If you have a cold, should you:

Take a vitamin pill?

Take a laxative?

Take a drink?

Take a rest?

What causes a cold?

Many different viruses can cause a cold. Over a hundred have been identified so far.

A virus is a disease-producing agent so small that it goes right through the very fine filter that stops bacteria.

These cold-causing viruses are present in great numbers in your nose and throat when you have a cold. They are carried on the droplets you expel when talking, coughing, or sneezing.

How do you catch a cold?

Though a virus causes your cold, a number of conditions seem to increase your susceptibility. People appear to catch colds mainly indoors. Certainly they get more of them during the colder months. This is probably because of more indoor living in proximity to other people’s cold viruses, with closed windows and a lack of circulating air allowing the viruses to remain alive and on hand. On the Appollo 7 space flight, you may remember, first the captain and then, within a few days, the crew came down with colds.

Fatigue, poor physical condition, some air pollutants, and – perhaps – chilling seem to give the virus a better foothold.

What is the course of a cold?

From one to three days after the virus takes hold in your body, the symptoms appear. (But other people can catch your cold even before your symptoms appear – one reason why colds are hard to prevent.)

The first hint is usually scratchiness in the throat. Within a few hours, your nose gets stuffy and you have vague feelings of discomfort and illness. Usually you start sneezing, too.

Within 48 hours, your cold is in full bloom – eyes teary, nose running, voice husky, breathing obstructed, and taste and smell dulled. You may feel lethargic and achy. It’s common to have a moderate headache, especially at the beginning (but a severe one may be a sign of some complication). You may also have slight fever, but that’s unusual in adults.

Once the cold has fully developed, it usually continues at its peak for several days. Then – unless there are complications – there is a gradual letting up.

Can a Cold be Dangerous?

In itself, no. But it can open the door to other illnesses. And it’s hard to know when the door has opened, because all the viruses that cause the common cold have not yet been identified.

It’s very difficult to say where the simple, unperilous cold leaves off and complications, which may be dangerous, begin.

Other – non-cold – viruses may complicate matters by getting in their licks when you are already felled by a cold. Or bacteria – many of which live in your body harmlessly during times of good health – may grow strong when your defences are down. Or sometimes your body is allergic to the virus or bacteria.

Then the severity of the cold symptoms increases, and the inflammation and mucus discharge may spread to other part of your system. For some this could be serious.

Can You Cure a Cold?

No, you can’t. Antibiotics, the "wonder drugs," are effective against bacteria, not against the respiratory viruses. Doctors may prescribe these drugs for the complications – the secondary, bacterial infections – but not for the cold itself.

Antihistamines work against the allergic reactions which may accompany some colds. Of course, only a doctor can tell the difference between the stuffy, running nose and burning, teary eyes which come from the viral infection and the same symptoms which come from the sometimes accompanying allergy. Practically, this means that at times an antihistamine will give relief, but has no effect on the cold itself.

In fact, there is no drug known today that can cure the common cold. Scientists are trying, however, to develop a substance that would stimulate the body’s production of interferon. Interferon is a virus-fighting protein molecule, believed to be effective against respiratory viruses So far, the scientists have not been successful.

Can You Prevent Colds?

Not very effectively. Vaccines against cold viruses have been worked on for years – in vain.

One of the problems is that colds can be caused by so many different viruses. Protection against one gives no protection against the others. And the protection, like the immunity you develop from a cold itself, may last only a month or so. Meanwhile you are still subject to other cold bugs people may breathe at you.

There are some common-sense precautions you can take, though:

• Wash your hands often. Certainly after you've been in contact with anyone with a cold.
• Keep your distance from people who have colds. Especially when they cough or sneeze.
• In general, eat well-balanced meals, and try not to get chilled or over tired.

And if you do get a cold, take these precautions to keep from spreading the infection:

• Keep your distance. Stay away from the movies and other crowded places.
• Wash your hands often. The germs you sneeze or cough on your hands are left on everything you touch until you wash them off.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes. Use disposable tissues, and get rid of them immediately by putting them into a closed paper bag. (Don’t flush them down the toilet. They clog the plumbing.)

But the worth of this suggestion remains to be proved by scientific studies.

If you have a balanced diet, you don’t need vitamin pills. Physicians say that excess vitamins serve no purpose, and may even do harm.

Some people don’t get all the vitamins they need. (Teenagers appear to live only on hamburgers and sodas.) If you wish, ask your family doctor if you need a vitamin supplement.

Fact or Fiction? Take a Iaxative to get rid of the cold germs!

The cold virus will not be influenced by a laxative.

Fact or Fiction? Get under a pile of blankets, and sweat!

This is supposed to flush out the poisons produced by the infection. It hasn’t been proved. Anyway, it’s pleasanter to drink liquids, and you accomplish the same purpose.

Fact or Fiction? Cold baths and winter sleeping on porches build you up so that you don’t get colds!

No, they don’t. Cold bath and cold air enthusiasts get as many and as severe colds as comfort lovers. Of course, you may become so used to discomfort that you don’t mind the cold when you get it.

What is a Cold?

The common cold is a name given to any of a number of short-lived infections of the nose and throat. All of them are highly contagious. They have similar symptoms. Sometimes they are called by other names, which simply tell you what part of the upper respiratory tract is particularly affected: rhinitis, affecting the nose; pharyngitis, the throat; or laryngitis, the voice box.

For at least 3,000 years man has been trying to cope with the common cold. He has been armed with faith, superstition, and hope. He has been advised by Grandma, his next door neighbor, and the advertising copywriter. And he has bowed, year after year, to the persistent, perennial, plaguing cold.

Here’s what’s been in his armamentarium... and what modern research has to say about the treatment.

Fact or Fiction? At the first sniffle, go to bed and stay there!

If you have a good book to read, or if a steady diet of TV is your choice, you will probably enjoy the vacation. But for a normal, healthy adult, bed rest is not necessary unless you have a fever.

Do other people a favor, by staying away from them during the first, especially contagious, days. Taking it easy is a good idea, since it helps your body to resist complications. Young children, the elderly, folks who seem to get one cold after another, and adults with a serious chronic disease – these need to rest. They need all their energy to ward off further illness.

Fact or Fiction? Wrap a piece of flannel around your throat at the first sign of scratchiness!

The cold germ will have a good laugh. The flannel is only a substitute for the teddy bear you clutched as a baby.

Fact or Fiction? Take vitamin pills, and prevent colds!

The latest version of this long-time favorite recommends whopping doses of Vitamin C.

Here's what you can do for your cold!

You can relieve the symptoms:

• Antihistamines give you some relief if allergic reactions accompany your cold.
• A vaporizer may relieve congestion.
• A piece of hard candy soothes your throat
• Cough syrup eases a troublesome cough
• Nasal decongestants, in the form of drops, inhalers, or sprays, are useful when your nose is clogged up and your breathing is difficult.
• Drinking fruit juice or water helps keep the mucus membranes moist.
• Rest, since it conserves energy, helps your body to build up resistance against complications.

*PLEASE NOTE: Some nose drops, sprays, combination cold tablets, lozenges, capsules, and cough mixtures contain drugs which have a long-term bad effect. Ask your doctor which he/she recommends.

Aspirin is not recommended for use in children who may have influenza or chickenpox.

WARNING: Occasionally sore throat, headache, and fatigue may not be symptoms of a cold at all, but heralds of a more serious illness.

Call your doctor if you develop any of these symptoms: a fever that lasts more than two or three days, a severe headache, chest pains, hard coughing spells, earache, or rusty-looking sputum.

If you suffer from asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or any other chronic Iung illness, you should consult your doctor at the onset of the cold.

Do not give aspirin or its derivatives to a child with a cold unless prescribed by a physician.