Heating the nose when it's cold to increase the chances of our nasal immune defence system protecting us from cold-causing viruses.
For a long time, people tried to solve the mystery behind an increased number of cold and flu cases during cold weather. Some of the answers included gathering the people in closed unvented spaces and generally weakened immune responses due to cold and harsh weather.
However, recent in vitro findings suggested that warm nasal cells mounted stronger defences against cold-causing coronaviruses and rhinoviruses than those exposed to cooler temperatures .
Nasal cells respond to viruses by triggering the release of extracellular vesicles covered with receptors that the viruses bind to and „filled“ with miR-17 molecule which neutralized viruses by blocking their replication. However, when the temperature was reduced by 5°C (mimicking the real drop that occurs when a personi s subjected to close-to-zero temperatures), the amount of receptors was reduced by 42% and there were less miR-17 molecules.
Face masks, nose-heaters and scarfs - face masks can help you keep warm the same way as scarfs do ; preventing cold from reaching your nose and warmth from escaping the mask makes it a great nose warmer
Glasses heating pads - idea will soon be described and linked
Small nanoheaters inside the nose - possible idea that will later be described and linked
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[1]https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/did-nasal-rinsing-help-asean-control-pandemic-or-swift-action-1703801-2020-07-24
[2]https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=COVID-19&term=nasal+irrigation&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=
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