For most people, summer is a time when they have to switch between the heat of the outdoors and the “cold” of an air-conditioned room numerous times a day. But can the exposure of the body to huge temperature changes make you sick? It’s not a bad idea to keep a pullover in the office. How can I avoid catching a cold from air conditioning? In the summer heat, being in and out of hot outdoor environments and air-conditioned rooms makes people susceptible to summer colds. As a constant temperature animal, human body temperature is constantly maintained at about 36.7 degrees Celsius. Therefore, when a person spends some time in the summer heat and then enters a cold environment, the body makes every effort to protect itself from the cold. One of the cold mechanism is: the brain has a thermoregulatory system, after receiving information from the temperature sensor in the skin, the thermoregulatory system will automatically remind the skin vasoconstriction. Eccles said, some people suddenly enter a very cold building, they will be white or skin spots, the reason is this. Next is to shiver, shivering can produce heat, which in turn raises body temperature. Repeatedly switching between the hot outdoors and the “cold” air conditioned room will lower the body’s own resistance. At the same time, the blood vessels in the nose and throat – where bacteria and viruses often lurk – constrict. If you check your throat, Echols said, you will find that it changes from its normal pink color to a very gray color. This change occurs within seconds in order to reduce the amount of heat taken away by the air we exhale. Weakened immune system When blood flow decreases, so do the white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses, and potential risk factors can easily develop into a cold. If blood flow to the throat is reduced, there aren’t enough white blood cells to prevent infection, Echols says. But unless a person already has a bacteria or virus in their body, it won’t develop into a cold. The sweat factor Sweating keeps the body colder for longer, making it more difficult for the body to regain ideal body temperature, which in turn may increase the risk of catching a cold. If you walk into an air-conditioned room in sweaty clothes, it feels like jumping into a cold pool. It may help to cool off first, for example, by sitting in the shade for a while. It also helps to keep a pullover or thin jacket in the office to prolong the process of temperature change. Going from cold to hot Conversely, walking from an extremely cold room to a steamy outdoor area does not pose the same risk of catching a cold because the blood circulation to the skin, nose and throat increases from a cold to a hot environment. Just like the radiator in your car kicks in to cool you down when you get too hot, if you overheat, most of the five liters of blood in your body will flow to your skin to dissipate the heat and your skin will turn red. It usually takes a few seconds to a few minutes for the body to adjust to the cold temperatures indoors. Every time you go outside and come back in, you will go through the cooling process again. If you need to go from indoors to outdoors often, limit the time to a few minutes, he says. That way, your body won’t have time to fully acclimate to the outdoor heat, so you won’t start this cyclical process when you go indoors again.