Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEwELL.

/ eat some Of the old-fashioned chocolate
fudge Another had the idea that pill
| ing up" Of caffeine was what turned the
trick with him. He could drink coffee
for q month, or maybe two months,
without harm, he felt, but after that
there surely came an adverse reaction.
Another suspected starchy foods, be-
lieving that a somewhat similar cumu-
lative effect resulted in IAN acid con-
dition" of the system. This condition
of acidity, whether of the blood stream,
tissues, or whatever it Is, or irrespective
of Just exactly what the term means, II
it means anything, seems to have some
thing to do with the causation OF
coryza, as the common cold is known
scientifically. This is as far as our
home reasoner will go. If 1t Is faulty
reasoning, after all it does not make
the nations crack in two, or cause the
heavens to fall. The main thing Is
that 1t may make the person involved
eat more moderately. That Is the gain.
Those who believe that some change
in the ''insides,' which they call acidity,
favors catching cold, are rebuked by
others, who declare heatedly that the
idea has no content Of fact. Those who
believe that their stomachs are re-
sponsible for their colds are told that
the ills of the stomach in relation to a
cold are entirely sympathetic, that it Is
not the "sick stomach" which causes
the cold, but the cold which makes the
stomach sick. Thus the subject goes
around in circles and the average Suf-
ferer is left to the mercies of himself,
his friends and his doctor.
AS the result Of this annual Winter
triple merry-go-round thousands OF
persons sneeZe and cough, and find at
last that there Is no sure cure" no
philosophers stone. no fountain of per-
petual youth In which they may bathe
| and come out cleanSed of their colds
Tall and short, lean and fat, athletic
and sedentary, all seem to suffer from
colds, and no man congratulateS him
self upon his freedom from them but
what he comes down with a 'pippm'
! shortly thereafter. There Is more
knocking on wood" to avert colds than
to exercise all the other evils put to-
gether.
| Colds are so universal that their
cause may be something which all PEG.
pie do. Overeating is surely the mos
widespread indulgence. Few people cal
| lust enough, but perhaps most eat toC
much. Here, again, 1t is the most din
cult thing in the world for the average
person, strictly minding his own bust
ness, to say exactly how much too much
he eats or to put his finger on the one
foodstuff which he believes to be harm
! ing him most.
The increase in colds and relateC
diseases about this time every year ma!
Cor may not) be due to the seaSona
indulgence of the Christmas feastS. Thu
typical American festive dinner is no
one to please the hygienists. And Il
does not follow long after the Thanks
giving gorge, either. So that between
the two the average American is rather
filled up by the time January and Feb
ruary come along. Yet many q mar
who makes a hog out of himself IL
respect to food can point to no mort
colds per season than the tinid person
Awho attempts to stint himself. 1t mus
never be forgotten, however, that thii
latter person Is a cold sufferer to begir
with, and puts himself on rations be.
cause he feels that he must, not becaus'
he wants to. We believe that any per.
son who win study himself and MAKE
use of science can DO q great deal Il
relieve himself Of colds. He may no
succeed as well as he would like to, bu
every little bit gained Is just that much
We know one Washingtonian who still
has a cold, but whose colds are no way
near as severe as the ones he formerly
had. This is gain, Of course, and /
large one for him, although it may no
loom large in medical annals.