Common Cold and Enigma

              Common cold
an enigma 11-17-81
By SALLY REESE
Times Medical Writer
The common cold is part of the hu-man
condition. Despite its om-nipresence,
it remains an enigma.
There is no really effective vaccine to
protect us from it.
There probably are several dozen
viruses that can cause a cold, according
to Dr. Larry E. Slay, chief of the general
medicine section at LSU Medical Cen-ter.
That is why it is difficult to develop
a vaccine that will work against them in
all situations, said the internist.
So the common cold has to run its
course, and all we can do is try to
relieve the symptoms until it does. If we
take care of ourselves, said Slay, it
should run its course in a week or less.
Most colds occur in the wintertime,
"but we don't know why," Slay said.
About 20 percent occur in the sum-mertime.
"It's not entirely the temperature
that causes more colds in the cold
months, so we don't think the weather
has anything to do with it," he said.
It is spread person-to-person by
sneezing or by hand-to-hand trans-mission,
and the risk of catching it
varies directly with the density of popu-lation.
The people most prone to inhale or
pick up a cold germ are those in en-vironments
where they are exposed to
the most people, Slay pointed out. Espe-cially
vulnerable are children, parents
of children and people who work around
children.
"Children may get as many as a half-dozen
colds a year," Slay said. "Parents
may get three or four, whereas others
have one or two a year."
Any closed environment increases
the risk of getting a cold, Slay said, and
"that's why we see it spread in the
school rooms."
There is no evidence that antibiotics
are of any use in preventing a cold, said
the doctor, and vitamin C's efficacy is
not supported by studies.
"We cannot show that vitamin C,
even in large doses, prevents the com-mon
cold."
Once you get a cold, you can expect to
have it a week, Slay said. The symptoms
may include a runny, stuffed-up nose,
sneezing, watery eyes, a sore throat and
cough, a headache and a slight fever.
Most of them should clear up within a
week, he said, although the cough may
persist beyond that time.
When you get a cold, take an aspirin
or a Tylenol, drink lots of liquids and get
rest, the physician advised. There are
many things that can help bring relief,
he said, citing as an example the salt-water
gargle for relief of a sore throat.
"We discourage using nose sprays
because they can make nasal congestion
worse if abused."
Slay does not recommend staying
away from work to keep from exposing
others. The common cold moves in
waves, he said.
"We tend to have it all at the same
time. So one person staying off the job
won't make any difference."
People with emphysema, bronchitis,
asthma and other chronic lung dis-orders,
people with heart diseases, and
elderly people in general "should check
with their doctors if they have more
than minor symptoms with cold, for
they may have flu or pneumonia." With
emphysema, he said, the common cold
could lead to respiratory failure.
"We routinely recommend flu and
pneumonia immunization for these peo-ple,"
he said. "Right now, in the clinic
here we are screening and offering
immunization to whoever falls into
- these categories."
Cold medications evaluated by FDA
Once you've actually been caught by
the beast known as the common cold,
there is no cure. However, there are
things you can do to minimize your
suffering and help your own healing
process. Rest is very important. So is
drinking a lot of fluids — fruit juices,
water, clear broths and other soups will
help. In fact, in ancient Rome, a com-mon
remedy for a cold was sipping a
broth made from an onion and warm
water.
For other tips on how to cope effec-tively,
write for a free reprint of an
article on colds from The FDA Con-sumer.
Over-the-counter cold and cough
medications were evaluated for the
article by an FDA advisory panel. For
your copy of the Common Cold, write
to the Consumer Information Center,
Dept. 579J, Pueblo, Colo. 81009.
(Times graphic)
A cold usually starts with a sore throat, sneezing and a runny nose
SNIFF!