Essay/Term paper: The common cold

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Science

The common cold has been plaguing humankind
since the beginning of human existence. Even in
these advanced times, there is no vaccine or cure.
There are many symptoms that accompany the
common cold. Some of these infamous symptoms
are a runny nose, caused by inflammation of the
nasal tissues, resulting in over production of mucus
to trap the virus, and coughing. there are two
different kinds or types of coughs that are
common with colds. The first, is the less common
dry hacking cough, these kinds are more likely to
keep you up at night and just plainly annoy you
than do any thing else. The other more common
type of cough is the kind whose purpose is to
expel mucus and or phlegm. These help to combat
the cold by helping to expel the mucus that has the
virus trapped in it. Other symptoms include a slight
tingle or tickle in the back of the throat that usually
turns into a sore throat and sneezing. Both of these
symptoms are was for your body to help expel
phlegm or mucus from the body. Another
symptom is swelling of the face and or neck
usually accompanied by pain around the eyes,
nose, and forehead. This pain and swelling is
caused by the introduction of the virus into your
upper respiratory tract, therefore causing mucus
building up in your nasal passages and then in your
sinuses causing them both to become impacted.
Many people complain of hoarseness, aches and
pains in their joints, fever of about 101 degrees,
and general aches and pains all over their bodies
(Anthanasoid). There are at least two hundred
different kinds of viruses that are known to cause
what is known as the common cold, and an
unknown number of undiscovered causes (Nourse
56). The virus who is usually responsible for a
cold is called a rhinovirus, and it accounts for
around thirty to fifty percent of all colds that afflict
the adult part of the human population. The virus
that is secondly responsible for most common
colds, is called a coronavirus, and it is only
different form a rhinovirus by a margin of few
select proteins in it's molecular structure. The
rhinovirus is so small that it can only be measured
in milimicrons, one milimicron is about
1/25,000,000 of an inch, that means that about
five hundred rhioviruses can fit on the point of a
pin. That fact makes the rhinovirus and the
coronavirus categorized in the medium territory.
The virus cannot reproduce by itself. In fact
scientists cannot even decide whether to classify it
as an animal or a plant, because it is so primitive.
To reproduce, the virus must first latch onto a
nearby cell and inject it's genetic makeup into the
cell. It then tells the cell to make as many viruses
as it can, using the chemicals inside of the cell. The
cell keep producing viruses until the outer cell wall
explodes releasing all of the new viruses into the
bloodstream. The best part about many of the
viruses that cause colds is that they are self
limiting. That means that after the virus reproduces
so much it just stops and dies. In the case of
common colds, the virus runs it's course in about
ten to fourteen days. Because it kills itself, the
infected person's immune system doesn't realy
have to do anything except maybe keep it in their
upper respiratory track. There have been
documented cases when a cold actually
inadvertently killed someone. In these rare cases,
the viral infection lead to a bacterial infection in the
middle ear and therefore lead to death. This is why
if your ears hurt, you should see a doctor
immediately (Knight 10-15, 23-25). There are
many misconceptions about the spread of the
common cold. For one thing, a person who
doesn't cover their mouth when coughing and or
sneezing, is not necessarily spreading their cold
says John Poppy (104). Another article in the
"Mayo Clinic Health Letter" stated that coughing
and sneezing is one of the things that spreads the
cold virus the most. The reasoning behind that is,
the cough or sneeze spreads the viral particles all
around. Then people touch the spot that has one
of these particles on it with their hands and rub
their hands on their nose and mouth. This action
spreads the cold even further. This same article
said that kissing doesn't necessarily spread the
cold virus (1-2). Laurie Tarkan says that the main
way that the cold virus is spread is through
touching of the nose and mouth, like the Mayo
Clinic Letter. She also stated that the reason that
colds seam to flourish in the winter is that people
tend to group together in schools and in homes,
therefor spreading the virus throughout the
population. Also more people tend to fly durring
the winter. In order to keep the cabin pressurized,
the airplane circulates the air, and that means that
if one person has a cold and coughs then the
whole plane will have a great chance to become
infected. Also at higher altitudes, the air seriously
dries out the nasal membrane in the nose and
therefore make a person more susceptible to the
virus. Because of this, experts like Laurie Tarkan
suggest to drink allot of water while flying in an
airplane, about eight ounces for every hour that
you are on the airplane (202, The Common Cold
2). There is only one possible way to stay totally
healthy during the winter. That is to be locked in a
room underground and not see anyone until the
cold season is over. Fortunately there are a few
guidelines that you can follow to help your chances
of staying well this winter. One is to wash your
hands often, not compulsively but often, and also
try to stay away from people who have realy bad
colds. If someone in your house or workplace gets
or has a cold, then it is suggested that you should
disinfect with "Lysol" or hydrogen peroxide often,
again not compulsively but often. Many people
believe that garlic can help to avoid a cold, but
studies on this subject have been shown to be
inconclusive, in most recent test anyhow (The
Common Cold 2). Even if you follow all of the
guidelines, you still might catch an occasional cold,
so, if you have a cold you there are a lot of things
you can do to lessen the power of the symptoms.
A cold usually last from ten to fourteen days. Dr..
Robert Anthanasoid say that consuming low
quantities of Vitamin C, about 250 Mg per day,
help to lessen the time or length of the cold. Some
people say that taking large doses of Vitamin C,
about two grams per day, helps to lessen the
duration of a cold (Childhood Infections). While
the "Mayo Health Clinic Letter" said that any
dosage of Vitamin C doesn't help of hinder any
form of the common cold. Chicken soup, on the
other hand, is shown to reduce the severity of the
symptoms of the common cold. If you make
chicken soup for someone with a cold, Laurie
Tarken from "Good Housekeeping" suggests
"loading it up with garlic, onion, and heat. It is
thought that the reason for chicken soup works so
well is because of the chicken. It contains Cystine,
an amino acid, that thins mucus. The Cystine and
the steam off of the soup are what can clear up a
plugged nasal passage and make breathing a lot
easier (John Poppy 109). There is no cure for the
common cold because there are over 200 known
virus that cause what is know as the "common
cold," and there is no vaccine. There is no vaccine
because of the same reason, that there is no cure,
the sheer number of the known causes. Because
you can't cure a cold you can only hide or stop the
symptoms. There are literally thousands of cold
"remedies" or "cures." Over one billion dollars are
spent on cold "remedies" in the U.S. today (The
Common Cold 1). There are many different over
the counter drugs that claim to stop colds. Some
of these are mixes, mainly ones that claim to do
everything, most of these "mixes" contain
antihistamines. Antihistamines don't do anything for
a cold. The only they do is make you drowsy. The
most common antihistamine is chlorpheniramine.
Like antihistamines, Decongestants might make
you drowsy, but their real use is to unplug your
nasal and sinus passages. Decongestants that
reverse the swelling go the blood vessels in the
nose caused by viral infections according to Laurie
Tarkan of "Good Housekeeping" (201). Spray
Decongestants are the best, but can be come
addictive with over use. Doctors suggest using a
spray once in the morning and once at night. They
also suggest that you don't use them for more than
three days, beacaue they can cause your throat to
burn. Decongestants in pill form can take from 45
minutes to an hour to start to work. Most
combination medications contain a decongestant.
Coughing is sometimes caused by irritated airway
and or an increase in post nasal drip. There are
two different types of cough medications. One is a
suppresant and the other is an expectortant. The
suppressant stops dry hackin coughs, and the
expectorant helps to bring up mucus or phlem.
Expectorants thin out the mucus in your throat by
using your bodily fluids. So if you are using an
expectorant, be sure to consume a lot of liquids.
Coedine, is a popular expectorant, but shouldn't
be taken with sedatives or alcohol. "Vicks 44" is
useless for a cough because it contains both an
expectorant and a suppressant (Poppy 104).
Another name for a suppresant is antitussive. The
problem with these is that they might contain
narcotics that act directly on the brain, so be sure
to consult a doctor before taking any medications.
Some over-the-counter products that seem to
work as expectorants are Guaifenesin in
"Robitussin" or "Triminic". Cough drops of
lozenges work better than pills and usually taste a
lot better. Look for something with Mentholate in
it to soothe sore throat pain and coughs (Tarkan
202) Colds sometimes are accompanied by aches
and pains. Headaches are usually caused by the
compacting of the nasal passages and sinuses.
They only close off when a virus enters the upper
respiratory tract. This pain can usually be stopped
by taking ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or aspirin. It
is important to be careful when giving aspirin to
children, because it has been linked to Ray's
syndrome. Ray's syndrome is a potentially deadly
disease that sometimes occurs in children that are
infected with the flu, pneumonia, or chicken pox
(The Common Cold 1-3). Because there are so
many kinds of combinations many people tend to
become confused when bombarded with all of the
adds for cold medicines. Above all "Sudafed" and
"Tylenol Flu" are rated the highest for the relief of
the symptoms of the common cold according to
Laurie Tarkan of Good Housekeeping (212). She
strongly suggests that before taking any
medication, over the counter or not, you should
seek a doctor's help in choosing a drug or a
combination of drugs. When shopping for a cold
remedy remember that there are less expensive
generic brands that contain the same drugs and
work just as well. If any symptoms change or
become worse than you think that they should be,
within reason, it is suggested that you seek a
doctor' help. This is suggested because many
serious illnesses start out with cold-like symptoms
that become much worse. They might not be able
to cure the common cold ever, but there are now
drugs in the works that can help to ease the
symptoms and cause little or no side effects.
Overall, colds are not killers, most of the time, just
rather annoying to have. There are drugs that can
put a stop to all of the annoying symptoms, but the
main idea for "curing" a cold is to use a medical
practice aptly dubbed the "Tincture of Time." To
speed recovery, sleep as much as possible, and
eat very little.