РефератыИностранный языкThThe Common Cold Essay Research Paper The

The Common Cold Essay Research Paper The

The Common Cold Essay, Research Paper


The common cold has been plaguing humankind


since the beginning of human existence. Even in


these advanced times, there is no vaccine or cure.


There are many symptoms that accompany the


common cold. Some of these infamous symptoms


are a runny nose, caused by inflammation of the


nasal tissues, resulting in over production of mucus


to trap the virus, and coughing. there are two


different kinds or types of coughs that are


common with colds. The first, is the less common


dry hacking cough, these kinds are more likely to


keep you up at night and just plainly annoy you


than do any thing else. The other more common


type of cough is the kind whose purpose is to


expel mucus and or phlegm. These help to combat


the cold by helping to expel the mucus that has the


virus trapped in it. Other symptoms include a slight


tingle or tickle in the back of the throat that usually


turns into a sore throat and sneezing. Both of these


symptoms are was for your body to help expel


phlegm or mucus from the body. Another


symptom is swelling of the face and or neck


usually accompanied by pain around the eyes,


nose, and forehead. This pain and swelling is


caused by the introduction of the virus into your


upper respiratory tract, therefore causing mucus


building up in your nasal passages and then in your


sinuses causing them both to become impacted.


Many people complain of hoarseness, aches and


pains in their joints, fever of about 101 degrees,


and general aches and pains all over their bodies


(Anthanasoid). There are at least two hundred


different kinds of viruses that are known to cause


what is known as the common cold, and an


unknown number of undiscovered causes (Nourse


56). The virus who is usually responsible for a


cold is called a rhinovirus, and it accounts for


around thirty to fifty percent of all colds that afflict


the adult part of the human population. The virus


that is secondly responsible for most common


colds, is called a coronavirus, and it is only


different form a rhinovirus by a margin of few


select proteins in it’s molecular structure. The


rhinovirus is so small that it can only be measured


in milimicrons, one milimicron is about


1/25,000,000 of an inch, that means that about


five hundred rhioviruses can fit on the point of a


pin. That fact makes the rhinovirus and the


coronavirus categorized in the medium territory.


The virus cannot reproduce by itself. In fact


scientists cannot even decide whether to classify it


as an animal or a plant, because it is so primitive.


To reproduce, the virus must first latch onto a


nearby cell and inject it’s genetic makeup into the


cell. It then tells the cell to make as many viruses


as it can, using the chemicals inside of the cell. The


cell keep producing viruses until the outer cell wall


explodes releasing all of the new viruses into the


bloodstream. The best part about many of the


viruses that cause colds is that they are self


limiting. That means that after the virus reproduces


so much it just stops and dies. In the case of


common colds, the virus runs it’s course in about


ten to fourteen days. Because it kills itself, the


infected person’s immune system doesn’t realy


have to do anything except maybe keep it in their


upper respiratory track. There have been


documented cases when a cold actually


inadvertently killed someone. In these rare cases,


the viral infection lead to a bacterial infection in the


middle ear and therefore lead to death. This is why


if your ears hurt, you should see a doctor


immediately (Knight 10-15, 23-25). There are


many misconceptions about the spread of the


common cold. For one thing, a person who


doesn’t cover their mouth when coughing and or


sneezing, is not necessarily spreading their cold


says John Poppy (104). Another article in the


"Mayo Clinic Health Letter" stated that coughing


and sneezing is one of the things that spreads the


cold virus the most. The reasoning behind that is,


the cough or sneeze spreads the viral particles all


around. Then people touch the spot that has one


of these particles on it with their hands and rub


their hands on their nose and mouth. This action


spreads the cold even further. This same article


said that kissing doesn’t necessarily spread the


cold virus (1-2). Laurie Tarkan says that the main


way that the cold virus is spread is through


touching of the nose and mouth, like the Mayo


Clinic Letter. She also stated that the reason that


colds seam to flourish in the winter is that people


tend to group together in schools and in homes,


therefor spreading the virus throughout the


population. Also more people tend to fly durring


the winter. In order to keep the cabin pressurized,


the airplane circulates the air, and that means that


if one person has a cold and coughs then the


whole plane will have a great chance to become


infected. Also at higher altitudes, the air seriously


dries out the nasal membrane in the nose and


therefore make a person more susceptible to the


virus. Because of this, experts like Laurie Tarkan


suggest to drink allot of water while flying in an


airplane, about eight ounces for every hour that


you are on the airplane (202, The Common Cold


2). There is only one possible way to stay totally


healthy during the winter. That is to be locked in a


room underground and not see anyone until the


cold season is over. Fortunately there are a few


guidelines that you can follow to help your chances


of staying well this winter. One is to wash your


hands often, not compulsively but often, and also


try to stay away from people who have realy bad


colds. If someone in your house or workplace gets


or has a cold, then it is suggested that you should


disinfect with "Lysol" or hydrogen peroxide often,


again not compulsively but often. Many people


believe that garlic can help to avoid a cold, but


studies on this su

bject have been shown to be


inconclusive, in most recent test anyhow (The


Common Cold 2). Even if you follow all of the


guidelines, you still might catch an occasional cold,


so, if you have a cold you there are a lot of things


you can do to lessen the power of the symptoms.


A cold usually last from ten to fourteen days. Dr..


Robert Anthanasoid say that consuming low


quantities of Vitamin C, about 250 Mg per day,


help to lessen the time or length of the cold. Some


people say that taking large doses of Vitamin C,


about two grams per day, helps to lessen the


duration of a cold (Childhood Infections). While


the "Mayo Health Clinic Letter" said that any


dosage of Vitamin C doesn’t help of hinder any


form of the common cold. Chicken soup, on the


other hand, is shown to reduce the severity of the


symptoms of the common cold. If you make


chicken soup for someone with a cold, Laurie


Tarken from "Good Housekeeping" suggests


"loading it up with garlic, onion, and heat. It is


thought that the reason for chicken soup works so


well is because of the chicken. It contains Cystine,


an amino acid, that thins mucus. The Cystine and


the steam off of the soup are what can clear up a


plugged nasal passage and make breathing a lot


easier (John Poppy 109). There is no cure for the


common cold because there are over 200 known


virus that cause what is know as the "common


cold," and there is no vaccine. There is no vaccine


because of the same reason, that there is no cure,


the sheer number of the known causes. Because


you can’t cure a cold you can only hide or stop the


symptoms. There are literally thousands of cold


"remedies" or "cures." Over one billion dollars are


spent on cold "remedies" in the U.S. today (The


Common Cold 1). There are many different over


the counter drugs that claim to stop colds. Some


of these are mixes, mainly ones that claim to do


everything, most of these "mixes" contain


antihistamines. Antihistamines don’t do anything for


a cold. The only they do is make you drowsy. The


most common antihistamine is chlorpheniramine.


Like antihistamines, Decongestants might make


you drowsy, but their real use is to unplug your


nasal and sinus passages. Decongestants that


reverse the swelling go the blood vessels in the


nose caused by viral infections according to Laurie


Tarkan of "Good Housekeeping" (201). Spray


Decongestants are the best, but can be come


addictive with over use. Doctors suggest using a


spray once in the morning and once at night. They


also suggest that you don’t use them for more than


three days, beacaue they can cause your throat to


burn. Decongestants in pill form can take from 45


minutes to an hour to start to work. Most


combination medications contain a decongestant.


Coughing is sometimes caused by irritated airway


and or an increase in post nasal drip. There are


two different types of cough medications. One is a


suppresant and the other is an expectortant. The


suppressant stops dry hackin coughs, and the


expectorant helps to bring up mucus or phlem.


Expectorants thin out the mucus in your throat by


using your bodily fluids. So if you are using an


expectorant, be sure to consume a lot of liquids.


Coedine, is a popular expectorant, but shouldn’t


be taken with sedatives or alcohol. "Vicks 44" is


useless for a cough because it contains both an


expectorant and a suppressant (Poppy 104).


Another name for a suppresant is antitussive. The


problem with these is that they might contain


narcotics that act directly on the brain, so be sure


to consult a doctor before taking any medications.


Some over-the-counter products that seem to


work as expectorants are Guaifenesin in


"Robitussin" or "Triminic". Cough drops of


lozenges work better than pills and usually taste a


lot better. Look for something with Mentholate in


it to soothe sore throat pain and coughs (Tarkan


202) Colds sometimes are accompanied by aches


and pains. Headaches are usually caused by the


compacting of the nasal passages and sinuses.


They only close off when a virus enters the upper


respiratory tract. This pain can usually be stopped


by taking ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or aspirin. It


is important to be careful when giving aspirin to


children, because it has been linked to Ray’s


syndrome. Ray’s syndrome is a potentially deadly


disease that sometimes occurs in children that are


infected with the flu, pneumonia, or chicken pox


(The Common Cold 1-3). Because there are so


many kinds of combinations many people tend to


become confused when bombarded with all of the


adds for cold medicines. Above all "Sudafed" and


"Tylenol Flu" are rated the highest for the relief of


the symptoms of the common cold according to


Laurie Tarkan of Good Housekeeping (212). She


strongly suggests that before taking any


medication, over the counter or not, you should


seek a doctor’s help in choosing a drug or a


combination of drugs. When shopping for a cold


remedy remember that there are less expensive


generic brands that contain the same drugs and


work just as well. If any symptoms change or


become worse than you think that they should be,


within reason, it is suggested that you seek a


doctor’ help. This is suggested because many


serious illnesses start out with cold-like symptoms


that become much worse. They might not be able


to cure the common cold ever, but there are now


drugs in the works that can help to ease the


symptoms and cause little or no side effects.


Overall, colds are not killers, most of the time, just


rather annoying to have. There are drugs that can


put a stop to all of the annoying symptoms, but the


main idea for "curing" a cold is to use a medical


practice aptly dubbed the "Tincture of Time." To


speed recovery, sleep as much as possible, and


eat very little.

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