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The Causes of Colds

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 25, 1902

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 47.

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The Causes of Colds

By C. H. Shepard, M. D.

In looking for the cause of colds, or of any other disease, it is well to consider the first cause, rather than the merely exciting or secondary one, which is only incidental to the disturbance. By doing this we can so shape our life as to avoid most of the disasters common to modern civilization. Ignorance of the laws of life, and of man’s relation thereto, makes of him a slave, while knowledge of these laws gives him freedom instantly to accept and enjoy the fruits of obedience.
The invariable cause of colds comes from within, not without. No one takes cold when in a vigorous state of health, with pure blood coursing through his body; and there is no good reason why any one in ordinary health should have a cold. It may come from insufficient exercise, breathing of foul air, want of wholesome food, excess of food, lack of bathing, etc., but always from some violation of the plain laws of health.
There can be no more prolific cause of colds than highly seasoned foods, as well as frequent eating. These give no time for the digestive organs to rest, and incite an increased flow of the digestive secretions. Thus larger quantities of nourishment are absorbed than can be properly utilized, and the result is an obstruction, commonly called a “cold,” which is simply an effort of the system to expel the useless material. Properly speaking, it is self-poisoning, due to an incapability of the organism to regulate and compensate for the disturbance.
A deficient supply of pure air to the lungs is not only a strong predisposing cause of colds, but a prolific source of much graver conditions. Pure air and exercise are necessary to prepare the system for the assimilation of nutriment; for without them there can be no vigorous health. The oxygen of the air we breathe regulates the appetite as well as the nutriment that is built up in the system.
The safest and best way to avoid colds is to sleep in a room with the windows wide open, and to remain out of doors every day, no matter what may be the weather, for at least two hours, preferably with some kind of exercise, if no more than walking. One should not sit down to rest while the feet are wet or the clothing damp. A person may go with the clothing wet through to the skin, all day, if he but keep moving. Exercise keeps up the circulation, and that prevents taking cold.
The physiological cure of colds is the prevention of their occurrence. The person who does not carry about an over-supply of alimentation in his system, and furthermore secures a purified circulation by strict sanitary cleanliness, thus placing himself in a positive condition, is immune to colds. A starving man cannot take cold.
A careful diet would exclude the use of all narcotics, and of all food that is not thoroughly appropriated. An overfed person is worse off than one who is underfed, because the overfed body is taxed to dispose of what cannot be appropriated, and when not properly disposed of, remains only to be an element of danger.
The primary cause of all disease is internal. No disease develops in the body from any accidental or secondary cause without the co-operation of the fundamental one. Health is the harmonious action of all the functions. There is no doubt that the larger amount of disease comes from unsuitable food, producing abnormal conditions of the blood. Too frequently there is a wrong selection of food, and often an imperfect preparation of that which of itself is good.
Inasmuch as people are more inclined to cater to the taste and fancy than to consider the hygienic value of their foods, the result of their feeding is sure to produce a state of inharmony. The blood cannot thus be furnished with the proper elements for forming healthy tissue. Man does not live by what he eats, but by what he digests and appropriates. Health is man’s normal condition. No ache or pain should trouble any human being until death comes naturally at the end of a long life. If this desideratum is not secured, there is evidently some mistake in the dietetic habits.
Frequently the body is pickled with common salt, which is equivalent to saying it is poisoned by it. The salt dissolved in the blood passes into all the tissues. Osmosis takes place. Through the cell membranes the salt enters the cells, and the cell contents pass out. These constituents, freed from the tissues, must be excreted through the kidneys as waste material. Thus degeneration takes place, through the abuse of common salt, and the system is made more susceptible to colds.
The practice of administering quinine to break up a cold is to be condemned, because it debilitates the nervous system and weakens the action of the heart. The same may be said of any alcoholic medicament, because the nervous system is first irritated and afterward depressed by its use. In fact, when the system is laboring in an effort to free itself from any obstruction, the presentation of a powerful agent that interferes with elimination is not only uncalled for, but decidedly injurious, because it prevents the natural forces from doing their perfect work.
When people understand that disease is a vital struggle, an effort to protect and defend the organism, that it is not a thing, or entity, foreign to the system, but an action of the system itself, which seeks its preservation, not its destruction, they will cease to fear it; they will fear only its cause.—C. H. Shepard, M. D.