Effacy of Three Common Remedies for the Cold

Winter is a time for Halloween candy, Thanksgiving get togethers and holidays for many different religions It is also the time for the common cold. Colds, are caused by virus’ including the Rhinovirus, Coronavirus and RSV virus most commonly but over 200 virus’ can cause colds. Symptoms of a cold are generally mild. Cold symptoms usually begin with a sore throat, nasal symptoms, runny nose, and congestion followed with a cough developing on the fourth and fifth days. Fever is uncommon in adults, but a slight fever is possible. Children are more likely to have a fever with a cold. Also the nose teems with watery nasal secretions for the first few days. Later, these become thicker and darker. Darker mucus is natural and does not mean you have a bacterial infection, such as a sinus infection, or the flu. Symptoms last for about one week and you are most contagious for the first 4 days. Especially if fever and symptoms are present. Since most of us can not take off a week from our lives to recover, humans look for ways to stop or shorten the common cold, also you don't feel very good! This paper will look at three common treatments for the common cold; a vitamin, vitamin C, a mineral, Zinc and a common herbal remedy from the Elder tree, Elderberry or Sambucus Negra. All studies were conducted by the National institute for Health in order to have an effective comparison done by similar standards. Although other studies have been preformed and may have different results. Vitamin C is also known as absorbic acid and is a water soluble nutrient found in food. It is abundant in peppers, bell and chili, as well as Kale and broccoli. Vitamin C is probably the most common remedy used when people have a cold. Studies by the National institute of Health show that taking vitamin C for over a year only slightly reduced the length and severity of the common cold. It did not decrease the amounts of colds people caught. The placebo effect of taking vitamin C probably had a similar effect. It may be the amount taken in the study was insufficient or was not a type used effectively by the body. An essential trace mineral and metal, ZInc showed more promising results when studied by the NIH. It in fact did reduce the length and duration of the common cold but must be used within the first 24 hours of the cold symptoms beginning.Just as promising was a study conducted on children that showed taking zinc for 5 months did reduce the amount of colds children came down with. This could be promising research for children with compromised immune systems like HIV/AIDS or asthma etc as colds can broaden into greater health challenges and hospitalization. Black Elderberry was tested and showed significant advantages for treating the common cold. First the duration of the common cold was reduced to 3 days over 7-9 typically seen in the cold. Also production of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8) significantly increased, These cytokine are produced by our body to fight illness especially inflammation, as sen in the cold. The most striking increase was noted to be 44.9 fold! We can conclude from this study that, in addition to its antiviral properties elderberry activates the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine production. Sambucol can be beneficial to immune system activation and to the inflammatory process in patients with colds. Sambucol could also have an immunoprotective or immunostimulatory effect when administered to cancer or AIDS patients including children. In Conclusion the most common remedy, vitamin C has little to no effect on the common cold. It is however important in the overall health of the human body. Zinc a trace metal mineral was found to decrease the amount of colds caught when taken for 5 months before and slightly decreased the duration of the cold if began within 24 hours of the first sign Elderberry had a significant effect on the cold by reducing the duration of the cold by more then half. This could be promising in getting us back to work and feeling better. More studies on Elderberry as well as vitamins and minerals are warranted.