THE COMMON COLD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12283, 9 July 1914, Page 2

THE COMMON COLD.

Dr Leonard Willinins, a, leading; Lou- i don physician, as follows in Modern' Maladies, tlio .second edition of which was published last year:— •'The inflammatory conditions which are liable to affect tlio upper air-pas-sarres. are inualiv attributed to inclement weather, and the el.--meut.s, such as damp, cohh and r-hiil,ot which -Mich weather is This i"._a view which is no longer ten a hi.-'. ')he--ejti-fiammatory conditions we now kno» to be due to the same causes as t'So.;c which produce inflammation, in other mucous membrane--., namely, irritation and microbic invasion. Thorp is no doubt that those affections are more prevalent, during inclement weather, and. although we may admit that the inclemency, by lowering the resisting powers, may, in some cases, and in some degree, contribute towards the microbic invasion, it is. evident that other and more important factors must also be in operation. "These other factors are provided by the. deficient ventilation of houses, public buildings, and conveyances, which immediately ensues when the weather becomes cold, or otherwise • disagree-' able. Windows and doors which in summer time are always kept open are closed in winter, with the result that pathogenic germs are in the latter season allowed opportunities.for exercising their effects, wliich are denied to them in.the warmer weather. Moreover, in the summer, people spend much more time out of doors,- and are, consequently less exposed to the_activities of the 'germs, which, as we knotv, are more readily killed by sunshine and fresh air than by any. other means. Colds, coughs, and'associated conditions are due, therefore, not to damp and chill, but to microbic invasion. The surest method of avoiding them is to cultivate efficient ventilation, and the most certain method " of encouraging them is to tolerate impurity of atmosphere. The association of "chilis" with these conditions is very old, and until comparatively recently these "chills" were regarded as the cause of the malady. Most .people now realise that, this is not the case. The feelings of chilliness which so often occur at the outset of these complaints are not, as is so erroneously believed, the cans? of the symptoms —they are the primary manifestations of the malady, the siccn which (proclaims the success of the microbic invasion. The person "who caught a chill," and subsequently de- ■ veloped a sore throat was, although hefailed to realise the fact, already infected when he experienced; his chilly sensations. _lt is necessary to insist upon this view, because the laity cling with great, pertinacity to the chill theory', with the result that fresh air. instead of being esteemed as a curative and prophylactic agent, is regarded as the deadliest- enemy of the human race, and great vigilance is consequently exercised in excluding it by every possible means from houses, public rooms, and public conveyances. Until people become more enlightened, "colds" and their congeners will continue to afflict them with quite unnecessary frequency. "The commonest, of all disorders is the catarrh affecting the naso-pharynx, the larynx, or the larger bronchial tubes, which is known as a common cold. For reasons which have just been considered, the term 'cold.' as applied to this condition, is peculiarly unfortunate; for not only does it lend support to a mistaken view of the cause of the malady, but it tends to obscure what should always be realised in connection with it, namely, that it is infectious. It is a well-recognised fact that colds are very liable to pass from one member of a- household to another, which means that they are epidemic in character, and, being epidemic, they must necessarily be caused by bacterial infection. This fact supplies us not only with an obvious means of avoiding them, but it points unmistakably to the proper way of treating them. The infection induces inflammatory action, and in ordinary people the inflammation begins in the nose. In those who from adenoids or nasal obstructions habitually breathe through their mouths, it may begin lower down in the air-passages; but whenever it begins at a site which can be reached by ,'nasal douching or gargling, it is, if taken in time, a very easy matter to avoid a cold. This is done by the sim- , pie expedient of washing the- microbes out of the part, with an antiseptic solution, used both as a gargle and' a nasal douche. When using the douche, the head should be thrown well back! and to one title, and the mouth kept wide open. The solution should he warm, that is, not below lOOdeg. Fahr.; it should) be alkaline."