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What Works in Public Education

The Big Sneezy: Thwarting the Common Cold

by Grace Rubenstein

Not for nothing is the common cold called common. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it is the leading cause of missed days at work and school. In fact, 22 million school days are missed each year due to colds, and children, those little Petri dishes of bacteria, get an average of six to ten colds annually, mostly during the winter months. For something so common, a cold can make us feel uncommonly wretched. Nothing can stop a really determined bug from finding a home in your system, of course, but here's a menu of preventive measures that various adherents find variously effective. Good luck . . . and gesundheit!

Airborne Effervescent Health Formula

This dissolving tablet contains seven herbal extracts used in Eastern medicine, plus amino acids, antioxidants, electrolytes, and ginger. The formula, available in original orange and lemon-lime flavors and grape flavor for kids, also includes zinc and 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C (more than ten times the recommended daily allowance). The manufacturer croons that the formula was created by a second-grade teacher, which is what we call enlightened self-interest.

ColdChaser

Created by Dr. Eva Dahl, this cocktail of zinc, bioflavonoids, rose hips, and vitamins A, C, and D "may enhance wellness," its marketers say. The ColdChaser dose of six pills is sold in plastic packets at grocery store checkout counters in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, as well as online. There's little research on the effectiveness of this combination, and Dahl's doctorate is in chiropractic. But when a cold has you in its clutches, skepticism tends to ebb.

Echinacea

This herbal remedy, which comes in an unregulated variety of forms and concentrations, is commonly made with an extract from the root of the purple flowering echinacea plant. The herb may help treat a cold if it's taken early on, but it won't prevent you from getting sick in the first place, the NIH says.

Vitamin C

It may be part of a healthy diet, but research testing whether the antioxidant can make colds go away faster has been inconclusive. According to the NIH, no evidence exists that vitamin C prevents colds before they start. The agency also warns that taking large doses of vitamin C over a long period of time can be harmful.

Zinc lozenges

Studies on the mineral's efficacy in cold prevention are a mixed bag: Some have found that it works, but others beg to differ. Starting to take zinc at the first sign of a cold seems to help, however, and the strength of the dosage (at least 13 milligrams every two hours) may also make a difference. Varying theories posit that zinc blocks the cold virus from entering cells in the nose and throat, or interferes with its ability to interact with proteins in the human body.

This article was also published in Edutopia Magazine, December 2005