WAR ON COLDS

Evening Star, Issue 19856, 3 May 1928, Page 3

WAR ON COLDS

WHAT THEY COST THE COMMUNITY CAUSES AND PROBLEMS AMERICA'S NEW CRUSADE. America, wc are told, has declared war—systematic, organised, relentless war—against the common cold, and large sums are being raised tor research into the best means of exterminating what is described as one of the greatest and most insidious enemies of mankind (writes the medical correspondent ot the ‘ Observer ’). A grant of 195,000 dollars has already been made to the Johns Hopkins University in the hope that intensive study will overcome the medical ignorance which has allowed the community to suffer so long. And this is o-nly a beginning, for it is pointed out that a malady which causes the average man [ to lose 1.4 days’ work per annum and | the average woman 2.1 days is respon- j siblo for an annual loss of something: like £200,000,000 in wages; whilst the j expenses of any no more colds crusade , would be negligible ■ conipai’cd with the : suras spent by optimistic citizens on the 45.000 preparations at present on the United States drug market. That all this enthusiasm is justified will be admitted by anyone who has lately had a cold. All the same it is hard to resist a lecling that the American public—and not perhaps the American public alone—are nowadays inclined to expect a little too much from science. The universal demand lor “ cures ” is reminiscent of tho primitive demand for signs from heaven, and there is reason to” think that many who insist on the discovery of unknown rivers of lienling would avoid most of their troubles bv a daily dip in Jordan. COLD AND CHILL. Tho common cold—the far. too common cold —is not a single disease with one cause. It is the product of many different faetprs whoso importance varies in each individual case, and this makes generalisation difficult. Much may bo learned, nevertheless, by considering tho principal theories of its causation. The old idea that it is due to cold must be modified, since Arctic explorers remain free from catarrhs until their return to civilisation. Some authorities even maintain that the sense of chill associated with catching cold is only a result of infection and never its cause; but, if so, it is hard to explain why many people cannot walk barefoot across a floor or sit in a draught without beginning to run at the nose. Their susceptibility suggests that local cooling of tho skin is indeed responsible for starting the disease m some cases; but this cooling can only do harm if the skin faik to resist and neutralise the cold at the surface. Such resistance is part of the normal function of the skin, which is an elaborate mechanism for keeping the body s temperature constant. Clothes were originally intended for use in places anid at times when man’s environment was unbearably frigid, and they thus extended his sphere of action. But unfortunately their function has been perverted, and from being an auxiliary they have become a necessity, so that our skins, deep in layers of wool, too often lose tho power of reacting in an emergency. This is probably a common reason for catching cold, USES OF FRESH AIR.

For young and healthy _ people the remedy is theoretically simple; cold baths, thin clothing, and exposure will eventually develop an all-weather skin that laughs at minor draughts and dampings. But tiny attempt to prevent colds on these lines must bo cautious, and the hardening regimen is utterly unsuitable for small children or tho aged, who generally need warm surroundings. This brings up the important subject of indoor ventilation. Stephen Leacock, whilst strongly supporting the use of fresh air, says that after a house has been filled with it the doors and windows should be carefully shut, so as not to Jet any 1 escape; properly enclosed, it will lastfor years, in this ho follows Bacon, | who says that “ air accustomed to body doth less prey on it than new air, and j often changed.” I Those writers, however, arc not sup-1 ported by modern investigators, who I conclude'that warm, stagnant air, by! producing congestion in the nose, is the commonest cause of colds in tho head. The transition from a stuffy sitting room to a cold bedroom is apt to bring on tbo attack, win Ist the cold feet and hot heads that develop in ill-ventilated rooms are the exact reverse of what is desirable to ward off bacterial infer;, tion.

INFECTION AND HOW TO FACE IT. So far nothing has been said about the nature of this infection. The significance of its role seems to be variable, for in some forms of catarrh—hay fever, for example—the bacterial element is lacking altogether, and dust or proteins directly cause the inflammation.

At the other extreme there are epidemics in which tho common cold be■domos exceedingly infectious _ tind spreads like influenza. Under suen conditions, and, indeed, in most forms of cold, there may be myriads of microbes in the nose, and several kinds have received names indicating that they are the pnncipal cause of tho disorder. But many well-known organisms may lie with tho symptoms of a cold, and it is as yet uncertain which, if any, of them is usually the first in vader and which arc mere camp-fol-lowers.

Large numbers of people are so unfortunate as to have a perpetual cola set up by germs which have found a convenient resting place in their nasal cavities, and sometimes their affliction requires special measures. Vaccines appear to bo useful occasionally, while sprays, electric heat, and other devices may be employed. For fiic average occasional sufferer, however, the best chance lies in an attempt to keep a healthy nose in a healthy body, in which taskthere is no better ally than an open window. When in the grip of infection it is a sound policy to go to bed at once, it may he heroic to remain “at work,'' 1 but the path of glory, here as elsewhere, leads quite o[ten to the grave—though this is generally somebody elsc's.