Ways to survive the common cold
Ican confirm, the ‘‘cold season’’ is officially upon us. Over the past two weeks, I have seen patient after patient in my clinic with runny noses, coughs and sore throats. Invariably they sit in my room, grasping a box of tissues, feeling awful, and hoping that there is something I will be able to suggest that will make them feel better.
The truth is that there probably isn’t, and although there are patients who should visit a doctor to check they don’t have anything worse than a cold (asthmatics and the elderly for example), for the majority staying at home and looking after themselves would save them the cost and time of a doctor’s visit.
The ‘‘common’’ cold is just that – very common. There are more than 200 viruses that can lead to a cold, so the chances are that you won’t have immunity to all of them.
Children obviously have less immunity than adults, as they have been exposed to less ‘‘bugs’’ in their short lives. Because of this, they average six to eight viral colds a year, compared with two to four for adults. If you consider that when kids are sick, there is usually a parent needed to stay at home with them, it is easy to see what a massive impact colds have on the economy over winter – with countless days off work and school leading to considerable costs to us all.
So is it possible to avoid a cold, and if not, is there anything you can do to minimise its impact?
❚ Stay home and rest – this sounds like the advice Nana might give you, but it’s probably the most important thing to do. By resting, you are likely to shorten the duration of your cold symptoms. And by staying away from other people (especially in environments such as work or school where there are often hundreds of people in small spaces, with air conditioning units perfect mediums for circulating infection) you are hugely reducing the chances of passing it onto someone else.
❚ Wash your hands – again, this won’t be new advice to anyone. But it is important and there is good scientific evidence that it is effective. Viruses such as those that cause colds and flus are really hardy – they can exist for days on hard surfaces and our skin. Washing well (using soap, rubbing and lathering up, then rinsing off) or using a good antiseptic handwash, will remove the virus from your skin. And cleaning hard surfaces carefully, especially those in your kitchen and bathroom, will remove viruses from areas with lots of family ‘‘traffic’’. This reduces the chance of you getting an infection, as when you touch your face, scratch your nose or rub your eye you won’t be transferring a virus into your body.
❚ Cough and sneeze away from people. Cold virus particles are spread via droplets, and these are released into the air when we cough or sneeze. If you do this into a tissue, away from other people, then dispose of the tissue or wash your hands, you are reducing the chances of infecting those around you. Hard to achieve with small children I know, but should be much easier for us adults.
❚ Get plenty of rest, stay hydrated and eat well – if your general health is good, you are more likely to be able to fight off infections. This will mean you may not get a cold at all, but if you do your symptoms should be less severe and go away sooner. For women, making sure you have enough iron in your diet is key – young women especially often tend to have low iron stores, from a combination of blood loss with their periods and diets with little or no red meat in them. Iron helps our bodies fight infection, so topping up your levels is a good idea. If you’re concerned, your GP will be able to order a simple blood test to check your iron stores.
❚ Manage your other health conditions well – if you are unfortunate to have other health issues, such as asthma, hayfever or allergic rhinitis, diabetes and others, try to ensure you take all your medication as prescribed and if your symptoms aren’t well controlled discuss it with your doctor. If your other health problems are poorly managed, you are much more at risk of getting a
❚ Consider taking zinc or echinacea over winter. The jury is out about most of the products sitting on pharmacy shelves that purport to ‘‘treat’’ coughs and colds, but these two are worth thinking about. If taken regularly, there is some scientific evidence that they will reduce the likelihood of you catching a cold over winter. Zinc also can reduce the number of days you are sick for, if taken within the first 24 hours of getting a sniffle. However, it looks as though higher doses of ‘‘pure’’ zinc or echinacea are the way to go – so try to avoid purchasing a product that has multiple other things included in it as it possibly won’t work.
❚ Honey – if you do get a cold, try a spoonful of honey. It has good cough suppressant properties and a study looking at children found that those who had taken honey had less cough and slept better than the ones that hadn’t. Dissolving it in hot water with some fresh lemon is also delicious and much cheaper than buying a cold or flu remedy over the counter.
❚ Vitamin C – there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m afraid that vitamin C does very much at all. It might be helpful at preventing colds in people who have been exposed to intense physical activity (such as runners or skiers), and can perhaps shorten duration of cold symptoms in some people, but I don’t think at this stage the evidence is convincing enough to run out and buy vitamin C containing products.
If all that fails, buy good tissues, curl up on the couch for a day or two, and take comfort in the fact that you are almost certainly not alone in your misery.