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Mama was Right: A Chill Can Cause a Cold
Researchers in Wales have found that getting cold actually contributes to contracting a cold. This is supposedly the first official link between body temperature and viral infection.
The study was held at the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff where of 180 volunteers, half were asked to immerse their bare feet in icy water for 20 minutes. The results: 29 percent of those who dunked developed a cold in under five days compared to just nine percent of those who stayed warm.
The explanation is fairly simple. Many colds stay dormant until the immune system weakens enough to allow symptoms to show. A chill “causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supplies the white cells that fight infection,” says Professor Ronald Eccles, director of the Cold Centre.