Many of the remedies for colds and flu are not based on solid scientific evidence. In fact, medical researchers are only starting to unravel the range of factors that affect our susceptibility to getting an infection. Scientists now have discovered that our body clock plays an important role – making us more prone to get infected at certain times of the day. Scientists infected mice cells at different times of the day. They found that viruses are less able to infect in the late afternoon. In contrast, in the early morning, our cells are hives of biosynthetic activity, at least from the virus’s viewpoint. So, if a virus tries to take over a cell in the early day, it is far more likely to succeed, and spread faster, than if it encounters a rather less favourable climate in the evening. Perhaps even more interestingly, when the clockwork is disrupted, viruses are more prolific at taking over cells and tissues. Such “clock misalignment” can happen when we do shift work, get jet lagged, or experience the phenomenon of “social jet lag”, which is caused by changes in our sleep schedule on our days off. Knowing about the clock and viruses could also help us to design better public health measures to combat virus spread. https://theconversation.com/how-your-body-clock-helps-determine-whether-youll-get-ill-or-not-63960
