Building Resistance to Colds

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 934, 5 July 1957, Page 20

Building Resistance to Colds

This is the text of a talk on health, broadcast recently from ZB. ZA. YA and YZ

stations of the NZBS by DR

H.B.

TURBOTT

Deputy-Director-General of Health

CORRESPONDENT asks, "Can reSistance to colds be built up by having cold showers all through the year?" A cold shower through the warmer months is refreshing and invigorating. Through the cold months to some they are harmless, to others too much of a shock, and in reality a lowerer of body resistance for the time being. Each person must find out for himself whether he can take cold showers in cooler weather by trial and observation. If he is warm, glowing and comfortable immediately afterwards, cold showers suit and are stimulating. If the hands and feet are white or bluish, if there is a feeling of chill, and some appreciable period goes by before he really feels warm again, then cold showers do more hatm than good. You cannot say dogmatically that sea bathing the year round, or daily cold showers, will keep colds away. Cold plunges, baths, or showers will increase the liability of some people to colds and ‘flu and tone up some others of tougher calibre. As preventers of colds they ate not practical politics. What can be done to build up body resistance to colds? You lay yourself

open to invasion by germs and viruses if you have inadequate rest and sleep. A good way to do this is to have double jobs, to work too much overtime at nights, and at week-ends. You make it easy for attack by failing to have a flow of fresh air to dilute the air-borne virus particles. If someone incubating a cold sneezes neat you, obviously you will receive less of the droplet borne virus particles if there is a flow of fresh air between you and him. You will not receive so heavy a dose of infection and your body resistance may repel the lessened amount, whereas it would have succumbed to the larger undiluted dose of virus. The cold months are ahead, the months of "mugging up." There will be steamed up windows in _ buses, trains, offices and workshops. Within, in the warm, humid, stuffy air the viruses will live longer in greater concentra(continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) tion, and have more chance of reaching another person. Yes, I know you are afraid of draughts and grandma said they gave you colds. A continuous draught on to any part of the body will lower the resistance locally, and so encourage rheumaticky aches, or stiff necks, and should you be carrying in nose or throat cold germs or viruses possibly allow these to get the upper hand. But you need not have draughts to have ventilation, and some fresh air flow into occupied places is a "must" in keeping down the spread of colds and ’flu. You can encourage colds by overclothing, and wrapping up too much. Then on receiving a slight chill, the body has been so over-protected that it can’t deal with the emergency. You certainly give colds free passes into your body by being short in protective foods. Grandma had many handy tips. One was that you must feed a cold. If she had said drink for a cold she would have been accurate, because taking plenty of citrus, black currant or other juices high in vitamin C, combats feverishness and helps recovery from colds. Grandma with her feeding a cold was just off the beam. It is the feeding before you catch a cold that is important. Be short in your daily milk, fruit and vegetables, or in cheese, egg, and meat over the week, and your resistance to colds is lowered. An indication of this lies in the fact that a course of caicium tablets makes some people more resistant. Wait, though, don’t fly off for these! You get that calcium from the minimum: milk ration for the day. If these tablets help you, the assumption is you have been short on milk, taking less than one pint a day.

Can you build up resistance through drugs and vaccines? With drugs, no! Vaccines are "iffy:"’ They must be made from the virus which is going to cause the next outbreak of colds or ’flu. Once in a blue moon this combination of. circumstances happens. Then the vaccine will work. No health workers — will

gamble on this chance. Some day we may have vaccines, all-embracing, that will work against all strains of virus that lay in wait ahead, but in the meantime they cannot be depended upon. To sum up: Build resistance to colds by eating properly, sleeping sufficiently

and not overworking, wearing the least clothes possible and not the most you can carry, bathing daily but not necessarily in cold water, ventilating rooms without draughts, and taking reasonable exercise. Molly-coddling | encourages, being tough discourages, colds. Try it.