Protect Yourself and Others from the Common Cold
It is an established fact: there is no cure for the common cold. And if there is no cure for something, the best option for one to take is to protect one’s self from contracting the disease in the first place. WebMD shows us how.
Don’t touch! A cold expert and professor of medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Owen Hendley, and some of his colleagues performed an experiment that showed that 35% of anything that has been touched by someone who is nursing a cold in a particular room – doorknobs, pens, light switches – became contaminated by the cold virus. According to Hendley, rhinoviruses can survive on surfaces for a period of 24 hours – even more.
So, does that mean we should stop touching any surface in public areas? Hardly, as you won’t be able to function. The best way will be to refrain from bringing your fingers to your eyes and nose, which can also be a rather difficult thing to do as we sometimes mindlessly end up doing that. A more practical thing to do is to keep you hands – and fingers – virus-free using soap and water.
Get enough sleep. There is nothing like a good night’s sleep to give your immune system a boost. There are several studies that suggest that there is a link between sleep and a healthy immune system; the more sleep one gets, they say, the more likely it is that your body can ward off respiratory bugs.
