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Show Your health and you . . . Editor's note The following . is one of a series of articles furnished by the Utah State ' Medical Association and published pub-lished in cooperation with your local newspaper. These articles are scheduled to appear every other week., throughout., the . year in an effort to better acquaint ac-quaint you with problems of . health, and designed., to improve im-prove the well-being of the people of this area. The Common Cold The virus that causes the common cold is still partially wrapped in mystery. However, physicians and scientists are getting closer to the day when . they will be able to prevent most occurances of this pesky and prevalent disease. Many of us have a built-in immunity to colds which comes and goes throughout the year usually lasting for two or three weeks at a time. Others, particularly older persons and the chronically ill, can strengthen streng-then their cold resistence to colds by taking a series of injections in-jections designed to increase the efficiency of the blood stream's, infectio n-fighting white corpuscles. The symptoms accompanying a cold are known to us all swelling and irritation of the lining of the nose, sinuses, throat, and lungs. Fortunately, nature has provided us with a wonderful ability to manufacture manufac-ture substances in our blood to combat cold infection and to' effect a cure in from three to seven days. There are many agents which will relieve the congestion, aches, pains, and runny nose which accompany a cold, but we still know of no specific medicine which will produce an immediate cure. Because other more serious diseases often have cold-like symptoms, it is important to consult your doctor if a cold hangs on for more than a week. If there is a marked increase in-crease in temperature, for example, ex-ample, your "cold" might well be pneumonia, or influenza. Colds know not seasonal or geographic boundaries but they are most prevalent during the spring and the fall. The usual method if a cold's spreading is by respiratory droplets and infected articles such as handkerchiefs. hand-kerchiefs. Therefore, one of the best protective measures one can take is to avoid close contact con-tact with cold sufferers whenever when-ever possible. General preventative measures meas-ures would certainly include: following good nutritional habits; ha-bits; avoiding extremes of heat and cold and keeping well protected against the elements; ele-ments; getting plenty of sleep, and sufficient exercise. By following fol-lowing these general rules for good health you can cut your sniffles and sneezes down to a minimum. |