The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-11-06
FRESH AIR IS
BEST REMEDY
FOR ANY COLD
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH IS
SUES BULLETIN ON COLDS AND
THE BEST MEANS TO PREVENT
THEM.

| should be read by all citizens:
Now look out for colds,
| This advice, as a paraphrase of the
Old time almanac editors warning, is
particularly timely at this season, al
though no one knows why the name
was given to that condition of sneezing,
wheeling and general miserableness
that we wrongly associate with the
cooler seasons of the year 1t is a fact
that colds are more prevalent in the
colder months but IT is due only in
directly to lower temperatures, because
at these seasons we close the doors and
| windows, shut out more than in sum-
mer the free circulation of fresh air,
| and breathe too much an atmosphere
which is vitiated by being depleted of
oxygen.
Most of us cherish the idea that a
sudden draft of chilling air is the
cause of a cold. More than likely this
! is but coincidence. The doctors have
concluded that this affliction is infec-
tious, that it may be carried from one
personsto another by a germ, and it is
often noted that when one member Of
the family has a cold, the others are
quite likely to catch it, That all
do not suffer together is due to the
fact that some individuals have pow
mune, at least for the time.
This power of resista nce is a won
derful fact in the makeup of human
physical economy. To understand what
the doctors mean when they talk about
1t, we must consider the human body
as a battlefield, wherein from birth
until death a. continuous fight is be-
Ing waged between the leucocytes, the
police scavengers in the blood, and
the germs of all diseases that human
flesh is heir to.
These minute protectors of health
are the little white cells in the blood
They are described by the microscop-
lists, who have an intimate acauaint-
anee with them, by names too long and
difficult for popular use by laymen,
but there are several distinct classes
of them, each with it's special field OF
usefulness. When danger threatens
through the invasion of disease germs,
or by external injury which requires
the repair of bone or tissue, these little
fighters rush to the rescue, they null
tiply in numbers and activity, and if
they are not overpowered they win the
victory, which means that health and
normal physical conditions are re-
stored.
Their activity is the measure of this
power CT resistance, which enables us
to ward off disease and to escape in
lection when it threatens. 1t is natural
that it should be strongest in the adult
in full strength Of life. and weakest
inn the very young and in old age.
This is proven by the fact that by far
the largest proportion of deaths occur
in the two extremes of life, and the
smallest in the decades between TWEEN
ty and fifty.
1t is well known that oxygen is
purifying agent, invigorating and
STRENGTHENING because Of it's cleansing
power. The oxygen from the air
breathed into the lungs is carried into
the blood where it reaches these leu
cocytes and strengthens them for their
important work. Naturally, also
lack of oxygen, exhausted from the air
by breathing or other means, induces
a lack of resisting power. This means
that a plentiful supply of fresh, oxy-
gen-laden air brought into the home by
perfect ventilation. is the best. health
preservative known to medical or sani-
tary science, and it is one of the best
cures, too. 1t is the best preventive of
colds that can be found, and it has
the advantage of being decidedly cheap.
The germs that cause colds may be
carried from one person to another
through personal conta ct or close prox-
unity They are expelled from the
patient by sneezing, violent coughing.
in the sputum and in the mucous dis
charges from the nostrils. To escape
catching cold from one person these
germs must not be permitted to enter
the system, which may be made posi-
BILE through a too close proximity with
the afflicted one.
Colds are more announcement and an
moving than dangerous. Their great
est danger, however, is in the fact that
they predispose the patient to the more
serious diseases of the respiratory sys-
tenn, such as catarrh, influenza, diph-
liberia, bronchitis, pneumonia and some
forms of tuberculosis. They are not
the cause of these diseases, but neg
lected they prepare the SYSTEM for
more serious dangers.
Therefore, a cold should not be neg |
lected. The Inflammation OF the m |
fected membranes should be reduced |
and the irritation caused by such m |
hammation should be quoted and nor |
NAL conditions restored as promptly as |
possible.
All Of us pity our ld-afflicted |
friends Most Of US have never failing |
to recommend and we insist /
upon its efficacy with some long story |
about how it has accomplished Won
derful cures in cases we have known.
And most of us with colds listen to
these stores (most interesting TO the |
narrator) with the wish that they had !,
stopped before they were begun. But.
let it be remembered that the best cure
for a cold Is the cheapest of aII-deep /
and frequent inhalation OF fresh, oxy-