the symptoms are quite familiar very likely you'll come up with a correct diagnosis yes it looks like a cold a common cold runny nose headache a guinness very often a slight fever those are some of the symptoms of  common cold well how do we get into that unhappy state have cold simply because of cold because of ice snow and low temperature no funny thing about cold where is coldest the inhabitants hardly ever get colds explorers tell us that eskimos are cold free most they come in contact with visitors from outside their frozen world then if it is not just cold weather what is it that causes so many of us to catch cold scientists think that most colds are caused by kes tree mli small microorganisms called viruses viruses and there are many different kinds of them can be scattered with each particle of saliva and mucus when one sneezes or coughs for it but do not think for a moment that cold producing viruses are spread only by sneezing and coughing if by some magic the tiny particles of saliva and mucus could be made visible as a black smudge we quickly would realize and how many other ways we are apt to scatter bacteria and viruses all around us for instance again here as a co look at that smile look at those germs the leaves on the door and here's bob's hand picking them up his hand are covered with germs picked up from that door and transfers them to a book to having the bad habit of wedding or finger to turn pages carries the germs from the book to her mouth and then passes them along with a pencil to a man carries them home and leaves them on the family's dinner table yes even during an ordinary conversation saliva and because particles escape our mouth and easily reach others who inhale them as they bre just remember how our breath becomes visible on a cold day how then with so many germs surrounding us can we avoid having colds all the time well fortunately our body has defenses against this enemy normally we breathe through our nose the nose as well as the sinuses eustachian tube and the throat i lined with a delicate membrane if under a microscope you look at the lining of the nose we call it the nasal membrane you can see that it is covered with tiny moving threads these are called cilia they move back and forth like stocks of grain when a wind blows over a field the sillier are covered with a warm moist sticky substance called mucus the nose usually secrete about a quarter of this liquid every twenty four hours this mucus by warming and  we breathe in prepares it for our lungs the mucus also catches and destroys microorganisms that is bacteria and viruses the movement of the cilia carries the mucous down to cause the informations which so often are associated with the common cold the common cold is not a serious sickness but still medical science has yet has not found a cure for  it there are remedies galore all sorts of medications which soothe pain and headaches and so bring some relief however they do not cure colds and no matter how convincingly they may be advertised do not use them without having to check with your doctor but there is a sound prescription if you have a cold don't stay in school because if you do you may send others home with your you have a cold home stay in bed this is the prescription which common sense and medical science recommends medicines but only those your doctor prescribes know others warm rest which you can get best when you stay in bed and while you're there you might as well make the best of  it use tissues instead of hanging to that way you'll dispose of the germs much better than when you blow them into anchorage or however you do not feel better in a couple of days or if you keep on having a fever you should ask your parents to call a doctor you see what you think is a simple cold could really be the first symptoms of some other disease such as measles infant child paralysis diphtheria moving cough scarlet fever influenza and others however even if your illness proves to be only a simple cold it is still important that you take care of it in a cold which is not a treat it might very well back up along the mucous membrane and so invade the sinuses the cavities in the bones of the face and the skull or the infection may reach the middle ears when it invades the eustachian tube which connects the middle ears with the throat frequently the inflammation also travels down the respiratory tract to the pharynx the larynx and the your throat feels sore and your voice is husky it travels to the bronchitis you have a bad cough and occasionally even to the lungs and that is pneumonia these are painful complications and they often take a long time to clear up the best defense against the common cold in all these other diseases is to keep up the body's natural resistance to do so you must eat regularly and well balanced meals that is meat vegetables fruit milk and so on get lots of exercise and fresh air but do not exhaust yourself in cold weather you must w sensible clothing to provide proper warmth to remain healthy go to bed at a reasonable hour why you grow you need about ten hours of sleep each night sleep recharge is the body's energies protect yourself against infection keep pencils and other things out of your mouth never take bites of other people's food do not use somebody else's drinking straw or glass not even within your own family in the bathroom for instance use only your glass and wash your hands frequently and thoroughly especially before eating when you wash your hands you wash away many of the disease carrying you may have picked up but if in spite of all these precautions you still come down with a cold let us repeat take it to bed and stay there until it has run its course this is the safest way to regain your health and to return as quickly as possible to work to fun and to play