How to Deal with a Cold » The Unclouded Path

We’ve all been there. You’re fine one day, feeling a little unwell the next, and then the day after that you’re sick. It’s the common cold, the most frequent infectious disease in humans. In fact, it’s so common that even the oldest existing medical text (an ancient Egyptian one from about 1550 BCE) talks about how to deal with a cold. As expected of something that ingrained in human history, there are a lot of so-called “old wives’ tales” about it. Here’s how they hold up to science as well as some tips on how to deal with a cold.

What Is the Common Cold?

The common cold is an upper respiratory disease that mainly affects the nose. Sometimes the disease can also affect the throat, sinuses, and the larynx. Over 200 strains of viruses can cause the cold, but it’s usually the rhinovirus (“nose virus”).

The symptoms start less than 2 days after the virus has entered your system. These include coughing, sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, congestion, sore throat, headache, and mild fever. Sometimes, it can lead to complications like pneumonia. However, a cold usually isn’t particularly harmful, and it usually goes away in about a week or so. The average adult catches a cold about 2-4 times a year. Young kids get colds more frequently.

How Is the Common Cold Different from the Flu?

Both diseases have similar symptoms, so it’s easy to mistake one for the other. But the flu is caused by the influenza virus, and its symptoms are generally more severe and appear much faster. You’re also more likely to have a fever, chills, aches, and fatigue when you have the flu.

Tips for Avoiding Colds

Unlike the flu, there is no cold vaccine you can get. There are just too many different viruses that cause the cold, and they evolve too quickly. Still, there are some simple things you can do to reduce your risk of getting a cold:

Wash your hands. Hands are one of the major ways cold viruses spread, so keeping them clean will reduce the chance that one of them infects you.
If you’re outside or living with someone with a cold, avoid touching your eyes and nose. Since you’re touching all sorts of surfaces with your hands, you might pick up viruses. If you touch your eyes or nose without washing your hands, those viruses can infect those areas.
Eat healthy and get enough sleep. You’re more likely to get a cold when your immune system is weakened. Getting enough nutrients and enough sleep helps keep your immune system working right.
Avoid close contact with anyone who has a cold. The cold virus can get into your body from airborne droplets (from coughing and sneezing) and contaminated surfaces. Rhinoviruses can survive for up to 18 hours in the environment, so being too close to someone who has a cold will increase your risk of coming into contact with either of these. If you’re living with people who have a cold, don’t use the same utensils or cups that they use and clean surfaces that they touch (like keyboards or toys) often.

Ways to Deal with the Symptoms of a Cold

Although there isn’t a cure, there are some reliable ways to help deal with the symptoms of a cold. There are also plenty of folk remedies, but many studies have failed to find consistent data about their effectiveness. Symptoms are subjective, so it’s not always possible to get an accurate measurement of how much they’ve improved. Also, some remedies are impossible to perform blind studies with. For example, in testing the effectiveness of warm drinks, it’s immediately obvious to both the person conducting the study and the test subject which drink is warm. These circumstances often lend themselves to placebo effects and other factors that muddy the results.

Things That Help

Get plenty of rest. Sleep helps maintain immune system function and getting enough will help your immune system fight off the cold faster.
Drink plenty of fluids. It’ll ease congestion (by increasing mucus flow) and keep you hydrated. Drinking fluids can also help soothe a sore throat. You can also try a warm saltwater gargle, throat drops, or hard candy for sore throats. In addition, warm fluids and vapors can help moisten and loosen dried-up mucus.
A humidifier can help ease congestion. Dry air tends to dry out your air passageways making congestion harder to get rid of. Just remember to change the water and clean it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and aspirin can help with pain relief. These are often in generic cold medicines at your local pharmacy, so it’s not necessary to buy brand ones. Talk to a doctor before giving these to young kids and teenagers, since they may cause serious side effects.
Remember to eat and eat healthy foods. Your body needs energy and nutrients to fight off the infection. So while it may be uncomfortable to eat, try to make an effort to eat enough nutritious food.

Things with Conflicting or Unclear Evidence

Vitamin C and zinc supplements: Both nutrients help the immune system. However, many studies testing their effectiveness have been inconclusive and/or flawed. For example, vitamin C didn’t help prevent a cold, but in some limited circumstances, it slightly reduced the duration of symptoms. The results for zinc were similar.
Echinacea supplements: Echinacea is a popular folk remedy for the cold, though results from studies have been inconclusive. Some showed no benefit, while others showed a slight decrease in both the severity and duration of symptoms. The studies used different kinds of echinacea, further muddying the results. While echinacea supplements are generally safe for adults to take, talk to your doctor before taking them because it’s possible that they could interact with other medications you might be taking.
Garlic: Some studies have found that eating garlic reduces the chance of getting colds. But they had small sample sizes, and it’s unclear what about garlic gives this benefit (if it even exists).
Chicken soup: It’s probably the most well-known folk remedy, but there haven’t been any solid studies about benefits specific to chicken soup. Not only that, there are many recipes for chicken soup, so it’s difficult to isolate what benefits (if any) came from what ingredient. It’s a warm fluid with nutrients, so it can help ease congestion and sore throats and give your body energy, nutrition, and water. But that’s about it. Although one study found that it could help reduce inflammation, it was done with isolated cells, which doesn’t exactly reflect what actually happens inside your body. It’s also been hypothesized that the cysteine (an amino acid) in chicken soup could help with clearing out respiratory infections since it’s similar to acetylcysteine, which doctors use for that purpose. It hasn’t been thoroughly tested, though.

Things That You Shouldn’t Do

Don’t take antibiotics. Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, not viruses. You’ll only be contributing to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Don’t give over-the-counter cold medicine to young children (under 5 years old). They may cause serious side effects. You should talk with a doctor before giving young kids any medication.
If you’re pregnant, avoid any medication in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This is to help prevent problems during a time when the baby’s vital organs are developing. Also, avoid using aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and codeine (unless your doctor tells you it’s okay) since these may also cause problems.
Don’t use zinc nasal sprays. They don’t really help and can permanently damage your sense of smell.

Myths About Colds

You’ve probably heard of at least some of these from media sources or maybe even your mom. But they’re either misleading or just plain false.

“Feed a cold, starve a fever”. A fever is not necessarily something you need to get rid of. It’s an immune response (not a disease) to an infection and can help the immune system do its job, such as by increasing the activities of certain immune cells. The body also consumes more calories during a fever, so eating less during a fever is just counterproductive. So it should actually be “feed a cold, feed a fever”.
Cold temperatures cause colds. Despite its name, colds aren’t caused by cold temperatures. Viruses cause them, and if you aren’t exposed to the virus, you won’t catch a cold no matter how cold it is. However, hypothermia can weaken your immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to viruses.
Don’t go outside with wet hair or you’ll get a cold. Supposedly it’s because it’s will make you colder. But it’s false for the same reason above.
You can “sweat out” a cold. Sweating doesn’t do anything for a cold. However, some of the things you do to make you sweat (like drinking hot drinks or going to a sauna) can help with congestion.
Don’t drink milk during a cold. It’s widely thought that milk worsens mucus production, but it’s not true. The self-reported effect is likely due to placebo or the fact that milk is an emulsion (droplets cluster together when mixed with saliva). So it’s totally fine to drink a glass of hot cocoa or warm milk when you’re sick if that’s what you prefer.