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May 16, 2006
How to get rid of the common cold quickly?
by MariAnne
Will there ever be a cure for the common cold in the future? Will we be able to get rid of the cold forever? These are questions that many people are asking themselves. Actually, many people still do not know what a common cold is.What is the common cold? First, we need to understand there are many disease-causing bacteria, many of which undergo genetic changes over time. These genetic changes make them resistant as they have been developing for millions of years. At this moment, bacteria are starting to show signs of resistance to medicines we use, which is a great problem. That is why they will probably continue to be a constant, though non-deadly nuisance for us humans. The only solution would be to have all disease-causing organisms removed from the earth. Besides that, we simply cannot get rid of all of Earth’s bacteria. In fact, our normal digestion, for example, relies on Escherichia coli bacteria that live in our intestines. Without this bacterium, we would cease to exist. Other bacteria that break down things such as dead leaves, animals, trees, etc., are essential to return nutrients to the earth and keep our environment functional. Even things like hair or skin cells would quickly accumulate if there were no bacteria to quickly break them back down to their basic components. Therefore, preventing the cold is an insurmountable task. When a person becomes infected, bacteria invade the cells and the result is a typical feeling of sickness. By the time when we feel sick, the bacteria has already invaded and won, at least temporarily. Our body’s resistance to the invasion involves the production of immune cells to fight the virus. Our organism needs time to battle and win. We use medicine, called antibiotics, to aid in this battle. We commonly use aspirin, sinus medicine, and other drugs that counteract some of the histaminic reactions – our body’s reactions produced in response to the invasion. For now, the only solution would be preventing cold by immunization. Viruses cause most common colds, so we would all like to make a vaccine that would protect us against these viruses. It should work the same way as the vaccine that protects us from polioviruses. Unfortunately, cold viruses change their coat proteins rather quickly, which means that our immune systems trained to find one type of coat would not find the new. That is why vaccines are not particularly effective. This is why we still cannot find a cure for AIDS, since HIV virus has the same quality. Why we call it a “common” coldOther names for the cold are upper respiratory tract infection, URI, nasopharyngitis, and viral rhino-sinusitis. This problem is referred to as a common cold for a reason, because your child will probably have more colds than any other type of illness. Most kids have had eight to ten colds by their second birthdays. Furthermore, they continue throughout childhood, and their parents get them usually from the kids. This is also the most common reason that children miss school and parents miss work. If anything, using the term “common cold” is an understatement according to this explanation. We all know our body has a relatively small number of symptoms with which to respond to an ever-changing, wide variety of viruses. These symptoms are often the body’s attempt to get rid of the virus and to minimize the damage that viruses make. Sneezing ejects the virus from the nose, coughing from the lungs and throat, vomiting from the stomach, and diarrhea ejects viruses from the intestines. Fever makes it difficult for the virus to reproduce, and those are all ways our body fights. The common cold is our name for a specific constellation of symptoms, a pattern of illness caused by a variety of different viruses. Over two hundred different types of viruses can cause the cold that people experience. Rhinoviruses (nose viruses), are the most common. Respiratory syncytial virus, adenoviruse, enterovirus, and a host of others can produce colds in human. Most people are sick with each specific strain of cold virus only once during lifetime. Who gets the common cold?Colds are the most prevalent infectious disease, where children average 3 to 8 colds per year. In fact, younger children and boys are on the higher end of the range. Children are the major reservoir of the many cold viruses, and they usually get colds from other children. When a new strain is introduced into a school or daycare, it quickly travels through the class infecting children. Parents get about half as many colds as their children do, where mothers tend to get at least one more cold per year than dads. Colds can occur year-round, but they occur mostly in the winter. It happens even in areas with mild winters. In areas where there is no winter, colds are most common during the rainy season. What are the symptoms of the common cold?The three most frequent symptoms of a cold are nasal stuffiness, sneezing, and runny nose, as well as throat irritation. Adults and older children with colds generally have minimal or no fever at all. Infants with a common cold often run a fever in the 100-102 degrees range. Once you have caught a common cold, the symptoms usually begin in 1 to 5 days. Typically, irritation in the nose or a scratchy feeling in the throat is the first sign, followed within the hour by sneezing and a watery nasal discharge. Within one to three days, the nasal secretions usually become thicker and perhaps yellow or green in most cases. This is a normal part of the common cold and not a reason for antibiotics, as some people might think. During this period, a child’s eardrums are usually congested and there may be fluid behind the ears, regardless of whether or not the child will end up with a true bacterial infection. Depending on which virus is the culprit, the virus might also produce a headache, cough, postnasal drip, burning eyes, muscle aches, or a decreased appetite. Still, if it is indeed a cold, the most prominent symptoms will happen in the nose. By the way, forcing a child to eat when he or she has a decreased appetite due to a cold is both unnecessary and unhelpful. However, you should encourage them to drink plenty. For children with asthma, colds are the most common trigger of asthma symptoms, and they are the most common precursor of ear infections as well. Is cold contagious?When someone has a cold, the nasal secretions are teeming with viruses that primarily caused cold. Coughing, drooling, and talking are all unlikely ways to pass a cold to another person. Sneezing, nose blowing, and nose wiping are the means by which the virus spreads around an infected person. You can catch a cold by inhaling the virus if you are sitting close to someone who’s sneezing. You could also get infected by touching your nose, eyes, or mouth after you’ve touched something contaminated by infected nasal secretions. How long does the common cold last?The entire cold is usually over all by itself in about seven days, probably with a few lingering symptoms for another week. If it lasts longer, you should consider another problem, such as a sinus infection or allergies that cause similar symptoms. To understand the difference better, you should know that we define the common cold as a short-term, contagious, viral illness with nasal stuffiness, sneezing, runny nose, throat irritation, and little or no fever. The diagnosis is based on identifying the appropriate symptoms, exposure, and time course. Although we know this, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a cold from other problems such as allergies, influenza, strep throat, or sinus infections. How to get rid of common cold quickly?It is the most important to know that we should not use antibiotics to treat a common cold. Thick yellow or green nasal discharge is not a reason for antibiotics, unless it lasts for 10 to 14 days without improvement. In this case, diagnosis could be sinusitis, so your doctor should perform check-up. Most cold treatments aim at controlling troublesome symptoms the patients are experiencing. New anti-viral drugs could make runny noses completely clear up a day sooner than usual. They are also able to begin easing the symptoms within a day. It is unclear whether the benefits of these drugs outweigh the risks. Many people used chicken soup for treating common respiratory illnesses at least since the 12th century. Studies published in the October 2000 explain why this home remedy has held on for so long. The only answer is - because it may really help improving common cold symptoms. In addition to the infection-fighting benefits of the heat, hydration, and salt, these researchers looked at the direct biologic activity of the soup itself. To assist your body’s defenses and to help relieve certain symptoms, we suggest only these tips without antibiotic usage. The reason is, antibiotics have no effect on viruses, while our body contains both harmful and helpful bacteria, so antibiotics may have an unwanted side-effect on these helpful bacteria. Bacteria eventually become resistant to antibiotics, after they have been exposed to them often enough. That is why you should try to fight common cold with proven ways, without antibiotics. |
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