10 REASONS... YOUR COLD WON’T GO AWAY
1 YOU’RE IMPATIENT The common cold, which is a mild viral infection, can last from seven to 14 days. So if you are anxious to get back to work or the running track after day four, don’t jump the gun. Advice from Boots pharmacists is that physical exercise during a cold ‘may cause increased respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath’.
2 STOP COMFORT EATING It may be tempting to reach for sweet treats to cheer yourself up, but it may hamper recovery. Consuming 100g of sugar in one go (a can of Coca-Cola has 35g) can reduce your immune system’s ability to fight germs.
3 YOU NEED SLEEP Rest is key to recovery and repair. A 2009 US study found that sleeping for less than seven hours at night makes the body nearly three times more likely to develop a cold in the first place. 4 YOU NEED FLUIDS . . . Increasing fluid intake is important when trying to beat a cold as sweating, a runny nose and fever make it easier to become dehydrated.
5 . . . BUT NOT A HOT TODDY While it may momentarily ease (or help you forget) symptoms, alcohol is a known diuretic and will further dehydrate the body. At low levels it’s a vasodilator, causing arteries to relax and increasing blood flow which exacerbates a stuffy nose.
6 IT’S ACTUALLY SINUSITIS . . . Sinusitis can be caused by a common cold if the viral infection spreads to the sinuses. If your cold symptoms persist and you suffer from pain in the cheeks, eyes and forehead due to swollen sinuses, and fever of 38C or more, it may be sinusitis. Like a cold, sinusitis often clears up on its own with rest and over-the-counter medication.
7 . . . OR AN ALLERGY Allergic rhinitis – more commonly known as hay fever – has similar symptoms to a common cold, but a different cause. While a cold is caused by a virus, hay fever is an inflammation in the nose. Hay fever can go on for months, particularly during the pollen season.
8 COULD BE A NASTY BUG The symptoms for some illnesses caused by bacteria, such as bacterial bronchitis, pneumonia and streptococcal infections, can be similar to a common cold and may be treated with antibiotics. But don’t ask your GP for antibiotics for a cold – they won’t prescribe them.
9 BLAME STRESS Stress can affect the immune system’s ability to battle the infection. Long-term stress makes the immune system less sensitive to cortisol, which in turn influences its response to an infection. A 2012 study found that people who had suffered stressful periods in the previous year were twice as likely to pick up a cold if exposed to a virus.
10 IT’S YOUR THYROID Symptoms associated with colds – muscle weakness, feeling exhausted, ‘gritty’ eyes, difficulty swallowing, a hoarse voice and loss of appetite – that persist for weeks can in fact be an underactive thyroid, known as hypothyroidism. This is often caused by immune system diseases, which can be hormonal. This is believed to be one of the reasons why it is ten times more common for women to suffer underactive thyroid.