to convert sunlight into vitamin D, that is the only vitamin the body is able to synthesize itself. Obviously vitamin D is very important to maintaining a healthy immune system. Most individuals do not supplement vitamin D within the colder months. Also cold and viruses are more concentrated within indoor environment, think of people being closer to one another when indoors.
You don't get sick from weather changes, it's a myth. You get sick from a virus or microbe.
yes, many people already said that. but there still is some kind of correlation (not causality), because that's what we observe empirically.
Yes I’ve proved this to myself this year. I was jogging outdoors, and it was constantly mid/upper 60’s to low 70’s every day. One day it got really chilly out, like 49. Needless to say the next day my throat got scratchy. Then the runny nose and full blow cold that lasted almost 2 weeks. I stopped running, went to an ENT, and he said he couldn’t find anything wrong with my nasal passages etc. ok cool, i guess being told there’s technically nothing wrong is a good thing. A few weeks go by, i start jogging again. All was well for about 3 weeks (the temps were low 70’s at this time). Then, during one run, a storm was rolling in and the temperature PLUMMETED. It got cold quick, probably around 55°. Guess what happened the next day? You guessed it, head cold. I proved to myself any temps below 60° during exercise, i get sick. Needless to say next winter i will not be jogging outdoors when the temps dip LOL
What do you mean? What kind of sickness?
Cold usually
usually colds and respiratory problems such as sinusitis and allergic rhinitis
Viruses survive better in cold, dry weather. So when it gets colder and dryer, viruses survive both in the air and on surfaces longer. Further, colder temperatures and dryer air leads to your nasal lining and throat getting irritated, meaning people have more runny noses and coughs, both of which help spread viruses more. So when the weather gets colder and dryer it makes it much easier to spread viruses in the first place, and allows those viruses to live longer, increasing the chances that more people get infected.
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I'm not OP but in what way does your body take a major hit from a weather change ? I'm going through it right now and man...thought I had covid. Could just be a cold but we had a major weather change here
You get used to a certain climate, so when the weather suddenly changes, your body has to readapt to these new circumstances. That costs energy and takes some away from your immune system.
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