Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-06-25

the enormous figure of some
thing over a billion days of
sickness, just from the common
cold. Probabilities are that each
cold lasts longer than, that. Com
plicating n f e c t ms, sinus
trouble, ear infections, bronchi-
tbs, larnygitis n d pneumonia
would add at least another bill
lion days of disability,
A number of causes have been
found for the symptoms we call
a cold. A virus has been isolated
from nasal secretions of persons
with typical cold, which, when
transmitted to OF h e r persons,
gives them the same kind of a
cold. This is probably the kind
of a cold that you most COM
monty cotch from other people.
There is reason to believe that
this virus infection prepares the
nose and throat for a lot of other
bacterial i n fe C t ons causing
those kinds of colds that last for
days and weeks. These other
bacteria normally live in every
body's nose and throat and cause
no truoble unless the factors
which control their growth are
affected by a change in our pro-
tective machinery. TIL ey can
produce a cold without the as
sistance of this virus when the
nose and throa are made
susceotible to their invasion by
wet feet, chilling, drafts, super
heated extra dry rooms, and
other factors we commonly say
cause a cold.
Both virus and bacterial
colds are spread by the nose
and throat secretiOns of peo-
! pie who have colds, which
escape from the patient In the
little droplets of moisture that
constantly leave the mouth
and nose and are forced out
in a heavy spray whenever
one talks, coughs or SneeZe.
They enter their next victim
by being breathed into the
nose and mouth or by direct
transfer to the mouth by con-
taminated hands, eating uten-
siIs, or drinking glasses.
During the first "a hours that
we have a cold we feel pretty
good. We 60 on about our busi-
ness inspite of the fact that we
spread the cold to everybody we
meet. About the time we feel
too miserable to go on with our
work and decide it is time to
60 home and 60 to bed, we are
no longer likely to transmit our
cold to somebody else. From the
public health point of view II
would be much more sensible to
go to bed the minute you feel
a hot dry spot in the back OF
your nose, and then a couple OF
DAYS later when you feel miser-
able, get up and 60 to work.
The treatment of the cold is
ineffective. Consider the thou
sands of things people use to
treat colds. Every drug manu-
facterer has his own special cold
cure. Many of the nostrums and
p tent t medicines peddled for
the treatment of a cold do no
good and often are harmful. One
of the best descriptions of the
problem we face in treating the
common cold is the report re-
Gently made to the American
M e ical Association by Dr.
H bart Reimann of Jefferson
Medical College, whose remarks
are abstracted in the November
Readers Digest He concludes
with this remark, "Some day we
may have the specific treatment
for colds. Until that day comes
common sense dictates that we
cease to fool ourselves. If we
can't prevent colds and cant
cure them. we can at least lei
nature take its course unim'
peded." "
Most of the commercially
advertised preparations for
the treatment of the common
cold are going to be less ef-
fective than 10 to IS per cent.
Also 1t is quite obvious that
no matter which of the COM
mercially advertised prepara-
tions are used, at least 10 OF
the colds are going to feel
better, because 1t Sas been
shown that they do feel better
even when nothing Is taken
Since most of the cold prepa-
rations on the market contain
ro ouium or its derivatives,