Cough & Cold

There are more than 200 different viruses that can cause a cold, and since your body develops a resistance only against the specific virus you have, you may have many colds throughout your lifetime.

Don’t blame fall and winter’s wet and cold weather for your cold. Most colds occur during those two seasons because:

• People spend more time indoors, which makes it easier for a virus to spread from person to person.
• Viruses survive better in winter’s low humidity.
• Cold weather dries out your nasal passages and makes them more susceptible to viral infections.

Viruses are spread when you come into a contact with an infected person (by shaking hands with them or if they cough or sneeze too close to you), or when you touch a contaminated surface and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth. That’s why washing your hands and following other prevention tips are important to practice.

Foreign substances can irritate your respiratory tract and lungs, causing them to narrow and alerting your brain to tighten your chest muscles and release large amounts of air from your lungs. This results in a cough. Since a cold or flu produces many irritating symptoms, coughs are likely to exist with either.

Once you have become infected with a virus, you may develop a scratchy throat within 18 to 48 hours — the typical first sign of a cold. The remaining symptoms, however, tend to begin two to three days afterwards. Common cold symptoms include:

• Sore, dry or scratchy throat
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Runny nose and sneezing
• Stuffy nose
• Slight fever
• Headache
• Body aches and pains
• Dry cough
• Fatigue or mild weakness
• Chest congestion
• Loss of appetite

Click here for tips for relief of your cough and cold symptoms

There’s a difference between a cold and flu and allergies. While both colds and flus are caused by viruses and there are many symptoms that are similar, flu symptoms have a sudden onset and are more severe. Symptoms that do not usually show up with great severity with a cold, but can occur with a flu are: moderate to severe headaches, body aches, a high fever that lasts for up to four days, or extreme fatigue. With a cold, on the other hand, you’ll likely suffer from less severe symptoms like a runny nose, sneezing, stuffy nose, nasal congestion, sore throat and dry cough.

Click here for more information on the flu, including tips for relief of your flu symptoms

You could also be experiencing allergies if you:

• Think you suffer from frequent colds (especially during the spring and summer)
• Suddenly develop sneezing, runny nose or itchy, watery eyes
• Suffer from sneezing, runny nose or itchy, watery eyes for weeks or months at a time

Click here for more information on allergies, including tips for relief of your allergy symptoms.