Move over, chicken soup!

Local residents share remedies and ways to prevent colds and flu

As if the ice, snow and cold weren’t enough, it also happens to be the perfect time of year to get sick. So, take mom’s advice — and that of any health professional: Wash your hands. Eat healthful foods. Don’t skimp on sleep. But if you’re cooped up in a cubicle — or classroom, factory, truck cab — surrounded by co-workers and others sniffling and sneezing, it’s inevitable you’re going to get sick. Right?
Not necessarily.

A few weeks ago we asked you, our readers, to send us your best cold concoctions — home remedies or tried-and-true over-the-counter products. We didn’t try them (luckily, we haven’t needed to), and don’t swear by their effectiveness (especially giving tequila to youngsters and wearing icy socks).

But we did ask Ann Thurston, a family nurse practitioner for Memorial Health System, to weigh in on your neighbors’ best suggestions for beating that cold, or avoiding it entirely.

COUGH/SORE THROAT

- TO STOP A COUGH: Place a heating pad under a heavy book (or use a bean bag-style heating pad) and keep it on your chest. The heat stops muscle spasms and can also loosen phlegm. Licorice tea also helps calm your throat. Also: Try Mucinex. “The first time I took it I had that heavy feeling in my chest and knew it was full of mucus. I took a Mucinex and the next morning it was gone.”
— Lisa Cadman, Colorado Springs

Thurston says: All of the above work, especially Mucinex, which is “one of my favorites.” She also suggests laying a warm, moist towel over the face to help clear nasal passages. Drinking warm fluids such as tea or chicken soup can also help clear sinuses.

- TO STOP A COUGH, rub Vicks VapoRub on your feet before bed and cover with socks.
— Donna Stark, Colorado Springs

“I don’t know about that one. I’ll have to try it and see what happens,” Thurston says. “If they’re putting it on their feet, they may be doing other things as well, so that’s why that might work.” Thurston also suggests using Vicks VapoRub as directed — on the chest — and running a humidifier at night.

- AT THE FIRST SIGN OF SNIFFLES OR SORE THROAT, take a pair of cotton socks, wet the foot and wring them out. Place them in the fridge or the freezer. Next, soak your feet in the hottest water you can tolerate. Grab your frozen cotton socks from the freezer, head to bed, put on the cold socks and a pair of wool socks over them. You will wake up in the morning with dry socks and, hopefully, no cold. “At times I have done this several nights in a row if I feel the sniffles or sore throat trying to come back. It works best if you get right on it. If you wait till you are sick, it is not as effective, but it still helps.”
— Georgell DeMello, Colorado Springs

Thurston’s unsure about this one but says it won’t hurt to try.

STUFFY NOSE

- TO CURE A STUFFY KID: Take a very strong yellow onion — the kind that would make you cry while cutting — and right before bedtime cut it in half and place it on a nightstand. The next morning the child will more than likely be draining quite a bit — the irritation to the nasal passages helps to rid the nose of excretions quickly.
— Kirsten Williams, Colorado Springs

“I know that’s an old-fashioned cure,” Thurston says. “It can’t hurt to try, and if it works you’re looking at something that’s nontoxic and doesn’t have dangerous side effects.”

COLD/FLU

- “EVER SINCE I WAS A CHILD, my mother gave us this tea that her mother often gave her and her siblings when they were sick . . . I have continued the traditional home remedy to this day and both my wife and I swear by it so much that my wife affectionately refers to it as ‘Grandma Rangel’s Tea.’”

Grandma Rangel’s Tea:

Fill a medium to large pot with water. Cut at least four to six medium lemons and squeeze the juice into the water. Break a handful of whole cinnamon sticks in half over the water and add them to the pot. Bring the ingredients to a boil. Remove from the stove. Ladle the hot liquid into a coffee mug, and add a half-shot to a shot of tequila per serving. Then add honey and sweeten to taste. Crawl under the covers and drink the tea as hot as possible before bed or a nap. The tea essentially puts you to sleep and allows you to get the rest that doctors call for in order to help relieve the symptoms. Tradition has it that sweating the cold out as a result of drinking the hot tea can work wonders. The regimen continues until you’re over the symptoms.
— Mike Leyba, Colorado Springs

Lemon breaks up mucus and booze can put you to sleep. That being said: “I wouldn’t use it on kids,” Thurston says. Or if you’re an alcoholic.

- GARGLE WITH LISTERINE or hydrogen peroxide at the start of cold symptoms. After you gargle, brush your teeth, gums and tongue with Listerine or hydrogen peroxide. Do this a few times per day. “I will gargle with the Listerine, then a few minutes later use the peroxide full strength. It sure lessens the time with a cold, and sore throat.” — Rosanne Fahrenbruch

“I’ve had patients use Listerine for sore throats and have gotten good results with it,” Thurston says. “I would use the peroxide half-strength if I was going to use it at all — you certainly don’t want to swallow it.”

- “I HAVE BEEN MAKING AND USING COLLOIDAL SILVER for over ten years as a cold and flu remedy. I find it very effective, especially if you start at the very onset of something coming on. One can buy colloidal silver in the stores, but it is very expensive. I make it using a home-built silver generator, which consists of three 9-volt batteries, two silver rods (99.999 percent pure silver), some wire leads with little clips on the ends and a glass jar. “It is ready to drink in about three minutes. I also have added to my remedy snorting small amounts to get the silver into the nasal passages. This also helps me sleep through the night. I have recently added Yin Chiao (Chinese herbal remedy) and Young Living’s ‘Thieves’ essential oil to my arsenal of cold remedies.” — Richard Sandquist, Colorado Springs

“Silver has some antibacterial properties,” Thurston says. But, “there is a danger with using colloidal silver. If you take too much of it you can get a bluish cast to your skin, which is permanent. Though the proponents of it swear that it works.”

PREVENTION/FIRST SIGNS OF SICKNESS

- DRINK VINEGAR WATER EVERY MORNING. In a large (16-ounce) glass of warm water, add at least 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar.

“I started out with 1 teaspoon and have gradually worked my way up to a tablespoon. In the evening if I’m feeling like I’m coming down with something, I’ll drink an extra cup” (1 teaspoon of cider vinegar in 1 cup of water). “To stop a cold, it also helps if I take a massage on a Ceragem massage table, which is an amazing stress releaser.” — Donna Stark

Vinegar is a mild diuretic, but Thurston is unsure the effect of vinegar on colds.

- GET A FLU SHOT. “During my childhood and early adult life, I had three or four bad colds every year. I got my first flu shot when they were first given. I never had another cold or flu for ten years.” — Curtis McGaha, Colorado Springs

“Excellent idea,” Thurston says. “Especially if you have any chronic illnesses.”

- “IN 1983, I WAS LIVING IN ITALY in a damp house and suffering from the flu at least four times a year and innumerable colds, sniffles and congestion.
“I had read Dr. Linus Pauling’s brief on megavitamin theory a few years prior and was desperate for something that would keep me somewhat immune. Each trip back to the U.S., I stocked up on 1,000-milligram Vitamin C tablets, 1,000 IU Vitamin E gels, multivitamin/mineral tablets, and some calcium and zinc tablets to round it out. At first I went to the specialized vitamin shops, but over the years I have found the store brand vitamins in Sam’s and Costco just as effective. Each day I took one 1,000 mg Vitamin C, one 1,000 IU Vitamin E, a multivitamin/mineral, zinc and calcium tablet.

“I caught the flu a couple of times the first year but fought it off by taking as many as four (doses of) 1,000 mgs of Vitamin C and four (doses of) 1,000 IUs of Vitamin E (E really soothes the raw throat if you bite the gel capsule open and let it drip down into the infected area). I was usually up and functional the next day. I took those results as a good sign . . .

“Take your vitamins, get enough sleep, keep your nasal passage and throat moist, wash your hands frequently — you will not get sick as much or at all!” — David Lee, Colorado Springs “Vitamin C seems to help lessen the length and severity of a cold,” Thurston says. “Zinc seems to do the same thing.”

Multivitamins help maintain your immune system, and Vitamin E is an antioxidant. A few things to consider: Too much Vitamin C can result in diarrhea. Vitamin E is fat soluble, so unlike watersoluble vitamins, if you take too much, your body can’t get rid of excess through urine.

“I wouldn’t recommend taking more than 400 units of that,” Thurston says.

- “I DISSOLVE ONE PACKET OF EMERGEN-C in four ounces of water. Drink. Repeat just before meal and bedtime.” Then take two Shaklee Sustained Release Vita-C tablets and continue taking two tablets every few hours.

“Along with the Vitamin C, I allow Mannatech’s ImmunoStart to dissolve in my mouth. I take one ImmunoStart following each time I take the Vitamin C.” — Valerie Sprenger, Colorado Springs

“I think it’s probably pretty good,” Thurston said of Emergen-C packets. She hasn’t heard of the other two.

- “IT SEEMS LIKE YOU CAN USE a prevention method several times before it loses its effectiveness. One that has worked many times for me is the Wellness fruit juice drink from Odwalla.”

Also: “I love Zicam swabs. The idea is that a cold replicates in your nose, and so that’s the place to fight it — by killing the germs there. I use it if I feel a cold coming on, but I also use it if we’ve been somewhere with a lot of people sneezing.

“If you’re sick, try to stay home! Don’t walk around church, Wal-Mart, the DMV sneezing on everyone!” — Lisa Cadman

Thurston on Zicam: “Zicam’s probably a good thing to do; it’s got zinc in it.” Thurston on staying home: “Yes, so you don’t get everyone else sick!”

IS IT FLU?

Especially at the onset, it can be tricky to determine whether you have a cold or the flu. Here are the most common flu symptoms, some of which may overlap with a cold:

- Fever, usually high

- Headache

- Tiredness, often to the point of exhaustion

- Cough

- Sore throat

- Runny or stuffy nose

- Body aches

- Diarrhea and vomiting, particularly for children If you think you have the flu, see a doctor so you can be tested, particularly if you’re 65 or older, have a chronic medical condition or are pregnant. Young children should see a pediatrician right away. Anyone in these categories runs an additional risk of complications. Treatment at the onset of illness can significantly reduce the duration of the symptoms.
SOURCE: National Institutes of Health

FEND IT OFF

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call January and February the peak of the flu season. Take these steps to safeguard yourself.

- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

- Wash your hands often; make sure kids do the same.

- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

- Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. For more tips and to track flu outbreaks around the nation, see cdc.gov/flu.

BY MELISSA CASSUTT
2008-01-27 21:48:00
THE GAZETTE
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0152 or melissa.cassutt@gazette.com
http://www.gazette.com/articles/cold_32457___article.html/thurston_flu.html