BoredMamajamma

BoredMamajamma OP t1_iz6nqhf wrote

Reply to A new study focuses on the crucial question of why people are more vulnerable to catching colds during the months of winter. The answer hinges on an evolved defense system, innate to the human nose, that is numbed by frigid temperatures. by BoredMamajamma

> Under normal body-heat conditions, the researchers found that nasal extracellular vesicles were deployed with success by acting as decoys that directly bind and block viral entry.

>”Those extracellular vesicles actually bind to the viruses, which are suspended in the nasal mucus,” says lead author Di Huang of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

>In colder temperatures, a sparser net of fewer extracellular vesicles was deployed in tests involving two rhinoviruses and a coronavirus that are typical of the winter flu season.

Bottom line is temperature related changes in the innate immune system may drive greater infectivity of colds in cooler months.

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BoredMamajamma t1_isv4m24 wrote

Reply to comment by R-T-O-B in Newly published research is the first to show that stillbirth can be inherited and tends to be passed down through male members of the family. That risk preferentially comes from the mother’s or father’s male relatives—their brothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, or male cousins. by MistWeaver80

The risk for stillbirth can be inherited.

It’s saying that there is a genetic risk for stillbirth which can be inherited by the mother or father but is passed along male family members (fathers —> children).

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