How does the Common Cold Affect Your Body

The irony of the cold flu virus is that even despite being able to affect everyone and there being no known cure for it, it is hardly fatal! So when it comes to the common cold, prevention is better than cure.

Understanding Common Cold

It is a contagious, viral infection caused mainly by two types of viruses, rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. These viruses are present in the surroundings and attack you when your immune system is weak. The immune system may be weakened due to various reasons such as exposure to rain and cold weather and lack of rest. The immune system may also be weakened while the body is trying to acclimatize to weather change. Also, a vitamin D deficiency makes the human body prone to virus attacks. Thus in these situations, the human immune system is weak and the body appears to be a safe haven for the viruses. It mainly affects children as their immune systems are not yet fully developed, and they are also unaware about the causes and symptoms, leading to increase in the seriousness of the cold. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for the cold because there are far too many subtypes of rhinoviruses, and it is difficult to tell one type from the other and develop a medicine for each one, while coronaviruses are difficult to artificially grow in virus-research labs.

What the Common Cold is Capable of

Symptoms
The symptoms of cold are known to us all. You know that you're getting a cold when your body starts experiencing chills. The other most common symptoms of cold include nasal congestion/discharge, coughing and sneezing, and a sore throat. If you are hit by a 'violent' cold by the worst rhinovirus in town, you might even experience muscular pain and weakness, headache, loss of appetite, uncontrolled shivering and extreme exhaustion.

Effects
The thing with the common cold is that once you contract it, your already weakened immune system is further attenuated. So if the illness continues, the body becomes even weaker. Simply speaking, if the rhinovirus settles in your body, and likes it, it might call its friends for a stay as well. Thus, you become susceptible to other more dangerous and complicated diseases such as pneumonia and influenza, which at times can be fatal. It may also lead to sinusitis, bronchitis, hypothermia, strep throat and otitis media. If you have chronic lung diseases already, such as asthma, there is a risk of the illness being aggravated, leading to frequent attacks.

How to Prevent Common Cold

Remember, prevention is the best way to go. Once attacked, there's nothing much you can do about it, except rest and wait for it to go. The medicines available in the market only kill the symptoms but not the virus. For e.g., you have medicines to cure nasal congestion or headache, but no medicine that actually cures you completely from the cold.

Cold can be altogether prevented by proper rest, a vitamin-rich diet and regular physical activity. Avoid smoking as it does nothing to fortify your lungs against the disease. Clean your body properly so that if there are stray rhinoviruses on your body, you can get rid of them before they are inside it. If the common cold does affect your body due to negligence of previous points, learn your lesson and try avoiding its recurrence.