But what is a common cold really
How a Common Cold attacks
Colds Symptoms
Exams and Tests
Treatment
Prevention Tips
Some ways you can help ease cold discomfort include
Home Remedies for Colds
Natural remedies
Common Cold
Sneezing, scratchy throat, runny nose and annoying cough– everybody is aware of the first wretched symptoms of a common cold.
The common cold is possibly the most common infection in humans. As stated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, it is also one of the most regular causes of work and school absenteeism. It is contagious, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system. More than 200 diverse categories of viruses are identified to cause the common cold.
But what is a common cold really?
The common cold is a set of symptoms in the upper respiratory tract caused by a large number of different viruses. Although more than 200 viruses can cause the common cold, the executor is usually the rhinovirus, which is to blame for causing 10% to 40% of colds. Also, the corona viruses cause about 20% of colds and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes 10% of colds.
Viruses that appoint colds are spread from person to person through minute droplets of mucus that come into the air from the nasal passages of infected persons and are inhaled by others. Colds may also be diffused by touching surfaces (the computer keyboard or mouse, the telephone receiver, a doorknob, or eating utensils) that have been contaminated by contact with infected persons. The usual transmission take places when a cold sufferer rubs his or her nose and then, in a while thereafter, shakes hands with somebody who, consecutively, touches his or her own mouth, nose or eyes.
Among the different types of viruses the most common subtype lives in the nasal passages. This group is known as \”rhinovirus.\” Coronavirus, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are the less common viruses that cause common cold.
How a Common Cold attacks
A cold begins when a cold virus attaches to the lining of your nose or throat. Your immune system gives signal to the white blood cells that proceed to attack this germ. Unless you\’ve felt that exact strain of the virus previously, the initial attack fails and your body recovers its strength. Your nose and throat get inflamed and make a lot of mucus. With so much of your body\’s energy directed at combating the cold virus, you\’re left drained and dejected.
Air that\’s dry — indoors or out — can lower resistance to infection by the viruses that results in colds. People who smoke are more likely to catch a cold than nonsmokers — and their symptoms will most likely be worse, last longer, and are probably to show the way to bronchitis or even pneumonia.
Colds Symptoms
Runny nose
Sneezing
Nasal and sinus blockage
Headache
Sore throat
Cough
Sometimes a low-grade fever (below 101 degrees F)
Exams and Tests
Your symptoms and physical tests are all your doctor requires to detect the common cold.
Generally, neither blood test nor x-ray is necessary.
During the physical examination, your doctor will examine attentively your head, neck, and chest.
The doctor afterward examines your eyes, ears, throat, and chest to be definite that a bacterial source is not reason of the illness.
Treatment
\”Time cures all.\” The phrase may not always be true, but in the case of the common cold, it\’s pretty close. Medicine can\’t heal the common cold, but doctors recommended those to relieve such painful symptoms as muscle aches, headache, and fever.
When taking decongestants and antihistamines, it\’s important to know how they work to treat cold symptoms. It\’s also important to know who should — and should not — take decongestants and antihistamines. You can give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen based on the package recommendations for age or weight.
However, aspirin should be avoided in cases of children younger than 12, and all kids and teens under age 19 shouldn\’t take aspirin during viral illnesses, because such use may enhance the danger of developing Reye syndrome, an uncommon but grave condition that can be fatal.
Antibiotics destroy bacteria, not viruses, and are useless in curing a cold.
Prevention Tips
This is perhaps the single best option to prevent transmission of colds. In particular after shopping, going to the gym or spending time in public places, washing the hand is vital. Frequent hand washing can prevent viruses that you have acquired from touching surfaces used by other people. Carrying a small tube of hand sanitizer is essential especially when you are in public places. The elders should teach the kids and children about the importance of hand washing.
Most significantly, do not touch the nose, mouth, and eye areas repeatedly if you are around sufferer of a cold. You should also be careful about touching surfaces in a public area.
Cigarette smoke may aggravate the airways and enhances vulnerability to colds and other infections. Even disclosure to passive smoke can make you (or your children) extra susceptible to colds.
Disposable cups can be thrown away after each use and prevent accidental spread of the virus from sharing of cups or glasses. This is particularly important if you have young children who may try to drink from others\’ cups.
Door knobs, drawer pulls, keyboards, light switches, telephones, remote controls, countertops, and sinks should be wiped regularly with soap and water or a disinfectant solution. Because in these places viruses are active for hours after touching them by an infected person..
Use paper towels in the kitchen and bathroom for hand washing. Germs can live for several hours on cloth towels.
On the other hand, use separate towels for each family member and offer a clean one to the guests.
Used tissues are sources of virus that can contaminate any surface where they are left.
According to a study people with emotional stress have weakened immune systems and are more likely to catch a cold than their calmer counterparts.
This theory is not proved but if people follow this he / she should be rewarded with good immune system that is eating well or exercising. So you must maintain a healthy lifestyle, with adequate sleep, good nutrition, and physical exercise. Those keep your immune system good condition and ready to fight infection if it occurs.
Some ways you can help ease cold discomfort include:
Saltwater drops in the nostrils to ease nasal congestion (This is available— also called saline nose drops — at any pharmacy)
Mix 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in 8 ounces of warm water. Fill a bulb syringe with this mixture (or use a Neti pot, available at most health foods stores). Bend your head over a basin, and with the bulb syringe, gently spurts the salt water into your nose. Hold one nostril closed by applying light finger pressure while squirting the salt mixture into the other nostril. Let it drain. Repeat two to three times, and then treat the other nostril.
A cool-mist humidifier can raise air moisture.
A cool-mist humidifier can raise air moisture.
Apply petroleum jelly on the skin under the nose to soothe roughness.
The hard candy or cough drops can comfort sore throat (for kids older than 3 years).
A warm bath or heating pad can give soothe to aches and pains.
Steam from a hot shower to help your child breathe more easily.
But what about chicken soup? There\’s no genuine confirmation that eating it can cure a cold, but people with common cold is swallowing it for more than 800 years. Why? Chicken soup contains a mucus-thinning amino acid called cysteine, and several researches explain that chicken soup helps to control congestion-causing white cells, called neutrophils.
Home Remedies for Colds
1. Drink plenty of fluids to help disintegrate your congestion. Drinking water or juice will put a stop to dehydration and keep your throat moist. You should drink at least 8 to 10 eight-ounce glasses of water daily. Include fluids such as water, sports drinks, herbal teas, fruit drinks, or ginger ale. (Avoid cola, coffee, and other drinks with caffeine because it acts like a diuretic and may dehydrate you.)Just make sure your child eats when hungry and drinks plenty of fluids like water or juice to help replace the fluids lost during fever or mucus production. Try to drink hot liquids. Hot liquids relieve nasal congestion, prevent dehydration, and soothe the uncomfortably inflamed membranes that line your nose and throat. If you\’re so congested you can\’t sleep at night, try a hot toddy, an age-old remedy.
2. Inhaling the steam ease your congestion and drippy nose. Bend your head over a pot of boiling water and breathe through your nose, don’t forget to cover your head with a dry towel. Be careful. If the steam burns your nose, breathe in more slowly.
3. Stay warm and relaxed. Staying warm and resting when you first come down with a cold or the flu helps your body direct its energy toward the immune encounter. This battle strains the body. So lie-down under a blanket to stay warm if necessary.
4. Gargle with warm salt water. Gargling can moisten a sore or scratchy throat and bring temporary relief. Try a half teaspoon of salt dissolved in 8 ounces of warm water four times daily. It spoils the infection of the throat.
5. Try a small dab of mentholated ointment under your nose to open the breathing passages. It also restores the irritated skin at the bottom of the nose. Menthol, eucalyptus, and camphor all possess mild anesthetizing ingredients that can reduce the pain of a nose rubbed raw.
6. Use hot packs around your congested sinuses. You can buy reusable hot packs at a drugstore. You can make your own. Take a damp washcloth and warm it for 30 seconds in a microwave.
Natural remedies
Zinc is a vital mineral that is found in almost every cell. Zinc has antioxidant effects and is important to the body’s resistance to infection. It may also reduce the capability of cold viruses to produce on or unite the lining of the nose, and zinc is important for tissue restoration.
Zinc is found naturally in shellfish, beef and other red meats, nuts and seeds, beans, and milk and cheese. Tea, coffee, and certain medications may hamper with zinc absorption in the intestines.
Over-the-counter preparations are sold as the mineral zinc complexed with gluconate, sulfate, or acetate..
Echinacea is an herbal medicine that people often use to treat the common cold. Many people believe that the plant can improve the immune system and reduce the severity or span of suffering of colds. But regardless of its popularity, some recent studies showed the impact of echinacea on the common cold and the result is disappointing. If echinacea does have a benefit, many researchers believe that it has not been proven.
Echinacea is a flowering plant that grows throughout the U.S. and Canada. There are nine species. Some of the plant\’s common names are the purple coneflower or black-eyed Susan. The leaves, stems, flower, and roots may be utilized to produce supplements, liquid extracts, and teas. People have used echinacea as a remedy in the America for centuries. Studies have shown that it enhances the volumeof white blood cells and boosts the activity of other resistant cells.
Some people have allergic reactions to echinacea. This can cause:
Rashes
Worsening asthma (if you have asthma)
Anaphylaxis (a life-threatening emergency that can cause difficulty breathing)
A latest survey of 65 years\’ found the restricted benefit of vitamin C. The researchers found no evidence that vitamin C prevents colds. However, they did find the facts that vitamin C may curtail the episode of suffering from a cold.
One big study showed that people who took a vitamin C mega dose — 8 grams on the first day of a cold — shortened the duration of their colds by 8% in adults and by 14% in children.
Vitamin C is available naturally in vegetables and fruits, particularly in oranges and other citrus fruits. This essential vitamin is also found as a natural dietary supplement in the form of vitamin C pills and vitamin C chewable tablets.