The temperature in your nose is why you get more colds and flu in winters: Study

Ever wondered why everyone starts coughing and sneezing as the winter season approaches?

It is not as if the number of germs present in the air go up with the fall in temperature. So why do people get more colds, flu and COVID-19 when it’s cold outside? Scientists have an answer!

In a scientific breakthrough, researchers have found that cold air damages the natural immune responses in your nose.

In fact, cold air can cut your nose's immune response by half. The findings of the study were published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Your nose is the main entry point for respiratory viruses and bacteria. However, your nose is powered to help prevent these from infecting you.

The researchers discovered that the front of the nose can detect the germs even before the back of the nose.

As soon as it detects an intruder, the cells lining the nose immediately begin creating billions of simple copies of themselves. These are called extracellular vesicles (EV’s).

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“EV’s can’t divide like cells can, but they are like little mini versions of cells specifically designed to go and kill these viruses,” said rhinologist Dr. Benjamin Bleier, director of otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“EV’s act as decoys, so now when you inhale a virus, the virus sticks to these decoys instead of sticking to the cells," Dr. Bleier added.

The researchers found that when under attack, the nose increases production of extracellular vesicles by 160%.

Bleier and his team exposed four study participants to 15 minutes of 4.4-degree-Celsius temperatures, and then measured then conditions inside their nasal cavities.

“What we found is that when you’re exposed to cold air, the temperature in your nose can drop by as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit," Bleier said. This is enough to knock out all those immune advantages of your nose.

They found that the "little bit of coldness in the tip of the nose was enough to take nearly 42% of the extracellular vesicles out of the fight."

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Keeping your intranasal environment warmer can maintain your stronger immune defenses against the viruses.

Wearing masks can help. These will prevent the viruses from directly entering your nose as well as keep your nose warmer.

In the future, Bleier expects development of topical nasal medications built upon this scientific revelation, to reduce high infection rate in the cold weather.