The common cold!

[Le Chat]

Why do I never catch a cold? I am 40yrs old and have never had a cold!! My mother assures me that as a child I never had a cold. Whilst other kids were snotty nosed with red eyes - I never suffered. I have had other diseases and had to have my tonsils out at aged 21 due to severe tonsillitis and high temperatures several times a year but the common cold has never been near! This I find odd, as there are supposed to be thousands of variants, which is why a cure can never be found! Anyone have any ideas?

[morg_monster]

lucky you! i reckon it is probably something in your genes, though as you say there are so many variants it is surprising you've never caught one!  especially since you've had your tonsils out. I read a very interesting book on genetics which talked about how some diseases give a protective effect over other diseases.  I believe one of them was that if you have malaria you can't catch typhoid or something, and if you have the gene for the hereditary disease cystic fibrosis (not the disease itself) then you're unlikely to get stomach problems.  Some evolutionary advantage I guess way back in the mists of time.  Who knows, maybe there is something in your genes which helps you not get a cold.

[j2buttonsw]

I remember there was a film from the 60s where a man never got ill and was being groomed to be a pilot on a space craft (or something). It turned out that he wasn't married and had never been in love. Soon as he falls for the leading lady he became chronically ill. Does this sound familiar? What was that film? *off to look at imdb*

[Mattk]

on one hand never getting a cold is a good thing(for obvious reasons) but it may also be a bad thing as by getting ill your immune system stays alert - a bit like when u update anti-virus on your pc !!

[Greedyfly]

Some people are classed as 'carriers' my Grandad was a carrier of some ailment (quite a bad one, can't remember which though) and he never ever got it.  Thats what I have been told anyway - it seems semi-plausable.

[Francis Asis]

You should get yourself off the the common cold research place. They'd pay money to "look" at you.!!!

[stoo_pid]

It may be to do with your blood.  I've never had a cold once either.  A few years ago when I was giving blood I noticed a new bit of info on my form.  It said I was CMV Negative.  I asked what it meant & they said it stood for something like Cyto Megalow Virus (or something like that!) & if it's negatiive you are not as susceptible to colds and I think cold sores. 

It was a few years ago & I can't remember the exact term but if you search google you might find a bit more info.

 

[tomd]

Have you seen Unbreakable?

[Hippy]

I hardly ever get colds either, though did get sore throats as a kid. My sister, who smoked, came down with a colds at the drop of a hat. As a kid and teenager, she was ok but when she left home and started living it up with booze, fags and boys she always seemed to have coughs sneezes and colds. She eventually blew her liver out with the booze and died early.


I didn't mean to get heavy there, what I wanted to say that it is probably down to general constitution and gene pool stuff with a fair contribution from healthy living. Just because you don't get colds does not mean that you are not exposed to the virus. The immune system probably spots them and learns quickly before they multiply in large enough numbers to have an effect.

[Hippy]

Cytomegalovirus is similar to the cold virus and is common in cats. It can be passed to humans and appears just like a normal bout of the sniffles. However your body then has an immunity to this virus and this property is not desirable in blood given to already immune suppressed individuals and small children whose immunity is still being formed.

It is important that individuals form their own natural immunity rather that obtain antibodies second-hand for certain conditions. Children are in especial danger from cytomegalovirus  as it can cause severe hearing loss. Most children form natural immunity without problems, but it is thought that if second-hand antibodies are present the immune system will not respond effectively if under a real attack and the disease may prove more serious than otherwise.

In some instances the effects of cytomegalovirus can be life threatening either in itself or because of the stress it can cause to the immune system than might allow other opportunistic infections to become established in an already weakened system. For this reason, donated blood is routinely tested for CMV and other immunities so that only blood with negative scores (i.e. the person giving has had no contact with the disease and therefor no immunity) is used for immune compromised patients in hospital.

 

[stoo_pid]

blimey - the nurse didn't say that at the donor session.  Thanks for the info Hippy.

[Le Chat]

tomd - I haven't seen "Unbreakable" and have no idea what it is? More info please!

For those of you who have mentioned the genetic element; it may interest you to know that my parents both have bad colds fairly regularly, as does my sister and youngest son. However, my 8yr old son hasn't had a cold since he was about 2yrs old - so maybe there's something in that!