Colds
Colds
The ancient Greeks thought leech-induced bleeding was the answer. More recently, Mom's answer was her chicken soup. And guess what? While we still spend more than $1 billion each year on cold remedies--nothing to sneeze at--we have yet to find a single way to make the common cold less common.
The good news is that the older you get, the less likely you are to fall victim to any of the 200 different viruses that can cause a cold. Children typically get six to ten colds a year, because their immunity hasn't matured; adults usually get two to four.
While scientists are currently working on high-tech ways to stop cold viruses from spreading, here are some ways to cut down your risk--or at least reduce the time you spend suffering from America's most frequent health complaint.
Drink vitamin C-rich juice. Orange, tomato, grapefruit or pineapple juice can help you get over a cold-but you need to drink at least five glasses a day. "Studies show it takes that much vitamin C (about 500 milligrams) to reduce sneezes and coughs in cold sufferers," says Jeffrey Jahre, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia and chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at St. Luke's Medical Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. If that amount seems like a bit much to swallow, you can take vitamin C supplements. But don't go overboard: Larger doses of vitamin C can cause stomach upset in some people.
Serve a steamy bowl of comfort. Any hot liquid helps cut through congestion, but chicken soup is probably best of all, according to Frederick Ruben, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and spokesperson for the American Lung Association. No study has shown why chicken soup seems to work so well, but it's certain that the soup is protein-rich, tasty and a comforting way to get nutrients if you're not up to eating. "People who wouldn't drink hot water will readily eat chicken soup," says Dr. Ruben.
Keep a glass of water on your nightstand. "Taking sips of water during the night is another way to moisten the nose and help breathing," says Dr. Ruben. It also helps combat the dehydration that can result from fighting a cold.
Try a ginger brew. "For chills, I have patients drink tea made with a teaspoon of ground ginger in boiling water," says Charles Lo, M.D., a physician in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois.
Eat south of the border. Break up congestion with a bowl of chili or other spicy foods containing horseradish, hot pepper sauce, hot mustard or curry, suggests Irwin Ziment, M.D., chief of medicine at Olive View Medical Center in Los Angeles. Hot Mexican or Indian foods are good congestion busters. As a rule of thumb, says Dr. Ziment, "If it makes your eyes water, it will also make your nose run."
Pump your legs. A daily 45-minute walk can help speed recovery from colds, according to studies conducted by David Nieman, Ph.D., a health researcher at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. "A daily walk helps shake up and spread out the natural killer cells--the Marine Corps of your immune system--making them more vigilant," says Dr. Nieman. But don't push yourself. Exhaustive exercise can actually impair the immune system. If you pace yourself so that you can comfortably talk while you walk, you're going at the right speed, according to Dr. Nieman.
Don't bother with antihistamines. Over-the-counter cold medicines that contain antihistamines do little more than make you sleepy. "New findings show that histamine is not produced when you have a cold," says Dr. Ruben, so the drugs designed to fight it won't help.
For headache, be selective. New evidence from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore has shown that aspirin and acetaminophen (Tylenol) actually increase nasal blockage and reduce the level of virus-fighting antibodies. If you have a headache, ibuprofen (Advil) may be the better choice, says Dr. Ruben. If your child has a headache along with a cold, ask your doctor about child-size doses of ibuprofen. (Never give children aspirin without consulting a doctor, because it can contribute to Reye's syndrome, a life-threatening neurological condition.)
Snort salt water. For a stuffy nose, nasal sprays are safer and better than oral decongestants, says Herbert Patrick, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and medical director of the Respiratory Care Department at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. But if you use them longer than three days, your nose will become stuffier than ever. So after you've used a nasal spray for a couple of days, switch to a commercial saline solution such as Ayr. Or make your own saline solution: Dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a pint of water, then use a nosedropper to drop it in your nose. Gently blow your nose on a tissue.
Sit in a sauna. There's no sure way to prevent a cold, but the Swedes may be on the right track. According to Dr. Jahre, researchers found that if you indulge in a sauna twice a week or more, you're less likely to catch a cold. Possibly, he says, the high temperature may block the cold viruses from reproducing.
Make your home tropical. "It's not the cold weather but the lack of humidity that is a major issue in catching colds," says Dr. Patrick. Overheated homes and offices are the perfect setup for a cold, he adds. "When our nose and tonsils are dry, they cannot trap germs efficiently. It becomes difficult to sneeze and cough, so it's difficult to expel germs from the body." Turning down the thermostat and turning on a room humidifier keeps virus-laden mucus flowing out of your body, according to Dr. Patrick.
Chill out. In a study involving more than 400 people, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Britain's Common Cold Unit found that people who reported high levels of psychological stress were twice as likely to develop a cold as those reporting low stress levels. "We can only speculate that a change in stress hormones wears down the immune system," says Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the university and the study's author. This study is a first step in understanding a complex issue, he says. Whether stress has an actual impact on colds is still unknown. Still, using stress management on a daily basis can't hurt, and it may help defend you against a season of sniffles.
