The contemptible cold.

Sir William Osler, the famous Canadian medical doctor, once quipped, "There's only one way to treat the common cold--with contempt." Nearly 75 years have passed since that statement, but few physicians today can cough up any other opinion.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "a cold is an inflammation of the upper respiratory tract caused by a viral infection." More than 200 different viruses cause colds, with the culprit 30 to 50 percent of the time being the rhinovirus. Rhinoviruses often attack during the fall and winter seasons, while another type of cold virus, the coronavirus, is common during the spring.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that more than 425 million cases of colds and flu occur annually in the United States, resulting in billions of dollars in lost school and work days, and in medical costs. The average person has two or three respiratory infections each year, with young children suffering six to seven.

Cold viruses are usually spread by simple hand-to-hand contact with an infected person, or with contaminated objects, such as door knobs, telephones, or computer keyboards. Cold viruses can live for hours on hands and hard surfaces. When the hand is brought to the nose or eyes, "self-inoculation" with the cold virus occurs. Thorough hand-washing and disinfecting counter spaces, handles, and knobs with Lysol will give protection against transmission. Also, keeping hands away from the face is a good preventive measure. The Mayo Clinic urges that "short of solitary confinement, the best you can do to prevent a cold is to wash your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and warm water."

Damp, cold, or drafty weather does not technically increase the risk of getting a cold. According to most cold researchers, cold or bad weather simply brings people together indoors, which leads to more person-to-person contact and increased chance of infection.

It is not easy to catch a cold directly from sick people who are coughing or sneezing, because the mucus particles contain only small amounts of cold viruses. (The flu virus, however, is more contagious, and is transmitted easily through the air by unprotected coughing and sneezing.)

Cold Treatment. Doctors tell us wryly that a cold lasts seven days without treatment, and one week with it. Most nonprescription medications, including antihistamines, decongestants, cough medicines, and analgesics provide only temporary relief of symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, "cold medications can make you more comfortable while you wait for your body to fight off the infection." To get rid of the cold, the body's immune system must make enough antibodies to destroy the viruses, a process that takes three or four days to get going.

Even the old standby, steam inhalation, has been found to have "no beneficial effect on the cold symptoms of our volunteers," says Dr. Gregory Forstall of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The same goes for vitamin C. Well-controlled studies show that doses of vitamin C are of little help in preventing or curing colds. Resting, drinking plenty of hot fluids, and seeking what comfort you can from over-the-counter cold remedies is still about all that can be done for most colds.

Whether you get sick with a cold after a certain amount of the virus has entered your body depends on the many factors that affect your immune system. Old age, cigarette smoking, mental stress, poor nutrient status, and lack of sleep have all been associated with impaired immune function, and increased risk of infection.

Good immune function can be maintained by eating a well-balanced diet, keeping life stresses to a minimum, avoiding chronic fatigue, and obtaining adequate sleep. Immune function is suppressed during periods of very low caloric intake and quick weight reduction, so it's best to lose weight gradually to maintain good immunity.

During the past 10 years I have been especially interested in the connection between exercise and the common cold. People who exercise report that they experience fewer colds than their sedentary peers. For example, a 1989 Runner's World survey revealed that 61 percent of 700 recreational runners reported fewer colds since beginning to run, while only 4 percent felt they had experienced more. In another survey of 170 experienced runners who had been training for 12 years, 90 percent reported that they definitely or mostly agreed with the statement that they "rarely get sick."

To test this belief scientifically, I conducted two randomized, controlled studies with young adult and elderly women. In both of these studies, women in the exercise groups walked briskly 35-45 minutes, five days a week, for 12-15 weeks, while the control groups remained physically inactive. The results were quite striking: walkers experienced about half the days with cold symptoms as did the more sedentary controls.

Further research in my laboratory has shown that while a person is walking, several positive changes occur in the immune system. Once the walk is over, the immune system returns to normal. I have likened this to having a housekeeper come to your house every day for 35-45 minutes to tidy things up. By the end of the month, the house will be quite clean and organized. In other words, every time you walk, your immune system receives a boost that should increase your chances of fighting off cold viruses over the long term.

Can Too Much Exercise Hurt? Among elite athletes and their coaches, a common perception is that heavy exertion lowers resistance to colds. For example, Liz McColgan, one of the best female runners in Scotland, blamed overtraining, "which led to a cold and two subsequent illnesses," as the major reason for her poor performance in the 1992 World Cross-Country Championships. Uta Pippig, winner of the 1994 Boston Marathon, caught a cold the week before the race after training 140 miles a week for 10 weeks at high altitude. Claimed Pippig, "When you are on such a high level you can so quickly fall off."

Alberto Salazar, once one of the best marathon runners in the world, reported that while training for the 1984 Olympic Marathon, he caught 12 colds in 12 months. "My immune system was totally shot," he recalls. "I caught everything. I felt like I should have been living in a bubble." During the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, it has been regularly reported by clinicians that "upper respiratory infections abound" and that "the most irksome troubles with the athletes were infections."

To determine if these anecdotal reports were true, I studied a group of 2,311 marathon runners who ran the 1987 Los Angeles Marathon. During the week following the race, one out of seven runners came down sick, which was about five times the rate of runners who trained for but did not run the marathon. During the two-month period before the race, runners training more than 60 miles a week doubled their odds for sickness compared to those training less than 20 miles a week. Researchers in South Africa have also confirmed that after marathon-type exertion, runners are at high risk for sickness.

I have brought marathon runners into my lab and measured the immune response to three hours of running. There is indeed a steep drop in immune function that lasts at least six to nine hours, allowing viruses to spread.

Moderation Is a Virtue. Dr. George Jackson, one of America's leading cold researchers, admits that the common cold, "despite its frequency, has been something of an enigma to physicians and scientists." Although a cure remains elusive, there is much you can do to prevent the common cold. Along with the other lifestyle measures emphasized in this article to enhance immune function, a daily walk at a moderate pace will start you in the right direction. Besides all the other benefits associated with regular moderate exercise, you may just walk away from sickness, making the cold something less than common.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Cold War Continues

Most people associate the common cold with cold weather, but the fact is that cold season begins in late August. The season is upon us, but that doesn't mean you have to accept a bout of sneezing and sniffling as inevitable.

Unfortunately, there's nothing available except time known to cure the common cold. However, there are steps you can take to minimize the chances of catching one.

"For so long we have relied on antibiotics to cover our tracks or clean up the mess. Prevention has been kind of forgotten, and it's back to basics now," says B. Burton, an infection control specialist at Denver's National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine.

The biggest culprits in the workplace when it comes to spreading a cold are hands that pick up viruses from keyboards, doorknobs, and telephones, where they can live for hours. "The average person touches the area of the eyes, nose, and mouth about once every 20 minutes, which causes the viruses to be spread unknowingly," adds Burton. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after using the restroom. As for keyboards, doorknobs, and telephones, keep them germfree by wiping with a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol or one of the alcohol wipes from the grocery store.

Stress is also a contributing factor in catching a cold. It weakens the immune system, the body's natural defense against an invading virus. So take some time and "smell the roses" for a happier, healthier life!

For more information on respiratory ailments call 1-800-222-LUNG.

(News, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine)