Dodging Colds.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 18, 6 March 1917, Page 2

Dodging Colds.

O SOME SIMPLE REMEDIES, Over-eating, bad teeth, diseased tonsils, excessive fatigue, too much alcohol—these are the most prevalent reasons for colds. Take over-eating. Too rfauch meat produces an excessive amount of uric acidj which causes poorness of, blood. Furthermore, meat-eating promotes . the growth of poison-forming germs in great numbers. The poisons produced by them are absorbed into the Woo'd and thus cause a state of lowered vital resistance, which prepares a fertile soil for the infection known as the common cold.

Bad teeth cause colds because they allow microbes to congregate in the mouth. These, when the system is run down or chilled by undue exposure, bring about various forms of cold. The same applies to diseased - tonsils. The cavities formed in the tonsils from former attacks of tonsilitis teem with bacteria, and cause susceptibility to colds and rheumatism. It is a notable f a'ct, according to Mr. William J. Oromie, Instructor in Physical Education, in the University of Pennsylvania, who vvrites a valuable article on this subject in the "American Magazine,” that most colds arc contracted at night. The real reason for the prevalence of night colds is that then the body is tired and the vital resistance lowered.

Alcohol seemingly stimulates for the moment then depresses till suph foes as colds, consumption and pneumonia have the victim by the throat. By hardening the constitution, however, much of this trouble can be avoided. The simplest remedy is to live and exercise as much as possible in the open air. Cold-water bathing, fresh air sleeping apartments, warm but light underclothing, . which enables the skin slowly and systematically to react to cold and to withstand ordinary draughts if necessary, and less meat-eating, are all simple, cpmmon-sense methods of cold dodging. If fresh air cannot be had during the working hours, then be sure to gSt it in the sleeping apartment. This can be accomplished by using outdoor bedrooms, sleeping porches, and tents. Thin-solcd shoes are dangerous in both summer and winter, and, ladies, beware of* open-work stockings and diaphanous hose, especially v/hen the street is wet and slushy. Never use the public drinking cup or towel, as the}' spread colds and other diseases. Be cartful when using dirty telephone mouthpieces. If you possess a telephone, see that the mouthpiece has an antiseptic covering. Spray the nose and throat, or gargle with a solution of salt and water or other antiseptic, after being in the company of people who have a cold, or before and after mingling in crowded places. Breathe through your nose, especial-, ly in crowded street cars and when there is a high wind. The nostrils are provided with filters that catch and hold cold germs, that would get into the system if breathed through the mouth.

And if you do catch a cold, then the best remedies are those that are equally efficacious in treating rheumatism. Hot-water bathing is excellent. If a cold has developed through wearing thin shoes and by getting wet and chilled, the proper proceedure is to take a long hot footbath. If the cold is caused, by exposing the back of the neck to a draught resulting in a lame, sore, or stiff neck, drive it out by using hot applications to the back of the neck. At the beginning of a sore throat, gapgle with hot salt water, and when a cold is the result of general exposure and lowering of the bodily temperature, take a hot full bath. If the cold is well established, get into the hot water and stay there until a profuse perspiration is induced Then, before retiring, drink two or three cupfuls of hot water, to which may he added lemon, grape, or other fruit juices. In the morning drink a couple of glasses of water and partake of a very light breakfast. Four or five quarts of water may he drunk during the first twenty-four hours of a cold with beneficial results. The meals, however, of the following two or three days should consist only of cereal and vegetable foods.