The common cold, also known as acute coryza, is an inflammation of the upper respiratory tract caused by infection with virus. It occurs more often than all other diseases. A person suffers from this disease three times in a year on an average. A cold usually lasts from three to ten days. The patient feels miserable for the first three days or so.
Symptoms
The first signs of a cold are a feeling of soreness of the throat and congestion of the nasal passage. Although the disease normally begins in the nose and throat, it affects all parts of the body. Its usual symptoms are a running nose, sneezing, a rise in temperature, headache, sore throat, chill, aches and pains in the body and loss of appetite. The skin around the nostrils may become sore.
Causes
The common cold results from exposure to the virus. Its intensity will, however, depend upon the state of health of the person and environmental factors. Lowered vitality, allergic disorders of the nose and throat, chilling of the body, lack of sleep, depression, fatigue and factors such as sudden changes in temperature, dust and other irritating inhalations are important causes contributing to the development of a cold.
The real cause of a cold, however, is the toxic condition of the body brought about by wrong food habits such as an excessive intake of starch, carbohydrates, proteins and other acid-forming foods. A cold, is, therefore, nature’s simplest way of expelling toxic waste from the human system. The duration of the cold will depend on the amount of poisons accumulated in the body and the rapidity with which they are expelled.