ual drugs are too low,” explains Gwalt
ney. And ingredients may actually be con
tradictory. An expectorant encourages
coughing, but a cough suppressant controls
it. Nor are over-the-counter drugs always
harmless. Combining antihistamine's with
alcohol or major tranquilizers, for exam
ple, can depress your central nervous sys
tem, impair your motor coordination and
knock you out. Nasal decongestants can
cause a rebound effect if used for more than
three days—your cold will actually be
worse when you quit taking them. "It can
be very unpleasant to go cold turkey,”
warns Gwaltney. Oral decongestants can
increase blood pressure. "Over-the-count
er or not,” warns Dick, "people ought to
check with their physicians about these
drugs.” And remember that antibiotics are
useless against viral infections.
No matter how miserable you may reel,
most colds are over in about a week. In the
meantime, Dick believes that good ventila
tion to remove stale air may at least keep
your roommate from catching your ail
ment. Ditto for keeping your used tissues to
yourself. But can’t you catch a virus from a
doorknob or handshake? That’s debatable.
In a recent study, Dick kept groups of Wis
consin undergraduates up for 12 hours
playing poker. At each table there were
some infected players and others who were
potential victims. At half the tables the
potential victims wore large plastic collars
that kept them from touching their hands
to their faces and thereby infecting them
selves with viruses shed on the cards or
poker chips. Whether or not the players
were wearing collars, they had the same
rateof infection. "It appears that the prima
ry dissemination of the virus is by air, not by
hand-to-hand contact,” concludes Dick.
To keep the viruses from ever becoming
airborne, Dick has designed a series of
"killer Kleenexes.” An early model, im
pregnated with iodine, was "spectacular”
in controlling colds in the Antarctic, but
the iodine evaporated once the packages
Old Moms’ Tales About
How to Treat Your Ms
Most of us grew up
with lots of conven
tional motherly wisdom
about the avoidance and
treatment of colds. Some
of it is even correct:
a If |M tm't wear yaar »*
testes sad ■ sweater. yee II
elm fwr Nim •» cm.
Colds are caused by vi
ruses,. not by coldness or
dampness. Studies show
that chilling the air be
fore exposure to a virus,
or even after exposure,
has no measurable effect
on whether or not people
get sick. On the other
hand, some animal re
search does seem to indi
cate that freezing tem
peratures may make you
more susceptible. It’s pos
sible that cold slows down
the action of the nasal cil- ;
ia that normally sweep
away invading viruses.
No one has tested stu
dents who stayed upfor48
hours to study for exams,
then ran through the
snowinTshirtstotheoth
er side of cam pus to deliv
er term papers.
■ If ywkmicsM. staybM
mi rest.
There is no scientific evi
dence in favor of bed rest.
However, taking it easy is
common sense, and you
do your friends a favor by
staying out of classrooms
and dining halls, where
you could infect large
numbers of people.
■ Stares a fever. fasti a csM.
pfVTVflMf Will CRKMR SVVf
You should listen to Mom
on this one. Hot drinks
can loosen the phlegm in
yourthroatand humidify
the air around your nose
to moisten dry, irritated
membranes In at least
one study, chicken soup
proved superior to other
hot liquids in clearing
the nasal passages Spicy
foods have also been
found to unblock a
clogged nose
■ Ym cm warty ysarsalf sick.
There is some evidence
that stress can worsen a
cold. One English study
found that people who
had experienced a stress
ful event in the previous
six months, such as a
death or divorce in the
family, developed more
severe symptoms. Intro
verts had worse symp
toms than extroverts.
■ ’Mesial tka Hairy auik af
a amna' cm cars a caM.
There is no scientific evi
dence to support this
remedy, which was tout
ed, not by Mother, but
by naturalist Pliny the
Elder—before he died in
the 79 A.D eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.
were opened. The other problem was es
thetic: iodine turns your nose brown. Then
Dick developed a tissue laced with pluin old
citric acid, which proved highly effective
Kimberly-Clark test-marketed the tissue
last year under the brand name Avert, but
it failed to catch on and has been "recalled
for further thought.”
In the meantime, humidify your room,
drink hot liquids and gargle with salt water
to ease a sore throat There are times when
a trip to the infirmary is necessary to rule
out more serious illness. A sore throat or
cough that lasts for weeks should be looked
into. Most colds are not accompanied by
fever If your fever goes above 103, or over
100 for more than three days, you may have
thetiu, pneumonia or mononucleosis With
most colds, the best strategy is to simply
surrender and enjoy the sympathy And it
your mom is Jewish—at least at heart—it
won’t hurt to send home for a container of
chicken soup
Si MAN K AT/