I've had a cold.
On the face of it, here is what we know about common colds:
- Colds are caused by viruses.
- Colds usually last three to four days.
- Colds are highly contagious.
- Colds can't be cured.
According to the Calgary Regional Health Authority, adults average three to four colds per year , compared to children who may get three to eight colds per year. And colds do decrease our personal productivity. Just having a cold can make us feel vaguely off-kilter, not really much different from our normal, healthy selves. Or on the other hand, it can turn you into a sneezing, hacking, bleary-eyed menace, which is kind of how I've been feeling this past week.
It's all those slippery viruses' fault, of course. It appears that one or two hundred different viruses are known to cause colds. Those teensy-weensy troublemakers sneak past our bodies' natural defenses, nestle into our respiratory tract, and in a very short time are capable of wreaking havoc in even the strongest of human beings.
And after millions of years of living with colds, what do the experts tell us to do when we get a cold? Generally speaking, we should rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids, and take , well actually acetaminophen, since ASA products have been linked to the development of Reyes Syndrome in children.
At the Lung Association's website you can find more suggestions for symptomatic relief, including using a cool-air humidifier. And McMaster University's Student Health Services also has the cold facts, as well as some information about cures and remedies not necessarily sanctioned by the traditional medical community.
Not surprisingly, given the meager hope offered by traditional western medicine, increasing numbers of people are turning to alternative medicine to combat their colds. Herbal remedies, vitamin remedies and even magnetic remedies are appearing on-line. Like anything untested, they should be approached with a healthy amount of skepticism, and researched before trying them yourself, to avoid potential negative side-effects.
For alternative remedy advocates, The Virtual Drugstore lists only zinc lozenges in their section of common drugstore cures for colds. The website does provide a lot of useful information about using zinc, mainly that it must be started within 24 hours of symptoms to be effective. And a 1996 study reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal appears to substantiate the effectiveness of zinc lozenges, if they're used early enough.
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