by Barbara Kasey Smith

Created on: January 02, 2010

Does cold or wet weather cause a cold?

*Mother always told me to dress warm or suffer from a cold:

When I was a small child, I can remember hearing my mother's voice echo in my ears, "Be sure to put your coat, hat, gloves and warm boots on before you go outside or you'll get a "terrible" cold." I believed this for many years and until I was educated to the fact that the cold weather has absolutely nothing to do with the climate or temperature change.

It might affect our arthritic knees, hands, and body, but it will not cause us to get a cold. It was soon obvious to me that the common cold was strictly from a viral infection which is transmitted by having personal contact with a sick person. If the cold caused colds, why do people get them in the warm and hot climates as well? People get a cold in the summer as well as they do in the dead of winter. The viruses that cause people to have colds are more active then because people cluster and mingle together more in the winter than they do in the summer.

*There's "no" proof that getting cold and wet can cause a cold:

If people go out in the cold without bundling up, it will not cause them to catch a cold nor will going outside with a wet head or falling into a pond or getting entirely wet from rain will cause one either. There have been studies done to prove that college students and military recruits were exposed to various temperatures and it did not make them more susceptible to getting a cold either. If a person is under a lot of stress and they do not get the proper amount of sleep it will depress their immune system and make the person more susceptible to them getting sick. If they're a user of tobacco or use alcohol in excess, a chance of getting sick is more likely.

*Summation:

There has not been any evidence to show that humans can get a cold or other infections from getting a chill, cold weather, or being overheated. It is also known that being exposed to cold weather or getting wet in cold weather will cause a person to contact the virus infections for colds quicker than others. The way to avoid getting an infection is to limit your exposure to the bacteria and viruses that cause them. It's known that viruses and bacteria do cause colds and the best way to avoid a cold is to cover your mouth and nose when someone sneezes and coughs around you and to wash your hands as often as possible and to keep dirty hands away from the face and the mouth. 

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