Common Cold and How We Should Treat It

You wake up and you feel miserable. You don't know what is going on with your body. You feel the pain associated with a common cold. You now realize that you do indeed have a cold and now you are on your way to suffering. You ask why. The only answer that you can come up with is because you didn't listen to your mother when she told you how to take preventive measures to keep a common cold away from your home and your body.

Nasopharyngitis, often known as the common cold, is a mild viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system.

I feel it but what are the symptoms:

Symptoms include but are not limited to sneezing, sniffling, runny nose, nasal congestion: scratch, sore, or phlegm throat; coughing; headache; and tiredness. Colds typically last three to five days, with residual coughing lasting up to three weeks. It is the most common of all human diseases, infecting adults At an average rate of 2 - 4 infections per year, and school - aged children as many as twelve times per year. Infection rates greater than three infections per year per person are not uncommon in some populations. Children and their parents or caretakers are at a higher risk, possibly due to the high population density of schools and because transmission to family members is highly efficient.

How does a cold get into my body:

The rhino-virus is the most common culprit for the common cold and it is highly contagious. A cold virus enter your body through your mouth or nose. The nose contains shelf like structures called turbinates, which help trap particles entering the nasal passages. Material deposited in the nose is transported by ciliary action to the back of the throat in 10-15 minutes. Cold viruses are believed to be carried to the back of the throat where they are deposited in the area of the adenoid. The adenoid is a lymph gland structure that contains cells to which cold viruses attach.

The virus may at times be present in droplets and can spread through the air when someone who is contagious, sneezes or talks. It is also spread by hand to hand contact with someone who has a cold or by using objects that are shared. If you were to touch your eyes, nose or mouth after coming in contact with someone who has a cold and you will most likely get it.

Also, cold viruses may contaminate objects and surfaces in the environment of a cold suffer. Young children are the manor reservoir of cold viruses and a particularly good source of cirrus containing nasal secretions.

You should contact medical advise if you have a fever that is greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit, have a high fever that is accompanied by achenes and fatigue, have a fever that is accompanied by sweating, chills and a cough with colored phlegm, and if symptoms get worse instead of getting better or last for more than around ten days.

Children tend to become sicker with the common cold than most adult do and often develop complications such as ear infections. You will need to seek medical attention if your child has a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and chills or sweating, fever that last more than 72 hours, vomiting or abdominal pain, unusual sleepiness, severe headache, difficulty breathing, persistent crying, ear pain, and a persistent cough.

There are several ways to prevent the common cold such as: washing your hands, scrubbing your stuff, using tissues, not sharing drinking glasses or eating utensils, avoiding contact with someone who has a cold.

Cold viruses grow mainly in the nose where they multiply in nasal cells and are present in large quantities in the nasal fluid of people with colds.The highest concentration of cold virus in nasal secretions occurs during the first three days of infection. This is when infected persons are most contagious.

Another thing that has been proved in trying to refrain from catching a cold is to drink plenty of fluids such as water, juice, tea, and warm soup. You should avoid alcohol, caffeine and cigarette smoke, which can cause dehydration and aggravate symptoms if they are persistent.

Phlegm which is a sticky mucus that drips down the back of your throat when you have a cold may become thicker and more irritating to your throat when you drink a glass of milk unlike the common belief dairy products do not actually cause more mucus to form. In fact, frozen dairy products are an easy way to soothe a sore throat and provide calories to an ill child who otherwise may not eat.

The reason that this virus is called the common cold is because there are over one billion colds in the United States each year. The common cold is the most common reason that children miss school and parents miss work. Children usually get colds from other children. Colds can occur year - round, but they occur mostly during the winter.

Over the counter medications won't actually shorten the length of a cold, but can make you feel greatly better. You should always drink plenty of fluids and get rest when you have a cold. Antibiotics will not treat a common cold and they may make the situation worst. A lot of people use chicken soup to help with there common cold. The heat, fluid, and salt may help you fight the infection.