Volume 50 Issue 2 - February 2012 : Others

 

As seasons change and weather conditions move through the extremes of hot and cold, illnesses such as the common cold become rampant. Many people have experienced this very common and annoying illness we call common cold. It is so called because it affects almost everyone and has a tendency to come back several times through the year. Both young and old get affected and it is responsible for many days of absence from school and work.

What is common cold?

A cold is an illness that is caused by an infection of the upper respiratory tract. This means that person to another through sneezing, coughing or by rubbing your eyes or nose after touching objects that have been handled by someone who has the cold virus. This is why it is important to wash your hands as often as possible and to avoid touching your nose and eyes especially when in contact with people with the cold. This general principle is a handy health tip as you never know if the cold virus is lurking around during your interaction with other people every day.

What is the difference between common cold and flu?

Just like the common cold, flu (short for influenza) is a respiratory tract illness. Both of these illnesses are caused by viruses. However the kind of viruses that cause flu are different from the kind that causes common cold. People commonly use the word ‘flu’ to refer to the common cold but strictly speaking this is not accurate. Flu is a more serious and worse illness than common cold. The flu comes in epidemics such as the well documented influenza attack of 1918 that killed many people across the world. However some flu viruses are not as deadly and human beings manage to survive their attack. Although it shares the symptoms of fever, runny nose and headache, flu also causes extreme tiredness and body aches and pains. The fever is usually sudden and higher in flu compared to common cold. The symptoms of flu usually go for one or two weeks and may be followed by other infections like bacteria affecting the lungs.

What can be done to prevent getting the common cold?

Common cold virus can spread to anyone at anytime. It seems more common in the winter when the weather is cold. The reason why more people catch common cold in winter than in the summer is not necessarily due to the cold weather. It is thought that because the cold weather causes crowding indoors with little fresh air circulating, the cold virus spreads easily between people in these conditions of crowding in enclosed areas as we try to keep warm. It is for this reason perhaps that exposure for a long time in an air conditioned room seems to cause some people to easily catch common cold. The cold environment does not necessarily cause common cold but the stress produced by the cold may lower your resistance to the virus that causes common cold. Certain precautions need to be taken to help avoid catching common cold. Avoid sharing drinking glasses and other utensils with someone who has a common cold. The infection spreads easier in the first few days when the person is still sneezing. You should always wash your hands and cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing to ovoid spreading the virus to others.

 

Can Vitamin C help prevent a common cold?

You may have heard about the use of vitamin C to prevent the common cold. Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables like oranges and spinach (in fact almost all fruits and vegetables have some vitamin C content). It is an essential vitamin for the growth and repair of the building blocks in the body. The body cannot make nor store this vitamin and so it needs to be taken in everyday to help with its use in the body. A normal balanced diet containing both fruits and vegetables is usually enough to cater for this need. Having too little Vitamin C in the body can lead to a decreased ability of the body to fight infections like the common cold. Research has shown that getting more vitamin C than the normal daily requirement does not necessarily reduce the chance of getting the common cold. On the other hand, taking plenty of vitamin C on a regular basis will help reduce the duration and the severity of the common cold symptoms when they come. However, taking Vitamin C supplements once the common cold has already started has not been proven to be all that helpful.

Can emotional stress cause a common cold?

A lot of people complain of being sick with a common cold when they are experiencing periods of emotional stress. There is good scientific evidence that there is indeed a relationship between being stressed and the function of the immune system. Stress appears to weaken the immune system. As a result, stress can make it easy for you to catch a cold. It can also make the common cold to be more severe and perhaps last longer than usual.

 

How can the common cold be treated?

There is no cure for the common cold. It is a self limiting illness that goes away on its own. However, the symptoms of the common cold can be managed by a number of ways. Rest is very important in managing the common cold. If you have a cold, try to take things easy and rest if you can. Drink plenty of liquids such as water. There are a number of medicines that are readily available over the counter in different shops. These may come in combinations and contain something for the pain (headache, body aches,) something to reduce the fever, something to suppress the coughing and something to relieve the congestion in the nose. Some of these treatments can make you feel drowsy and sleepy and so you should be careful about taking them when you are driving or working with machines. Some cough syrups contain a medicine called codeine. This is good for suppressing the cough and controlling the pain but it has the side effect of causing constipation. Take care to read the labels and see what is in the medicine and talk to your health care provider before using any of these commercial cold remedies. Since the common cold is caused by a virus, the use of antibiotics is not routinely recommended. If the cold lasts more than two weeks you should see your doctor.

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