Colds: Separating Fact From Fiction

By Rachel Grumman Bender for YouBeauty.com

Stock up on the tissues because cold and flu season is officially here. There are a whopping one billion colds in the United States each year (so basically, plan on getting more than one).

But what causes colds and helps you get over a bad case of the sniffles is surrounded by myths and misinformation.

Get the truth about what makes you sick -- and how to fight off the common cold.

Comments

[SisterAnn]

12:04 PM on 12/23/2011

If you add red pepper and a clove of garlic to Chicken Noodle soup, it will even knock the flu.

Some think you should eat the garlic, red pepper and soup, then drink a glass of ice water and cover up with many blankets. You will sweat and get the 'germs' out of your body.

I have good luck without the ice water and the blankets. I have found that dipping a q-tip in saline solution and washing out my nostrils and using saline solution in my eyes will stop colds and flu too. Changing pillow cases every day when you have a cold helps too. Or you can lay something over your pillow and case. This way you aren't breathing back your sneezes and coughs.

[swypeshield]

12:20 PM on 12/20/2011

These are great - easy separation of fact vs. myth! Thanks for sharing!
www.swypeshield.com Cold & Flu Shield

[wollstonecraft]

09:59 AM on 12/19/2011

This might be a little off topic, but it has to do with hygiene practices and avoiding spreading colds: I get a flu shot every season. I'm diligent about washing my hands and not touching my face. It's been a few years since I've had a cold (and that one I caught when a man sitting next to me on a train coughed directly into my face. I felt sputum spray into my eyes. That resulted in a severe cold). Three weeks ago I went to my GP for a routine visit. I was completely healthy when I went there. In hindsight, I realize that the intake nurse didn't wash or sanitize his hands before taking my vital signs. The result is the nasty cold I have now. I'm convinced that's where I caught it. When you visit your doctor's office, insist that intake people and doctors wash or sanitize their hands in your presence before they touch you or any instrument they use on you.

[nerak kneeling]

03:38 AM on 12/19/2011

mersa is more prevalent in gym situations , and can kill you ,, always wash your hands , actually shower after the gym AT HOME.

[FiredUpRTG]

12:47 AM on 12/19/2011

Please don't go to the gym if you're using your sweaty towel to wipe down the equipment you just used. Use disinfectant wipes or stay home. I've gotten a few colds from the gym.

[Cariboojohn]

04:30 AM on 12/18/2011

A common cold is really not a cold or flu, it's just the same type of symptoms. You live your 'cold' when you eat so many mucus forming foods, the mucus builds up in the system, then settles in guts, lungs etc. right from birth. this mucus turns to cattarrhal condition ( or solids) and stays with you until you get your seasonal ' flu'. Then the body gets a fever, which brings the body temperature up and this stuff starts to become liquid and flows out in the form of Phlem, and bingo, you say you have a cold. But, in reality, the body is in a 'cleansing' mode. It does this as often as it needs to, and it's called a ' Healing Crisis'. Drink plenty of water and lemonade and rest and let it do it's thing. In 3 days you are usually on the mend. Do not run to the Doctor, he will make matters even worse for the next time. Flue shots are not recommended. I have not had the flu or symtoms for about 15 yrs. Never a flue shot. Get some facts from Dr. Bernard Jensen DC.. Get the facts from someone who actually studied 'Health', not sickness.

[telmo99]

09:20 PM on 12/18/2011

Very well stated!! Thanks for sharing! Isn't Dr. Bernard Jensen DC the one that wrote the book the Master Cleanser??

[SisterAnn]

12:11 PM on 12/23/2011

I believe that you are right about that.

I have thought before that a little fever helps as long as it doesn't go too high or last too long.

I had my first flu shot in October. I then had my first cold in 3 years. I haven't had the flu in 5 years.

I try not to ever get a cold or the flu by taking disinfectent wipes shopping and wipe carts and wash my hands a lot.

[whyldlife]

11:56 PM on 12/16/2011

Certainly a less understood role is genetics. We came from people who lived in singular climates but now we mix and move. Some people do well in colder climates, some better in warmer. Some can tolerate the high pollen areas, some just find areas where they have severe sensitivities. Things like good hygiene, immune system boosters and tolerance of low grade fevers help augment our natural responses while antibiotics and antipyretics, while well intentioned actually thwart our time tested response mechanisms. And certainly Mediterranean descendants probably shouldn't move to Minnesota and Scandanavians would probably be wise to avoid Mississippi :-)

[Nelson Montana]

11:19 PM on 12/16/2011

I know everyone says that temperature has nothing to do with catching a cold but I don't believe it. They're missing something. If I go out in severe cold and it gets in my ears and throat, that's when I get sick.

[FiredUpRTG]

12:45 AM on 12/19/2011

Perhaps your body is fighting to stay warm, and that gives a germ time to colonize and turn into a cold. Doesn't explain summer cold.

[JMilton1976]

06:17 PM on 12/20/2011

I agree. As the husband of a general practitioner, I've been indocrinated with the "well it is cold season" long enough to know weather does play a part in illness.

[roudy]

08:35 PM on 12/16/2011

It's been so many years I forgot what it's like to actually have a cold. Feel one coming on, use Zicam nasal spray for a day or two, it's gone. Girlfriend refuses to believe it works, won't use it, so gets two or three colds a season, with at least one real nasty one that lays her up for a week or longer. I just go skiing that week.

[SisterAnn]

12:13 PM on 12/23/2011

I was trying to think of what the name of that was. My husband uses it and never has a cold any more.

[Food Babe]

05:43 PM on 12/16/2011

Getting rid of colds is super easy with Yin Chou Tu Pien (Chinese Herbs) ... Anyone ever try it? You take when you first start to feel anything.. If you catch it before it really starts, the cold will just fly right through you without symptoms. PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME!

Also - I drink a lot of garlic juice in my regular fresh vegetable juice and have hot water with lemon and cayenne every morning... giving me a strong immunity every single day.

Want more info - check out my Facebook Page :) http://facebook.com/thefoodbabe

[SisterAnn]

12:20 PM on 12/23/2011

Sometimes I have a itch on one side of my throat which makes me cough. I don't have a cold with it. For the nagging cough, I use lemon on ice with a little salt. First I swallow honey then the lemon water.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I use a few drops of olive oil in the ear on the side the itch is and it sometimes stops it by draining down that side. You can buy it as ear drops at the store, but the ingredient is olive oil....or sweet oil.

[vikingv]

12:24 PM on 12/16/2011

This article is actually bad science. The logic is twisted to make conditions that increase the risk of a cold seem like they do not increase the conditions of contracting a cold.

The fact is, certain viruses thrive in cold weather, not because people are in near proximity or because the heater is on, but because a number of viruses take advantage of body temperature drops in the extremities, next to the skin.

Cold feet, neck, nose, head or sweating in the cold provides a thin outer layer where white blood cells are temporarily reduced in numbers, thus providing a window of opportunity for viruses to rapidly multiple and gain a foothold.

The key is to heat up the body and allow a good blood flow to cold parts of the body. Wear socks, mittens and cover your head and ears. Add a neck scarf while you are at it. And do not shovel snow so hard that you start to sweat and feel a chill inside your winter coat.

It is not a wife's tale that getting cold will increase your risk of a winter virus. True, you do need to come in contact with a virus, but the conditions under which a virus will thrive can be controlled by you.

[Jessen Joseph]

03:16 PM on 12/16/2011

You won't believe what I'm about to say...

I suffered from a mild, traumatic brain injury 2 years ago. Due to that, my hypothalamus has gone totally haywire on me. I don't feel 'cold' unless the temperature is below -5 to -10 degree celsius.

I'm probably the only one you'd see in Canada going out in plain t-shirt, shorts, sandals & not wearing a jacket right now. And guess what....I'm the only one in my family who hadn't gotten sick since my accident.

I'll admit shamelessly though...that I have been diagnosed with OCD.

[vikingv]

04:12 PM on 12/16/2011

I should add, every person is different. Some people I know never get a cold or the flu. Myself, I am not so lucky. When I lived up north I constantly got sick in the fall, winter and spring with flu, colds, swollen tonsils, etc. Since I have moved to the southern tip of Florida, rarely do I get sick and never with a cold. I skip whole years where I never get sick period. Amazing what a change of climate will do.

[roudy]

08:36 PM on 12/16/2011

Sounds like a smart move for you.

[SisterAnn]

12:23 PM on 12/23/2011

I have heard that a hat will hold in more body heat than a coat, but I think I would use the coat if I had to choose.