Getting chillier and chillier by the hour, fall has set in, taking a toll on many physically. As the air becomes cooler and drier, health and well-being are at risk.
In general, the numbers on the thermostat can indicate how a person may feel physically. Exposure to hot weather, for example, can lead to heat stroke or heat exhaustion. During the winter, the cold can cause hypothermia, loss of limb function and frostbite. Normal body temperature ranges from 97.5 to 99.6 degrees, and any deviation from this range can have negative consequences.
First-year College student Indy Stevens said she attributes her recent sickness to the weather. Stevens said she had very common ailments: sore throat, stuffy nose, fever and chills.
But contrary to popular belief, this spike in illnesses is not a direct effect of the cold weather. Instead, the dropping temperatures cause people to spend more time indoors, where the confined air allows bacteria and viruses to spread more rapidly.
"A lot of people got sick when the temperature kind of dropped," Stevens said. "I think that was a factor, and generally in the winter, germs are spread more easily because people are inside more. These beginning winter months kind of influenced my illness."
Different pathogens predominate in different times of the year, meaning different precautions must be taken against them.
"This time of year it's gonna be viruses that ... hang around, so, within reason, it's good when there are relatively nice days ... [to] try to get the windows open," said pulmonologist Jeffrey Lessar in the Northern Virginia Daily. "Air out the house a little bit. Get some of the fresh air in."
Changing humidity conditions also contribute to the rise in illnesses. According to a 2010 study published in "Environmental Health" and led by Theodore Myatt, the influenza virus can survive longer indoors if the humidity is low. The study also found that sleep improved with higher humidity levels, increasing a person's ability to fight off infection. When the air cools, it can hold less moisture because of the corresponding decrease in saturation vapor pressure.
In addition, other studies show that internal chemistry is affected by changing temperatures. "The Hauser Diet," written by Marion Hauser and Nicole Baird, focuses on how weather influences a person's pH level, which in turn affects the immunity response.
According to this research, lower temperatures acidize, or decrease, the pH level of the body's cells, while higher temperatures tend to alkalize, or increase, pH levels in the body system. Most enzymes in our body function at a pH range of 7.42-7.44.
"You're in this battle of trying to make [pH levels] in balance," Baird said.
When pH levels are not optimal, enzyme function is inhibited. Because enzymes increase the efficiency of energy production, improper enzymatic function impairs the body's ability to acquire energy from food, and the body will succumb to chronic fatigue. Eventually, this fatigue will lead to an impaired immune system and reduced healing response. Certain illnesses will often become exaggerated as a result, or new ailments will arise more quickly.
"Headaches are more associated with people that are alkaline," Baird said. "What we also see here clinically is that if you become too acidic, that is when you start feeling more sluggish since your immune system is more susceptible to getting sick."
But even as pH fluctuations are affected by temperature changes, they can be kept in check by dietary changes.
"When it's freezing all day, we're going to want to eat stew and steak rather than a salad," Baird said. "If it's ninety degrees, we are going to want a salad."
The Hauser diet advises to eat more proteins and fats when it is colder outside because pH levels will be raised as a result. If it is hotter outside, pH levels will be lowered with carbohydrates derived from foods such as vegetables and whole grains.
"When you're talking about the weather getting colder, people start gorging on chocolates and sweets," Baird said. "All of those foods, all that sugar, acidizes the body [with already low levels] and it works against your immune system."
So even with all the health concerns that come with the increasingly cold weather, there are steps everyone can take to stay healthy in the fall - and hearty stews, fresh air and a good humidifier may just start them off on the right foot.
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