Cold Wars - Chicken Soup and Beyond

The fall and winter months see a dramatic increase in respiratory virus -- colds. No, colds are not caused by cold weather. They are not caused by going outside without a hat or with wet hair; or being in a draft. They are caused by viruses transmitted from person to person. You catch a cold; someone shared it with you. Viruses can be airborne as the result of an uncovered sneeze or cough. Viruses can exist on most surfaces, like door knobs and shopping cart handles. Viruses can thrive on hands for many, many hours, just waiting around for an opportunity to enter the body of an innocent host.

Working in pediatrics, I was proud of my ever-growing collection of medical neckties. After I read an article about contaminated doctor neckties, I gave them up. I have to admit that I had many a tie drag across a little baby's face during an exam, or noticed that a baby was happily sucking on it! Not good.

The two main bodily doors for respiratory viruses are the nose and the eyes; not usually the mouth. Gastrointestinal viruses, the primary cause of diarrhea and vomiting, do enter via the mouth. Intact skin acts like latex gloves; viruses do not enter the body through intact skin, but they happily reside on the surface; namely, the hands.

Humans are tactile creatures. In other words, we touch things. Children are the MOST tactile of our species. Not only do children touch things, they probe things; examine things, stick their fingers deeply and often in their noses, rub their eyes, and pick their butts. Of course, adults do not do those things. The nose-picking exception would be other drivers at red lights. Every time that I look sideways at other drivers at red lights, I see nose-picking. Not just that subtle, quick, innocent rub that we all do; I see some serious probing. I call this Trophy-Hunting.

"He who is without sin may cast the first stone," I hear you cry. Do I pick my nose? Of course, but not in the car where other people can see me and write blog posts about it. Knowing that this practice is a prime cause of respiratory viruses, I consciously try to avoid doing it, unlike children, who have developed nose-picking to some sort of bizarre art form. Let's admit this: Humans are often not the cleanest mammals that share this planet.

When you group children with other children, disease transmission will rapidly occur. It only takes a day or two after a successful viral transfer to develop in a rip-roaring cold. Children and colds are inseparable pairs, especially in day-care, preschool, and even those innocent play groups. In medicine, we have a term for diseases transmitted by animals called zoonosis. I would like to hereby claim the invention of a new word that I term pedianosis -- diseases caused by our kids.

As miserable and as untimely as a cold is for adults, colds are not necessarily a bad thing for kids. Viral infections challenge the immune system, much like vaccines. The more colds you have under your belt, the stronger your immune system becomes. As adults, we have had thousands of colds. Children have only started to pay their dues for living in a world of microorganisms. They may need about fifty or so to jump-start a good, solid immune system. Typically, this will take five or six years. In day-care, they will most likely achieve this benchmark faster.

So, colds are inevitable, unless you live in a bubble. Now for the saddest news -- colds are incurable, at least by modern medicine. Colds, being viruses, do not respond to antibiotics. The symptoms of colds, such as runny noses and coughing can last weeks. Just because you have ONE cold, does not mean you cannot catch another before the first one fades away. These coalescing (back-to-back) colds are very common in children in grouped care. It is not unusual to have a child sniffing and hacking for months during the winter months.

On the Today Show this morning, they talked about the dangers of over-the-counter medications used to treat the symptoms associated with colds -- a several billion dollar business. Each year, thousands of children experience adverse reactions to these drugs; sadly, a few die. Knowing the risks, people stock up on decongestants, antihistamines, expectorants, mucolytics, cough suppressants, herbal remedies, and vitamins anyway.

Do cold remedies work?
That depends on your goal. No remedy, over-the-counter or prescription has been conclusively proven to shorten the course of colds, in spite of what you hear at the health food store or on television, or on the sides of boxes. Vitamin C once purported to be the panacea of cold management failed in studies. Sorry, Dr. Pauling. Echinacea does not work in children according to the studies, although some people swear by it. Zinc lozenges have not been proven to be helpful. Some products have ALL of these things. They, too, may be ineffective.

Chicken soup? The heat and humidity of soup may actually help. Besides, it tastes good. Please keep in mind that this is MY opinion, for all that its worth. I don't want to antagonize all of those natural remedy folks (or non-chicken soup-eating vegetarians) out there that think I am nuts. You have the right to spend your money anyway you want.

There are a few hundred over-the-counter cold remedies that contain drugs. Used as directed, they are safe. Used inappropriately, they are not. Do they help control symptoms? Sometimes. SHOULD we control symptoms? Maybe not.

RUNNY NOSES: The nose is our air filter and humidifier. Mucous (AKA, snot) is the moisture we need for our lungs and throat. Snot is sticky (yuck), but it traps air particles, dust, pollen, and other debris so it can flow OUT, or down our throats into the stomach to be destroyed. If you dry up a runny nose using potent antihistamines, you may be defeating the main purpose of this primitive defense.

STUFFY NOSES: I don't really see any purpose of congestion. We really need to breathe through our noses, but maybe there is a better way than oral or nasal decongestants. The main decongestant is pseudoephedrine; a powerful stimulant that can race your heart and cause insomnia, like strong coffee.

Think about that when you give it to kids. Do you know that methamphetamine (crack, speed, etc.) manufacturers use pseudoephedrine as a main ingredient for this illicit and dangerous drug? I am a big fan of saline nose drops. Human beings ARE saline (water and salt). Our noses get saline from our eyes via the nasolacrimal duct, but often, this is insufficient in a dry, heating home. There is absolutely no harm to using saline in the nose, and it may be very helpful. Stuffy noses can also be improved by blowing your nose (in a tissue, not on your sleeve), increasing the humidity in your environment, or by plenty of drinking fluids (not beer). Do teas help? Sure, teas are fluid. How about orange juice? You bet. Chinese Hot and Sour Soup will make my nose drip like a faucet.

COUGH: The purpose of a cough is to clear the airway; a good thing to do. Expectorants and mucolytics help loosen the cough, but it does not hock it up for you (gross, huh?). Babies and young children may inadvertently vomit accumulated mucous, but they rarely have the advanced skills of hocking a loogie; honed to a fine art by older boys and men. Women and girls abhor this disgusting practice, and rarely develop effective hocking skills. Should a cough be suppressed? Probably not, but those of us who hear our children (or spouses) hacking all night long would disagree. Quieting down an annoying cough at night can help children (and their stressed-out parents) rest, so this common practice may have some peripheral benefits.

FEVER: Fever should be left alone in most cases. Fever another of the body's natural immune responses. Fever is not dangerous and should not be feared, but rather welcomed. Fever, unfortunately, is miserable, so treating the pain and discomfort of an achy, whinny, headachy child may be desirable. There is not need to achieve a perfect 98.6 to make anyone feel better.

FATIGUE: Colds can wipe you out, especially in the first three days when symptoms are at their peak. Listen to your body. If you are tired; rest. If you are sleepy, then sleep. If you have to go to work, call in sick. Not only will rest help the healing body, you will not share your cold with others. Colds are most contagious a day BEFORE you know you have it (nothing you can do to prevent this), and about two days afterwards.

The best way to treat a cold is with contempt. Simple as that.

Related Topics:

• When Your Cold Gets Worse: 6 Signs You Need to See the Doctor
• Surviving Kids' Germs

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