The Prevention of “Colds”
Now that the season for “colds,” coughs, and neuralgic pains is with us, the careful man is on the lookout for such preventive measures as will guard him against the “eager and nipping air” that may prepare the way for a winter’s sickness. It is the proper adaptation to his environment that must settle the question of his immunity against the ever-threatening weather ailments. With the changeable climate of our northern latitudes the task is often a difficult one. Thus a sudden drop in temperature is often followed by a veritable epidemic of catarrhal troubles. The ordinary phenomenon of a “cold” is explained by a rapid cooling of the surface, whereby the superficial circulation is temporarily arrested, and internal congestions are produced. The primary effect is generally upon the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and upper air-passages. In consequence of the revulsion, chilliness, lassitude, headache, sneezing, and cough follow in turn, and the patient becomes generally miserable. Then, when it is too late, he doubts his resisting powers against drafts, cold rooms, undue exposure, and the like, and is ready to resign himself to the coddling process for the remainder of the winter. Strange as it may appear, it is this misguided carefulness that explains most of the chronic catarrhs of the season. First on the list of such causative agencies are our overheated and ill-ventilated apartments. Eminent medical authorities maintain that the sudden change from an overwarmed room to the cold air outside has more to do with the production of “colds” than all other supposed agencies combined. The air-passages, after having been dried, and, so to speak, baked in our living-rooms, are not only peculiarly sensitive to cold, but are in a condition least liable to resist the influences of the change. The same principle might apply to overheating the body by too much clothing, and enfeebling the skin by confined perspiration. A condition exactly contrary results from the inurement to low temperature and the creation of a habit of natural resistance. The man who is accustomed to bare his throat to the blast never suffers from tonsillitis, and the one who is used to the cold morning plunge never knows a shiver, even in zero weather. The real moral is to face the cold with a bold front, to conquer rather than to shrink from it and be overcome in the end. . . . A like principle applies to exercise. With ordinary garments the well individual never suffers from cold while in motion, but the one who sits or lies in a cold room or in a draft from open door or window is sure to become a victim of his indiscretion. . . . The worst of all is that a “cold” taken in early winter is apt to linger and prepare the system for even more distressing ailments. The very lack of vital resistance that invites the first attack of catarrh is apt to intensify the predisposition to subsequent colds. This in a great measure explains the prevalence of pneumonia during the inclement season. The microbe never attacks a healthy membrane, but lies in wait for the local debilitation which furnishes the soil for the seed. No more forcible argument could be used in favor of preventive measures against the slightest respiratory trouble that may show itself at this time. Nothing lowers the vital resistance against all winter diseases more than the initiative and apparently insignificant “cold.”—New York Herald.