The Surprising Reason You Feel Awful When You're Sick

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The surprising reason you feel awful when you’re sick (2016) by Marco A. Sotomayor, TED Ed (5:00 min.).

Have you ever had the flu? It feels horrible, doesn’t it? Your nose runs. Your head aches. You feel hot all the time. Your appetite disappears. And you probably want to stay in bed.

But why does being sick feel so bad? Well, some scientists think that unpleasant symptoms like fever, fatigue, and a lack of hunger and thirst actually help you get better! They think these symptoms are your immune system’s way of preventing the pathogen from spreading to your blood and organs. A pathogen is what gives you an infection or makes you sick. This includes bacteria and viruses.

Here are some examples. When your body temperature goes up, it slows down the spread of the pathogen. The more you sleep, the more energy your body has left over to fight the infection. When you stop eating, your liver can take up the iron in your blood. Bacteria need iron to live, too. So if your infection is caused by bacteria, your liver taking up the iron can starve them.

When you’re sick, you might find that you’re less thirsty than usual. That’s a good thing! It means you’ll cough less, sneeze less, and have a lower risk of infecting people around you. But even if you do not feel thirsty, you should still drink lots of fluids. This will keep you from getting dehydrated.

When you’re sick, you might also feel grumpy or sad. That’s because the macrophages fighting the infection in your body send out cytokines. These cytokines can affect the parts of your brain that deal with emotions and reasoning.

So the next time you feel awful when you’re sick, remember that this is your body’s way of protecting you from getting worse. So rest up, drink lots of fluids, and get well soon!

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