Colds

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Colds

Old-Fashioned Remedies Work Best

Take two of these. Swallow a spoonful of this. Inhale some of that. Presto! Your aches, your stuffiness, your scratchy throat, your cough and all those other insufferably nasty cold symptoms are history.

Well, not really. You wouldn't know it from commercials for over-the-counter cold remedies, but no safe or effective cure for the common cold exists.

"Since no one has the time to just be sick for a day or two these days, the makers of cold remedies promise us instant relief," says Naomi Grobstein, M.D., a family physician in private practice in Montclair, New Jersey. More than 800 over-the-counter cold remedies compete for a slice of the multimillion dollar cold remedy industry. "But no matter what you take, cold symptoms won't vanish instantly."

"A cold is a collection of symptoms caused by any one of 200 or more different viruses," says Carole Heilman, Ph.D., chief of the respiratory diseases branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. "To cure a cold, you'd have to find a remedy that was able to kill any one of the 200 different viruses that may be causing your particular cold. It's a real pain in the neck to find a substance that not only universally destroys viruses that don't behave in the same way but also doesn'tcause side effects. So far, no one has succeeded at finding the magic formula for a safe cold cure."

BETTER THAN STORE-BOUGHT

Busy women have come to expect instant relief from cold symptoms, says Dr. Grobstein. Yet taking over-the-counter cold remedies may actually prolong the misery. "I don't like over-the-counter cold preparations. I find that those who are sickest the longest are those who take over-the-counter remedies every four hours."

So what do women physicians and other women health professionals say that an achy, sniffly, sneezy woman should to do for the common cold? Their best advice follows.

Gargle for a sore throat. "A pinch of salt--a quarter-teaspoon--in a cup of warm water makes a good gargle for relieving throat pain," says Maureen C. Van Dinter, R.N., senior clinical nurse specialist at the University of Wisconsin Northeast Family Medical Center in Madison. "Warm liquids and salt can help shrink and dry mucous membranes."

Get steamed. "Turn on the shower full force with hot water, close your bathroom door, and sit on the closed toilet seat for 15 minutes," says Van Dinter. "Breathing the steam will shrink the swollen mucous membranes in your upper respiratory tract and promote drainage."

Slather on a metholated rub. "Rubbing your chest with an aromatic preparation like Vicks can make you feel better and less congested," says Van Dinter. "Research shows that it works."

Beef up your C intake. "Vitamin C can decrease the duration of a cold," says Carol S. Johnston, Ph.D., assistant professor of food and nutrition in the Department of Family Resources at Arizona State University in Tempe. "It's a natural antihistamine--and it may help counter congestion, runny nose and watery eyes triggered by substances known as histamines induced by the cold viruses."

Dr. Johnston recommends taking 500 milligrams of vitamin C a day--half in the morning and half at night--whether you're sick or well.

You'd have to eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day to get 500 milligrams, says Dr. Johnston. "Otherwise, I recommend taking a daily vitamin C supplement."

Once you actually have a cold, says Dr. Johnston, "The antihistamine effects that I've seen vitamin C provide are achieved at doses between 1,000 and 2,000 milligrams. I believe that people are better off taking vitamin C than antihistamine medications when they have colds, because antihistamines have side effects that include drowsiness. However, I don't recommend that people take more than 1,200 milligrams of vitamin C a day," she says.

Suck on a zinc lozenge. "Zinc is an important co-factor--a facilitator of sorts--for dozens of the body's metabolic reactions," says Katherine Sherif, M.D., instructor of medicine at Allegheny University of the Health Sciences and on staff at the Institute for Women's Health, both in Phildelphia. "It's likely that it helps the immune system." Zinc lozenges, used according to package directions, may help when you have a cold.

Water, yes; soda, no. Drinking plenty of fluids is especially important when you're fighting a cold, says Dr. Sherif. But drinks high in sugar are taboo.

"Women need eight glasses of fluid every day, and more when they have colds," explains Dr. Sherif. "Sweetened sodas and fruit juices act as diuretics--that is, they flush water out of your body--and will dehydrate you instead of replacing the fluids that your body loses in the virus-fighting metabolic process." Instead, she suggests, drink herbal tea (sans caffeine, also a diuretic), artificially sweetened soft drinks or water.

Choose the right herbal tea. Different herbal teas have different soothing properties, suggests Dr. Sherif. "Try mint tea if your cold comes with an upset stomach; anise tea is good for colds."

Have some chicken soup. Really. "Chicken soup is a wonderful symbol of nurturing," says Dr. Heilman. "And studies suggest that nurturing can promote healing."

And at least one study indicates that chicken soup itself might slow down the inflammatory process of colds. In the study the researcher pitted his grandmother's chicken soup against neutrophils, the blood cells that rush into an infection site to combat the invading viruses and bacteria (which can lead to a cold's inflammation and discomfort). He found that the soup significantly decreased the neutrophil onslaught. Although the researcher admitted that certain commercial soups also had the same effect, grandma's homemade elixir won out on the basis of homemade taste appeal.

What Women Doctors Do Chicken Soup and Vitamin C Physician Prescriptions What do women physicians, pharmacists, nutritionists and medical researchers do when they come down with colds? Here's what they say. "I throw some chicken and a bunch of vegetables into the slow cooker. Since the sense of smell is so closely connected to emotions, I feel better just smelling the soup as it cooks." --Janet Karlix, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in Gainesville "I don't get many colds, I think because I eat lots of fruit. When I do get one, though, I settle into bed, eat chicken soup, read trashy novels and watch old movies." --Judith Hallfrisch, Ph.D., research leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Metabolism and Nutrient Interactions Lab in Beltsville, Maryland "I drink plenty of water and juice. I try not to use decongestants, because they extend the period of stuffiness. If I'm really suffering, I use the daily allotment of acetaminophen. Then I lighten up and try to do the rest thing." --Michelle Lyndberg, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta "I use zinc gluconate/glycine lozenges at the first sign of a cold." --Nancy Godfrey, Ph.D., a research scientist at Godfrey Science and Design in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania "I take a couple of grams of vitamin C a day and nasal spray at night if I can't breathe." (One gram is 1,000 milligrams.) --Carol S. Johnston, Ph.D., assistant professor of food and nutrition in the Department of Family Resources at Arizona State University in Tempe "I come to work, keep my staff away from me, and when I get home, I make my kids feel guilty by acting like a martyr. Then they're really nice to me and bring me soup and toast until I start feeling better." --Carole Heilman, Ph.D., chief of the respiratory diseases branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland

When To See A Doctor "Colds don't typically produce much in the way of fever," says Anne L. Davis, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at New York University Medical Center and attending physician and assistant to the director of Chest Service at Bellevue Medical Center, both in New York City. "But if you have a cold and run a fever above 101°F for more than a couple of days, see your doctor." Dr. Davis suggests that you check with your doctor if: * Your cold is accompanied by a new or worsening severe cough or a cough that produces green, yellow or bloody phlegm. Acute bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and ear or nasal sinus infections can complicate the course of the common cold. If you develop sharp chest pain when coughing or deep breathing, wheezing or shortness of breath, earache or acute headache or facial pain and tenderness, you should call your doctor. * You have a serious chronic medical condition of any kind (like chronic bronchitis or a heart condition). If you come down with a cold, avoid getting overtired. If your cold symptoms are worse than usual, be sure to let your doctor know right away. Also, if you have a fever above 100°F and you are pregnant, consult your physician promptly, says Michelle Lyndberg, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Make a hot toddy. "An old-fashioned honey, hot water and lemon toddy eases a cough and makes you feel better," says Anne L. Davis, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at New York University Medical Center and attending physician and assistant to the director of the Chest Service at Bellevue Medical Center, both in New York City. According to Dr. Davis, mix ingredients to taste.

Take to your bed. "That achy, tired-all-over feeling is your body telling you to get some rest," says Van Dinter. Taking it easy helps your body heal itself. "So staying home for a day or two might shorten the duration of your symptoms."

Quit smoking. "Having a cold is a great opportunity to quit smoking," says Dr. Grobstein. Smoking irritates membranes that are already irritated and will exacerbate your cold's symptoms, says Dr. Grobstein. Adds Dr. Sherif: "Avoid smoky rooms when you have a cold and don't let anyone smoke around you, either." Need further motivation? A study of more than 350 people showed that smokers got more colds than nonsmokers did, because smokers were more likely to get infections--and they were also more likely to develop illnesses following infections.