When I have a cold I feel awful and I know I look awful, but is it possible a common cold virus can also make you fatter?
Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar in Louisianna believes one strain of the common cold virus called Adenovirus-36 can interfere with body processes and cause a person to gain weight. His team of researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Centre has documented over 1000 patients who may have gained weight more quickly than normal because of this virus.
If a virus changes your immune system and makes your liver or pancreas metabolize differently, then you might gain more weight.
According to a report in BBC NEWS, Dr Dhurandhar says, "When this virus goes to the fat tissue it replicates making more copies of itself and in the process increases the number of fat cells, which may explain why people get fat when infected with this virus."
