(electronic ringing)
(academic orchestral music)
(sneezing)
- (disgusted grunt) Gross.
(splashing)
We're rolling, okay.
Hi, I'm Ben with today's question.
What is the common cold?
When someone says, "I have a cold," what do they mean?
What they mean really,
is that there's something in their body
causing a set of symptoms
and we call this set of symptoms the actual cold.
This includes things like runny noses, sneezing, coughing,
maybe even chills or a monster of a headache.
It does not include a fever.
Normally if there's a fever we call it the flu.
And there are a lot of different viruses
that can cause cold symptoms, but about half the time
the cold is caused by a class of virus called a rhinovirus.
Like the words rhino and virus put together,
but not a rhinoceros. (rhino grunting)
(beeping)
That would be way cooler.
The rhinoceros, excuse me, rhinovirus
gets into the cell lining of your nose
and it starts reproducing.
It arrives from other people.
So there are some myths we have to bust.
One, it is not cold weather that causes a cold,
instead it's the fact that cold weather
causes people to congregate together indoors
and it makes it easier for a rhinovirus
to jump from one person to the next.
The virus generally moves from someone else's hands
to your hands through something like touching a doorknob,
putting your hands into your nose or your eyes,
which I'm not gonna do
'cause that would be kind of gross on camera.
Your body reacts to the presence of the rhinovirus
with its immune system.
In the case of a cold,
the immune system opens up blood vessels inside your nose
through inflammation
and this also increases your mucus.
And these two processes give you that famous runny nose
and the stuffy feeling.
The irritation caused by the virus
and all the fluid causes sneezing.
(squirting)
When the virus makes it into the cell lining,
then your lungs
are gonna start producing fluid and mucus as well
and that's what makes you cough.
Your coughing up lung mucus.
As the immune system gears up over several days,
fights the virus back, this mucus thickens, it gets grosser.
This mucus thickens and it changes color with dead cells,
a form of puss.
That is true and it's gross and it is totally true,
but eventually,
the immune system eliminates the virus completely
and boom, you're well again.
You're a hail and hearty
and ready for some more misadventure.
How long does this take?
Well, the whole healing process
takes about seven to 10 days if you have average health.
So that's it,
that's what people mean when they say they have a cold.
We hope that you enjoyed this video
and we'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
Go ahead and like if you feel like liking,
if you thought this video was likable.
You could subscribe and we will see you next time.
(electronic ringing)