"Cold weather itself makes you sick"

Question

Pretty much anyone believes that cold weather can get people sick, but this is only a myth. Colds and flu really do seem more common in the winter but the chill does not get you. Instead, low humidity and being indoors with others make it easier for germs to spread. Dry air dries out the membranes in your nose, so viruses can easily invade. In other words, again, it is germs and not temperature.

Comments

This article explores if cold weather causes colds. It takes on the common myth, yet myth busts it, arguing how cold weather is correlated to colds but doesn't cause. The article uses reliable facts and correlates them, such as how lower Vitamin D can lead to less production and thus more influenza. However, these facts are not fully trustworthy since they come from "research" and no specific reputable source to be fact checked. The article is more focused on symptoms and preventions towards sickness than the actual myth itself, so it is not well written. This article should not be deemed as reputable.

Answer 1

While many people get sick during the colder season, cold weather alone doesn't get you sick. Cold and dry weather does allow viruses to stay alive and reproduce more quickly and causes immune cells to work less effectively. If we were to say that cold weather makes it easier to get sick, then we can say the claim is true but cold weather alone doesn't cause sickness but rather it helps viruses and bacteria spread faster.

article: https://www.heart.org/en/news/2021/12/17/can-the-cold-really-make-you-sick

Answer 2

The claim is entirely false in itself as sickness is not caused by cold weather. But by viruses and bacteria as cited in the linked article - 

https://www.verywellhealth.com/do-you-get-sick-from-the-cold8709721#:~:text=A%20common%20misconception%20is%20that,infections%20in%20the%20colder%20months. - This is all to say it's an old myth that has been used for ages. In saying so we can easily find the true cause through researching any Health site.

Answer 3

This article was written in the past month, by Patty Weasler who is a Nurse and Health Writer, and has valid cited sources. However, your claim does not match the claim in this article. Verywellhealth states that a common misconception is that cold weather causes illness. In reality, it's germs like bacteria and viruses that cause infections. This article says that yes, the cooler months are related to an increase in illness because respiratory droplets move farther and stay longer in the air, dryness weakens the body's ability to defend against germs, indoor gatherings increase contact with germs, and people have lower vitamin D.