Idle thoughts have a curious trajectory, taking one to odd contemplation of puzzling matters. Such as, for example, what did primitive humankind make of succumbing to periodic episodes of struggling with the equally primitive viral condition we now call colds? Seek solutions to remedy their puzzling illness, resort to pathetic, unimagined attempts to ameliorate their lapse from robust health to miserable condition?

One can only conjecture how more vulnerable the onset of a cold with all its usual debilitating symptoms might present to a humanoid creature whose major concern would always be survival in a raw and hostile world in which predators existed threatening any measure of longevity beyond infancy. We're still here, more developed human beings, confident on the discoveries that millions of our predecessors left as a legacy to us to improve those chances of survival.

We've managed to surmount difficulties challenging our existence through persistent, stubborn DNA-generated resistance to all unkindly sources including efforts from wildly inclement climatic circumstances and exposure to relentless predators, and on to our own fallibilities to become what we are today. A technically advanced race of animal creatures upon whom nature bestowed a multitude of survival gifts but yet no more advanced beyond primeval instincts causing us to distrust, resent, hate and mount conflicts.

And where's that virus? Well, it too has survived and continues to afflict us with seasonal cold episodes that lay us low, from infancy to maturity. I really had no idea that "Adults get, on average, two to three (colds) a year, kids get six a year and elderly people about one", according to Dr. Michael Allan, co-author of a new study on cold prevention and treatment published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal this week. "In the United States alone, direct medical costs through physician care, secondary infections and medications were estimated at $17-billion yearly. In addition to which workdays lost to illness or the care of a sick child accounted for yet another annual $25-billion. Colds are big business.

The usefulness of Vitamin C was studied, and according to the review, provided "no meaningful benefit in the average patient". There is no cure, there are scant approaches known that will meaningfully reduce cold symptoms. Ginseng's role in cold prevention remains "questionable". Antihistamines with decongestants have small to moderate effects on adults and are of no benefit to children including cough suppressants "and Health Canada recommends against their use in children under the age of six years".


Risk factors for adults include stress and insufficient night-time rest. Nasal irrigation, humidified air, garlic, Chinese herbal medicines and echinacea bring hope but nothing beyond that. Three randomized controlled trials on the use of honey for children with a cough demonstrated small benefit in children over a year in age, with the warning that honey should never be given to children younger than a year. One dose (2.5 mg to 10 mg) of honey at bedtime was seen to help improve children's cough and sleep.

Acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be useful with aches, pain and fever and it was pointed out that Ibuprofen is slightly better for treating fever in children.

So why was I surprised over the age-and-prevalence figures? I can understand why children are more susceptible to colds and suffer them far more often than adults and seniors. They are exposed to other children who may be vectors because children to begin with have still-developing immune systems making them more vulnerable to viral onset/presence and communication.

Adults too, are in the workforce and are more active in getting about various places than the elderly, so their exposure to their own children and others they come across commits them to the graceless acceptance of frequent colds.

But seniors experiencing just one cold episode on average annually? Well, they are more likely to stay away from communicable areas, and have fewer exposures to young children, deliberately and by design. On the other hand, they're likelier to pay more frequent visits to doctors' offices and hospitals for treatment, and thus have greater exposure to places where viruses roam about, so that's a bit of a puzzle.