The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-29
COMMON COLDS


The most prevalent illness in the United i states is the common cold, disease group included under one name and considered of such minor importance that vital statistics do not record the enor- nous number of persons who annually are subjected to suffering inconvenience and economic loss thereby. Remarkable as it may seem. the widespread familiar ity with this condition has bred con- tempt which hides it's seriousness, yet when the sum total of the ravages com i mitted by common colds is made, it be- comes evident that instead of being a group of trivial affections, common colds must be classed as serious diseases. | The phrase, common colds, like charity, covers a multitude of sanitary ! sins, and curiously enough, the name has been applied to a group of affections which far from depending absolutely on cold are frequently the direct result of living in close, overheated surroundings having lower relative humidity than the dryest desert known to man.
 The word "colds" means an acute in- lection of the lining membranes of the nose, tonsils, throat and larger bronchial tubes The process may be even more extensive and amount to a general in lection of the entire body All of the breathing apparatus excepting the 1 smaller terminal portions in the lungs 1 may be involved, and as matter of fact | the disease may, and often does. spread 1 to these thus producing pneumonia. In l this connection it may be pointed out that pneumonia kills more people in the l United States than any other disease excepting tuberculosis and heart disease. Many pneumonias begin as common cold Colds do not produce tuberculosis, yet unfortunately what is considered as a cold may be in reality the first symp- , toms of the white plague.
 CAUSES OF COLDS
 The causes of colds are mutiform and not entirely understood. In every case, however, they are dependent upon the growth and activity of living germs when are always received from other people. 1 It is true that almost everybody harpors disease organisms in the mouth and nose, | and that these under favorable condI- 1 tions will produce a cold in their host 1 But these germs in every case were re- !, ceived from some other person. In other | words colds are infectious. It used to be l thought that sitting in draft or a pro i longed stay.in the swimming pool would l produce cold This is erroneous, but | the chilling of the body which the draft
  i forces caused by too long swim, lower 1 the powers of resistance and permit germs which have hitherto been harm l less to their host to produce their dsas- 1 trous effects.
 1 It is not necessary to describe cold. ] Every body is familiar with it in all its variations from the simple, ordinary 1 coryza, which is polite running at the nose. to the sore throat, the aching chest, fever and generally Knocked out" 1 feeling. The cough. the sneeze, the head ache and the varying degrees of ineffi- 1 ciency which a cold produces are, alas
 only too well known. Common colds oc- l cur in epidenlics and are distinctly con- 1 tagious. They sweep through an entire i household. an entire city, an entire state, attacking the young, the adoescent. the
 middle aged and frequently carrying off | the aged. the weak and debilitated. 1 Schools, factories stores are suddenly l crippled by epidemics of this sort and the complications and serious disorders l following the disease add to the great | economic loss produced in this way. In- l lection of the cavities beneath the cheeks | and brows, ear Arrangements. chronic l lung infections, rheumatism, heart disor- l ders. kidney impairment and depressed vitality may all follow in the train of this widespread infection.
 TO PREVENT COLDS
 1 To prevent cold it is necessary first of all to keep the body resistance at high | point of efficiency This means that the body machinery should be kept in good | order at all times. Good wholesome food 1 in proper amount, plenty of sleep, the l careful attendance to the voiding of the 1 body wastes, the taking of regular exer- else in the open air, keeping the body clean, keeping the mouth and nose clean, the avoidance of hot, stuffy, dusty rooms, the avoidance of exposure to sudden changes of temperature, the prevention