In what researchers are calling a scientific breakthrough, scientists behind a new study may have found the biological reason we get more respiratory illnesses in winter. It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose.
"This is the first time that we have a biologic, molecular explanation regarding one factor of our innate immune response that appears to be limited by colder temperatures," said rhinologist Dr. Zara Patel, a professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. She was not involved in the new study.
At that point, cells lining the nose immediately begin creating billions of simple copies of themselves called extracellular vesicles, or EV's. "It's like if you kick a hornet's nest, what happens? You might see a few hornets flying around, but when you kick it, all of them all fly out of the nest to attack before that animal can get into the nest itself," he said. "That's the way the body mops up these inhaled viruses so they can never get into the cell in the first place."When under attack, the nose increases production of extracellular vesicles by 160%, the study found.
To find out, Bleier and his team exposed four study participants to 15 minutes of 40-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures, and then measured conditions inside their nasal cavities.
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