Amazing Facts About Colds
Assja Baumgärtner
“Not again!” That’s what many people say in winter when they get a cold for the second or third time. But in fact a healthy grown-up person can expect to catch up to four colds in a year, usually with side effects like sore limbs, sore throat, coughs, headaches and the sniffles. So what to do about it? Anyone who seems to breed colds all the time could do with some support to his immune system. Sometimes enough sleep, a less hectic life style, lots of fresh air, regular exercise in balance with relaxation, a healthy diet and a generally optimistic approach to life are enough to boost energy. If all this doesn’t help, the GP may advise on food supplements or, if necessary, medication.
Water kills viruses. This may sound surprising, but viruses love to stick to the objects that we regularly touch, such as door handles, armrests, the poles in buses and trains, light switches and keyboards. Because of this, washing your hands frequently is one of the best defences against viruses. It’s a good reason for telling the kids to wash their hands, particularly before eating.
Kissing is not necessarily a no-no. Mouth-to-mouth transmission is not the easiest approach route for the hopeful virus. The main entrances into the human body are via the eyes and the nose. This is not so much because viruses travel in the air we breathe as because humans tend to touch their faces and rub their eyes very frequently. And all to often those fingers could have been touching virus-infected surfaces.
Feeling chilled may be uncomfortable, but research shows that it is does not on its own give you a cold. Scientists have placed volunteers with naked feet in icy water and have left them to freeze for hours in wet clothes. They didn’t get a cold (although they might have got hypothermia if they had gone on like that.) Closed and un-aired rooms are a much bigger problem, the researchers found. The best breeding conditions for viruses are warm, stuffy rooms with lots of people in them (offices, schools, planes, shopping centres etc.) Therefore, regularly opening the windows and spending time outside is a way to prevent colds.
Sport doesn’t kill either viruses or germs. The hearty sporting folk may hold that doing sports at the first sign of a cold might be helpful, but you’d be well advised not to. Although sport is an element in preventing colds, it’s more healthy to give your body rest and your mind some relaxation when you’re starting a cold.
Flu vaccination doesn’t disturb a cold virus in the slightest, so don’t expect it to give you any protection from the common cold. Vaccination is designed to protect you from the three dominant flu viruses, which means it could be a life-saver – but it doesn’t deal with simple cold viruses. That vast Armada of about 200 different viruses which cause you to sniffle and cough can still attack you.
Once you’ve got a cold you can still help to make sure you don’t infect other people. For example, don’t cough or sneeze into your naked hands. Use a tissue. If you contaminate your hands with a sneeze or cough you are almost certain to hand on the virus, because you will touch other things, if only the tap you turn on to wash your hands. Flush used tissues down the toilet and keep away from groups of people as far as you can. Drink a lot of fluids, rest – and you will soon be fine!
