To prevent frequent colds, you must protect your immunity by maintaining body temperature.

[이데일리 이순용 기자] Due to the sudden drop in temperature, there are concerns about respiratory diseases such as colds and influenza. Is there any way to prevent colds to stay healthy during the season change and cold winter?

Director Noh Seung-hee of Hamsoa Oriental Medicine Clinic said, “There are viruses that are more active when the temperature is low. ‘Rhinovirus’, the cause of nasal colds, is known to multiply actively between 33 and 35 degrees Celsius, which is lower than a person’s core body temperature. “In addition, cold weather directly weakens the immune response within the body’s nasal cavity, making it easier to become infected with respiratory diseases such as colds.” Find out why you catch colds more easily as the weather gets colder and how to prevent and manage colds.

◇ When nasal temperature drops due to cold air, immune response decreases, making it easier to contract respiratory diseases.

According to a recent study conducted at Harvard Medical School and Northeastern University, cold weather directly weakens the immune response in the nasal cavity. Looking at the causes of colds from the perspective of our body, the human nose is the first place where viruses invading the respiratory tract are encountered, and there is an immune system that defends against foreign substances. However, if the outside temperature drops by just a few degrees, your basic immunity drops by half. When a virus invades, cells in the nose secrete large amounts of extracellular vesicles (EV), and these secreted EVs bind to and destroy the virus, preventing infection. In this study, when healthy adults were exposed to cold air at 4.4 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, the number of EVs decreased by about 42% and the immune response was reduced by about half. In other words, when the temperature drops, the natural immune response in the nasal cavity weakens, and respiratory diseases become more frequent.

◇ The key to maintaining body temperature for frequent colds is treatment and prevention with moxibustion and Ssanghwatang.

Oriental medicine has long believed that cold energy damages the respiratory system and has been using it for treatment and prevention. The treatment that removes cold energy from the body is ‘moxibustion’ treatment. Moxibustion is a traditional herbal treatment that involves drying mugwort (leaf), which has the effect of dispelling cold moisture and warming the meridians, placing it on acupuncture points, and burning the mugwort. Recently, there are methods that use special treatment tools that do not produce a lot of smoke and effectively control the temperature using electronic moxibustion. To chase away coldness in the respiratory tract, various acupuncture points such as jujube acupuncture points, pungji acupuncture points, and influence acupuncture points are used.

Children with weak immunity who often catch colds or have rhinitis or sinusitis are particularly vulnerable to cold air, so receiving moxibustion treatment in winter can help manage mucous membrane immunity. In the study, when moxibustion treatment was administered to children diagnosed with recurrent respiratory infections, the number of infections decreased by more than 50% on average after moxibustion treatment. Moxibustion treatment is helpful not only for respiratory diseases, but also for people who get cold a lot, people who have cold stomachs and frequent stomachaches and diarrhea, and people who have cold hands and feet.

Ssanghwa-tang is a representative remedy for warming the body. Medicinal ingredients such as angelica root and astragalus improve blood circulation by replenishing energy and blood, while medicinal ingredients such as chickpea and ginger warm the body and increase resistance to external cold energy. It is more effective if taken before you catch a cold.

◇ You can prevent colds by avoiding cold drinks and keeping your respiratory system warm.

Director Seunghee Noh said, “Not only does cold wind chill the body, but eating cold food also damages the respiratory system. “Because the esophagus and airway are right next to each other, when cold food passes through the esophagus, cold air is transmitted to the surrounding airway mucosa, causing the mucous membrane temperature to drop.” “If you have this, habitually drinking cold drinks is not good for your respiratory system.”

◇ How to protect your respiratory system from winter cold

1. Wear a mask. In addition to blocking viruses, it can increase the temperature and humidity of the air inside the mask, reducing the burden on the nose.

2. Actively use scarves and scarves when going out. If you warm the area around the jujube point, that is, the back of the neck, you can increase the perceived temperature by up to 5 degrees. When you have a cold, it is a good idea to wear a thin neck scarf even indoors.

3. Eat foods with warm properties. Typical examples are spicy foods such as curry, ginger, and garlic. However, be careful as excessive use can increase body heat and irritate the digestive system.