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All About Colds
If you like this article:
WHAT
IS A COLD?
Cold symptoms arise when some kind of virus has gotten a lead in the body. It may be a rhinoviruses, coxsackieviruses, coronaviruses or parmyxoviruses. There are some 100 to 200 viruses that seem to result in a cold. These viruses can shift their characteristics almost endlessly. Whatever the virus, the symptoms of a cold are all the same: headaches, muscle aches and pains, back pain, earache, cough, hoarseness, sore throat, fever, runny nose, increased mucus production, congestion and a general feeling of fatigue.
Colds and flu viruses both result in upper respiratory congestion with a runny nose, sneezing, sinus congestion, a sore throat, and a cough. Flu tend to stay in the lower respiratory tract and colds in the upper respiratory tract. Flu tend to begin in the upper respiratory tract and then move into the lower respiratory tract.
Flu brings on general malaise, headache, muscle aches, fever, chills, exhaustion, and loss of appetite. Symptoms of a flu start to resolve after two to five days but the weakness and fatigue may stay around for a couple of weeks.
Both colds and flu are the result of viruses and, of course, antibiotics will have no effect on viruses. Colds and flu keep challenging you because there are so many viruses that can result in cold and flu symptoms. And these viruses can continually mutate and outwit your immune defenses.
WHO CATCHES A COLD?
Not everyone who is exposed to a cold virus catches a cold. Not every time that you are exposed to a cold viruses do you catch a cold. Perhaps those who don't have strong, alert immune responses will catch the cold. Or perhaps those who do not have vigorous respiratory mucus membranes will catch a cold. When you are under some kind of stress and are exposed to a cold virus it is more likely that you will get a cold. Being overly tired, emotionally distressed, having allergies, being exposed to harsh environmental conditions make it more likely that you will get a cold if you are exposed to these viruses. It could even be that you can't catch a cold because your body is so stressed that it can not spare the energy to fight off the virus of a cold.
It is not just the presence or absence of these microorganisms that is important. The state of your body processes and functions is a major determinate as to whether or not an infection actually occurs. Generally, germs do not take hold in healthy tissue. They do not strike willy-nilly. Germs tend to colonize and grow where the tissue is unhealthy enough to support them.
HOW DO YOU CATCH A COLD?
The main way colds are transmitted is by inhaling droplets from coughs or sneezes and by person to person contact. The aerosol droplets from coughs and sneezes can hang in the air for sometime after they have been expelled. The virus can live outside of the body for awhile. If someone with a cold handles a cup or opens a door the virus that was on their hands can stay active and infect someone else who handles the cup or opens the door. Washing your hands often, if you have a cold, or if you are around someone who has a cold, can help deter the cold virus transmission.
HOW DO YOU KEEP A COLD AWAY?
There are things that you can do to help avoid a viral take over. You can drink plenty of nonalcoholic, unsweetened liquids such as water and tea. The nasopharynex is lined with protective mucus that traps cold viruses and carries them down to the stomach where digestive acids kill them. Even minor dehydration reduces the mucus layer's moisture content enabling the viruses to penetrate it and infect the throat. Sip water or herbal teas throughout the day. Do not allow the mucus layer to dry out. This is important for anyone in climate controlled buildings as the air there is usually dry.
You can ventilate your living and working spaces. This will help disperse the cold viruses. The fewer viruses that get into your throat the better off you are. Open the window if it is warm. Use a fan. If you have forced air heating check the filters and the cold air return to make sure the air can flow freely.
You can protect others around you. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. This will trap millions of viruses before they spread throughout the air. Wash your hands often. This will protect you and others. It will minimizes hand to nose transmission of viruses.
Don't touch your nose or rub your eyes. Train yourself not to rub with your fingers. Use your knuckles if you must. It is less likely to have picked up viruses from somewhere.
Disinfect surfaces. Removing cold viruses from doorknobs, telephones, and other surfaces reduces the chance that you or other members of you household will come into contact with such viruses. Herbs such as rosemary, sage, any of the mints, thyme, cinnamon, or ginger all have antiseptic properties and can be added to the cleaning water.
THE PROGRESS OF A COLD
Once cold symptoms have manifested they act as alerting signals in the body that precipitate inflammatory and febrile responses. Once completely resolved these natural immune responses help provide protection that may last for months against further colds.
It is not the cold virus itself that makes you feel bad. The cold symptoms such as the sore throat, congestion, runny nose and cough are all the results of the immune responses fighting the infection. It is the symptoms of the immune responses that make you feel bad. You feel bad because the body requires energy to do its work. You are suppose to be resting and taking care of yourself.
Before cold infected cells die, they send out chemical messages that activate you body's immune system. As the immune responses start to work the tiny blood vessels in the throat expand, bringing infection fighting white blood cells, nutrients, and other cold fighting substances to the site of the infection.
The swollen blood vessels activate nearby pain nerves and you feel a sore throat a day or two after you have been infected. As the days pass, the extra fluid drawn to your throat to fight the infection causes the sinus cavities around your nose to clog, which causes nasal congestion. Eventually the immune responses against the infection irritate your bronchial tubes causing a cough.
Once the body has become infected with a cold virus it comes rather quickly to the outbreak of symptoms. The first symptoms usually show up 18 -48 hours after infection has occurred. The body's specific immune responses, which are responsible for forming specific antibodies against a specific microorganism to protect against any further infection by that agent, does not reach its full effectiveness until five to fourteen days after the infection has occurred. In the case of a cold the body's best defense against infection is by the primary immune responses and the nonspecific immune responses.
THE BODY'S NATURAL IMMUNE PROTECTION
The main agents of the nonspecific immune responses are macrophages. Macrophages are special white blood cells that maintain a constant protective response that continuously attacks pathological organisms and engulfs them. The stronger and more numerous these macrophages are the quicker the infecting microorganisms are eliminated. The quicker they are eliminated the less likely it will be that symptoms will become full blown.
Most viruses that result in a cold constantly change their appearance. This means they are not able to be recognized by the specific immune responses. A cold requires constant defense by the nonspecific immune responses.
The mucous secretions of the respiratory, digestive, urinary tracts and in saliva and tears are a potent immune system mechanism. They contain immunoglobulin A antibody (IgA). IgA contains twice the number of binding sites as other antibodies and is specialized to protect the body at the surface. IgA prevents viruses, microbes, and even bacterial toxins from attaching to the cells of the surface membranes. If they do attach IgA releases a killing response against them.
Mucus, tears, and saliva are saturated with IgA antibodies. Mucus is a genetically engineered antibiotic substance that contains antibodies to the current infection. This is why when you take a decongestant that dries up mucus secretion during a cold or flu you are reducing your immune responses and may be lengthening the duration of your infection.
The mucus secretions of the respiratory, digestive, urinary tracts and in saliva should not be dried up. It is better to take substances that thin and liquefy the mucus and keep it flowing freely with plenty of liquids.
In the acute stage of a cold the mucus flows freely, washing away germs or identifying them with IgA antibodies. Inflammation and swelling of the tissues walls off the microbes to prevent penetration. The area is flooded with immune cells. If any microbes get to the lymphatics this triggers hormonal and cell mediated immune responses.
Drying up the mucus through the use of a decongestant in the early stages of a cold or flu may actually make the condition worse by drying up the mucus membranes. The condition may seem to get better but the mucus saturated with antibodies to fight the virus has been inhibited. It may also inhibit the healthy inflammatory reaction, weaken the immune responses and prolong the illness.
In the sub-acute stage of a cold the initial fever or inflammation has subsided. The area becomes congested with waste products from the immune responses and the protective blocking off of the infection in the acute stage now blocks out the influx of the immune system components. Ulceration, scarring and other lesions begin to develop and secondary infection may set in. The body is accumulating high levels of antibodies to any new infectious agents but they can not get to the congested tissue. Again it is important to keep the mucus free flowing.
WHAT ABOUT A FEVER?
A fever is a positive sign of an active, healthy immune system. It is an effective means for increasing your body's immune responses. By increasing the body temperature one to five degrees the body's nonspecific immune responses, chiefly the macrophages, are increased in number and activity.
A fever that is suppressed by giving medication to prematurely lower the fever may undermine the body's immune defenses. This is particularly disadvantageous to young children who are still in the process of building and entraining their immune responses to react quickly and strongly to any non-self invader.
Many health care providers consider a fever of 103 -104 F to be an essential and normal immune response in preschoolers through adults. (This may not be the case in the very young, the very old, or the very sick.) Be sure and check with your health care provider about what is normal for yourself and your children.
HOW SOON WILL IT GO AWAY?
The symptoms of a cold normally resolve within five to seven days. If your cold symptoms last longer than that you may have developed a secondary infection that could indicate a weakness in your immune responses or respiratory responses. Recurring colds or secondary infections or a cold that turns into a sinus infection or bronchitis is an indication of an underlying ongoing problem that should be corrected.
Herbs, nutrients, supplements, foods and other self-help remedies can help you beat the cold and flu blues and avoid the weakening side effects of over the counter drugs. Find out how. Find out what you can do. Know what to do to build your immune response and respiratory responses to prevent a cold or flu and what you can do if you get a cold or flu.
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© Copyright 1997 - 2008 by Mary Ann Copson and Evenstar. All rights reserved.
About the Author:
Mary Ann Copson is the founder of the Evenstar Mood & Energy Wellness Center for Women. With Master's Degrees in Human Development and Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann is a Certified Licensed Nutritionist; Certified Holistic Health Practitioner; Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician; and a Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. Reconnect to your physical, emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual natural rhythms at
http://evenstaronline.com
