While you read this, approximately 30 million Americans are coughing, sneezing, and blowing their noses. What's wrong with all these people? They've got the most common illness known--the common cold. And if you're feeling lucky because you don't have a cold right now, the odds are three out of four that you'll get one during the coming year.
Colds are caused by many different viruses, and even if you develop immunity to one type of cold virus, more are lurking everywhere, waiting to attack. That's part of the reason we get colds so often (an average of three to four a year, every year).
You probably don't need a book to tell you what a cold feels like. It generally begins with sneezing, a clear-mucused runny nose, and a slight fever (rarely exceeding 101oF), and goes on to develop into a sore throat, and dry cough. The symptoms usually last three to seven days.
Colds are transmitted by the spread of mucus on the hands of someone who has a cold. Colds can also travel from one person to another via coughs and sneezes. You touch towels or money, someone else picks them up and thus catches your germs.
To avoid spreading your cold to others:
- Wash your hands often.
- Use a handkerchief or disposable tissues when you sneeze, cough, or blow your nose.
- Avoid touching other people and their belongings as much as possible.
Much the same strategy helps to prevent catching a cold.
Unfortunately, no pills or vaccination exists to fight the common cold. None of the hundreds of cold remedies on the market today either cure a cold or shorten the siege. At best, they relieve some of the symptoms--a worthwhile goal.
Here are some hints for fighting a cold.
- Rest in bed if you're running a fever.
- Drink lots of hot or cold beverages. They help to break up accumulated secretions in the
respiratory tract and may also discourage complications like bronchitis from developing.
- Take aspirin or acetaminophen to relieve muscle aches and pains. (Note: Aspirin should not be given to children under 19 who have chicken pox or flulike symptoms, however, because of its association with Reye's syndrome, a potentially fatal condition that is discussed in chapter 2, Major Medical Conditions: Prevention, Detection, and Treatment.)
- Soothe a sore throat by gargling with warm salt water, drinking tea with honey and lemon, or sucking on over-the-counter throat lozenges. (Do not give throat lozneges to children under age 5.)
- Breathe air from a steam vaporizer or a cool mist humidifier, to help quiet a cough.
And yes, chicken soup really can fight a cold. It helps to clear mucus from nasal passages, and the broth contains a substance that has been shown to inhibit the common cold virus.
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