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Show -Ju -M''.,f'' -'. r,' VI, .J, rr, ,f !Let Our Motto Be I GOOD HEALTH 4 BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD I Professor of Bacteriology and Pre- T 4 ventive Medicine, University of I I Illinois, College of Medicine. WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR NOSE IN A HEAD COLD Our noses have a pretty important impor-tant part to play In the proper func- tinning or our bodies. Resides being the seat of the sense of smell and providing pro-viding t he two normal major passages for air to come into the body (the mouth is an emergency or "spare" inlet) in-let) our noses also act as a heater and humidifier hu-midifier for the air we breathe. And If something breaks down the proper prop-er functioning of this heating and humidifying property, then, presto, we have a cold. This is how It works. Beneath the moist membrane lining lin-ing of the nose are highly specialized special-ized thread-like masses of blood channels. The volume of blood flowing flow-ing through these Is constantly changing according to the needs of the nose. Now when a healthy person leaves the warmth of the house on a cold winter day, this vascular network of capillaries in the nose instantaneously instanta-neously contracts to prevent too much warm blood getting too close to the skin surface. If you notice, no-tice, the membrane of the nose looks pale at this moment. But the body needs to have the cold air warmed before it reaches the lungs, and obviously this can't happen if the decrease in the amount of blood near the surface continues. So there is an almost immediate reaction, and within a few seconds the volume of blood flowing through the capillary network increases, the temperature goes up for a few seconds, sec-onds, and then quickly becomes normal again. This warms the Incoming cold air, and while the warming is going on, the glands of the nose, or the humidifying machinery, also get into instant action. They secrete a watery mucous to moisten the air properly before it reaches the lungs. But the point is that In the healthy person the nose does work out the adjustment. There is at first the momentary drop in temperature tem-perature indicated by the blanching blanch-ing of the nose, then In about half a minute the upturn to higher than normal, and then a quick return to normal. The adjusting of the secretory glands takes longer. This drop in temperature and return re-turn to normal Is not guess work. In the medical laboratory of the University Uni-versity of Illinois where much research re-search has been done on colds, we have used three methods to determine deter-mine these facts, and we have checked the methods against each other. First, we had a special microscope mi-croscope that showed the capillaries changing in size; second, we made examinations of the blood flowing through the capillary beds of the nose in animals; and, third, we had a special type of thermometer that recorded both the temperature of the lining of the nose and the skin of the face at the same time. This last was the most useful method. Now when a person has a history of several colds each winter, we found that while the temperature of the lining cells of his nose decreased de-creased on coming In contact with cold air, It did not rise again immediately imme-diately as It does in the healthy person. The nose stayed blanched, and consequently the blood in the nose could not warm the air he breathed to the degree that It should be warmed before it passed on to his lungs. So far we do not know of any medicine or vaccine that will help these chronic cold sufferers. The only way they can be helpd is for them to train their nose machinery together with their whole outer skin machinery so that its reaction will be the same as in a healthy person. And the way to do this is by a hardening hard-ening process of hot and cold baths. The patient should take a good long hot bath first thing In the morning, and this should be followed fol-lowed by a cold shower, or a plunge In a tub of cool water. The patient, bnwever, should lead up to the cold shower gradually. lie should begin by dipping his hands and face in cold water. When he reacts favorably favor-ably to this, he should dip his feet in cold water and then sprinkle cold waler over his chest and back. In a month he will think the world isn't right, of a morning, unless he has tliis hot and cold therapy. Then after breakfast he flmuld walk ten to twenty minutes in the ! open air. lie should do this a':iiii at noon and at ni.L'lit. II" should he out at least an hour a day no mailer what (lie wealli'-r. The whole purpose Is to train the i skiri so Unit it ran "tal:e it." We ! all knew that if we want to make ! any set of iiiiistIcs in ntir body es peeially useful, we have In exer-j exer-j rise thi'ia. And if we want our skin to rear! )!. a bi-aPiiy way to liter lit-er : - n teres, v. e must 'ive it exerei.-it . Ut:,'.fij Srv; Uu'i n. |