Its the Season for Sickness

Written by Alex Reddy

As summer comes to an end, we all recognize the substantial drop in our atmospheric temperature. We usually notice that the leaves begin to fall and that most neighborhood critters tuck themselves away for the winter. Among the many other changes during fall, I tend to notice the increase of illness among my friends and family. For as long as I can remember, I have always fallen ill in Autumn. As a college student I know that illness is always prevalent; However in the recent month, I’ve tend to notice that the majority of the students around me seem to be sick. So I ask myself, why is this? In this blog I’d like to share some common beliefs as to why we are more susceptible to falling ill in Autumn.

As a student located in the midwest, most of us know from experience that during fall the average temperature can range from anywhere between 40 degrees to 60 degrees. This alone can be a major red flag. After being accustomed to the warm summer heat for so long the cool temperature fluctuations of fall can actually cause some physical harm to the body. After reading up about falling ill in Autumn I stumbled across this quote, “In a study published this month in the journal Family Practice, researchers demonstrated for the first time that a drop in body temperature could in fact bring on a cold” (Lulic). This is scientific proof that the change in atmospheric temperature has a negative effect on your body. As we get our first glimpse of Autumn, this initial change in temperature effects our immune system so that it doesn't work as efficiently causing us to fall ill more easily (Lulic).

Another reason we may see a spike in illness during fall also has to do with dropping temperatures. As the weather gets colder many of us seem to make our way indoors more often bringing us in a closer proximity with strangers. This can happen in a variety of places, the most common for college students being a bus. Unfortunately, the cool temperatures of fall cause us to come in contact with others more often. This plus a depleted immune system is the main reason we find ourselves falling ill more often in Autumn then any other season. I thank Fall for bringing colorful leaves and pumpkins, but will always despise its nasty sniffles.

source:

Lulic, Miron. “Why do I seem to get sick every fall?” 5/4/2013. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-I-seem-to-get-sick-every-fall