Paging Doctor Mom
Did your mother give you the best advice on preventing and treating colds? As it turns out, she was right on target about some things but missed the mark on others.
“Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever.”
“Feed a cold, starve a fever” is half right. When you’re sick – with a cold or a fever – you need good nutritious food to help keep your immune system functioning at its peak and fighting off the illness. What you feed your immune system may also matter. A study conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University looked into the effect of taking extra vitamin E for colds. Although popping a daily supplement of 200 IU of vitamin E didn’t significantly shorten the duration of colds in the study, participants who supplemented with vitamin E got significantly fewer colds than those who didn’t take vitamin E.
The verdict: Mom was partially right on this one.
“Don’t go outside, you’ll catch a cold.”
Despite their name, colds have zero to do with temperature (they’re viral infections, period). In fact, a classic 1968 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that colds were no more frequent or severe in people who were chilled than in those who were not.
The verdict: Mom’s advice was, well, cold.
“Put your hand over your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.”
Although it might look polite, it’s anything but. When you capture your coughs and sneezes in your hand, you’re likely to pass the cold on to someone else. Cold viruses exist in large quantities in the
nasal fluid of people with colds and are easily transferred from the hands of a cold sufferer to those of an unsuspecting acquaintance after even the
briefest contact. (You also leave viruses on
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doorknobs, telephones, countertops and elevator buttons.) To sidestep such icky transmissions be sure to wash your hands frequently and use a tissue or, if one isn’t handy, cough and sneeze into your inner elbow.
The verdict: Sorry, Mom – you got this one wrong.
Source: Prevention (April 2005)
Additional Tips for Cold Prevention
Colds are so common that it is almost impossible to completely avoid catching one. Additional tips to reduce your risk:
-- Avoid close contact with people who have a cold, especially during the first 3 days when they are most contagious.
-- Wash your hands frequently.
-- Keep your fingers away from your eyes, nose and mouth.
-- If you have a chronic illness or your immune system is compromised you may want to stay out of crowds as much as possible.
-- Get plenty of rest. Sleep is extremely important in ensuring optimal immune system function. Most adults need at least 7 hours a night. |
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