Preventing & Treating Colds

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Preventing & Treating Colds PREVENTION: STAY HOME when you’re sick (and keep your kids home when they’re sick, too). Yup, the first step in prevention is to not go out when you’re spewing viral particles, and that will help prevent other people’s infections. Can’t get time off of work? Stay far away from others, sneeze into a tissue or your elbow WASH, WASH, WASH your hands. Handwashing is incredibly well-studied and extremely effective. The trick is, you have to wash your hands correctly. Soap up. Lather well. Scrub. Now rinse. Then dry, and use the paper towel to open the door. That doorknob is infested with germs. No towel? Use your sleeve. DON’T TOUCH your face. It only takes a few virus particles to infiltrate your mucous membranes and make you sick. What are mucous membranes? The soft, moist, folds of your eyes (don’t rub your eyes!), nose (don’t pick your nose!) and mouth (don’t bite your nails/pick your teeth/lick your fingers!).

TREATMENT: So now you’ve got a cold. What treatments are effective? If you want to go all-natural, then there is weak evidence showing that honey, just a tablespoon of plain old honey, can help with the cough associated with the common cold, especially in children. The physiologic mechanism for this is unclear, but it may explain why we get temporary relief from sugary cough drops. (Note: Never give honey to children under a year of age due to risk of botulism.) As far as the items in the “cough and cold” aisle of your local pharmacy, decongestants as well as decongestant-antihistamine combos have been shown to alleviate cold symptoms. What else might work? One thing that has not been extensively studied are rubs and inhalants.There’s been exactly one study on this, involving only 138 children, but there was a significant improvement of symptoms and quality of sleep. There is inconsistent evidence showing that zinc lozenges can slightly shorten the duration of a cold by a day or two, though only in adults, and many people will hate the taste or get nauseated from these. Zinc nasal swabs have been associated with sudden loss of the sense of smell, and so cannot be recommended at all. Despite many studies, there is no consistent evidence showing that vitamin C, echinacea, nasal saline irrigation, garlic, or humidifiers help at all.

Reference: Harvard Health Blog https://goo.gl/yqVWUR