According to the National Institutes of Health, Americans suffer as many as one billion colds every year. Children have about 6 to 12 colds per year. Adults usually get about two to four colds per year. Researchers believe cold symptoms are caused by the body s immune response to the invading cold virus. Within two to three days after an infection, patients experience a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, and headache.
Most people recover in about a week, but some symptoms can linger for up to two weeks.
There isn t any cure for the common cold. Simple home remedies, such as gargling with warm salt water and eating chicken soup, may also help some patients. A similar risk is assumed for men, but there weren t enough males in the study group to validate the findings. Although the risk of stroke is low, hemorrhagic strokes are often deadly - and there is no way to predict which patients are at increased risk from the drug. Therefore, the FDA is taking steps to have PPA removed from all drug products and has asked manufacturers to stop marketing products with the ingredient.