Colds and Flu

The runny nose, cough, and sore throat of a cold are hard to escape; most people suffer two or three bouts with the enemy a year.  That’s  why it’s called “the common cold”.

Colds and flu are highly contagious respiratory infections that are caused by viruses. More than 200 cold viruses (rhinoviruses) have been identified; unfortunately, developing immunity to one does not protect you from the others. There are fewer flu viruses, but they undergo frequent mutations – that is, they change their protein structure just a little each year as they sweep around the globe. This is why new flu vaccines are produced yearly that protect against the prevailing strains of the virus.  Doctors recommend annual flu shots for everyone over the age of 65 people of any ge who have a circulatory, respiratory, kidney, metabolic, or immune disorder.

source: Readers’ Digest Foods that Harm Food that Heal an A-Z Guide to safe and healthy eating

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under ILLNESSES & AILMENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.