If you grew up with a mom like mine, you probably heard this quite a bit while growing up. “Put your coat on or you’ll catch a cold!” If not that specific phrase, you can insert whatever article of clothing you would like, but you catch my drift. While the notion that colder temperatures can lead to a cold has been conventional wisdom for far longer than I’ve been around, can cold cause a cold? There’s actually never been much science to prove this. That is, until recently.

In January, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study by researchers in Tokyo that tried to pin down just that. Do colder temperatures cause a cold? No. However, this latest study does seem to suggest that colder temperatures do make us more susceptible to certain viruses.

In the past we’ve discussed how colder temperatures can affect your nose, mainly with regard to changes in mucus production and motility when the temperature dips. This latest research also focuses on the nose, or rather cells from the noses… of rats. Ratatouille these rats are not. No, these cells were exposed to a modified rhinovirus to see how they reacted in changing temperatures.

Normally, the cells exposed to the virus would send out warning signals to uninfected cells around them. In response to this, uninfected cells essentially heed the warning and prepare the defenses, and by employing antiviral proteins they are better able to destroy the rhinovirus. As the temperature goes down the observed defenses employed by the uninfected cells weren’t as robust. This resulted in more of the cells being infected and an overall less effective defense against the virus.

While this research does begin to answer the question of, can cold cause a cold, it’s important to remember that this wasn’t tested on live creatures in real world conditions, and under those circumstances, things may be different. Still, temperatures in the nasal cavity can often lower than our core body temperature. This research demonstrates a fairly clear link between lower temperatures and suppressed antiviral response from cells, thus making them more susceptible to viruses replicating and causing an illness.

While this is all very interesting, it doesn’t provide much by way or ways to help prevent catching a cold. For those who already wear a cold weather mask (to reduce the chances of a cold weather-induced asthma attack), you may also be helping to prevent a cold – by keeping the temperature in and around your nose and nasal passages warm!

So can cold cause a cold? Read the full abstract, and let us know what you think.