SCIENCE
& CULTURE CORNER
GIMME SOME DRUGS, DOC!
Questions and answers for the cold and flu season
Why does a cold or flu (influenza) infection give us fever? Simply put, they do not. It is the defensive response of warm-blooded creatures that produces higher than normal body temperatures. The rise in body temperature then, however unpleasant for the person experiencing it, is unpleasant as well for the infection. That is, the higher than normal body temperature is designed to slow the propagation of the infectious agent.
So taking aspirin or other drugs to bring down fever actually works in favor of the infection. Colds and usually flu are generally overcome by our immune defense system in a matter of course as antibody molecules destroy identified invaders.
The other side of the coin is that aspirin and other analgesic drugs help with the pain and discomfort. It should be noted also that high fever is an over-reaction and is dangerous. Thus, while ideally a slight fever is advantageous, a high fever must be reduced.
What about taking drugs that kill the buggers? Antibiotic ("against-life") drugs do work to kill bacteria. Yet, bacteria and viruses are very different entities. Viruses are little affected by antibiotics. Since colds and flus are viral in nature, the use of antibiotics is unhelpful. Properly prescribed drugs usually are those which deal with discomfort.
Why am I told not to worry about catching measles again, since I have already had it, yet I catch cold again and again? Aren't they both viruses? Indeed both are viruses and it is true that our immune system has a mechanism for remembering past infections. You are unlikely to catch measles a second time since the body is tuned to respond at once to any exposure.
The difference is that as measles and colds reproduce and evolve, measles uses a double-check system to help insure its protege (children) are virtually identical. Colds and flu do not use this system. Their protege tend to differ from their progenitors (parents). As they evolve to different DNA configurations they no longer are recognized as that which the immune system is poised to attack. So, while you may be immune to catching cold or flu, such immunity is only for the same cold or flu.
If science and technology can put men on the moon and bring them back, why have we no vaccine against the common cold? Cold vaccines are not a problem to manufacture. But, against which cold? As stated, colds evolve into uncountable variations. Like all things of nature, they are not static. A vaccine must be designed against a particular invader. This is why flu vaccines must be reconfigured annually in anticipation of new varieties.
So why do clinics in Japan always load me up with a bagful of various drugs, some not even labeled, for my cold? Unknown. You might want to ask them. Or there may be a direct connection to the high mark-up profits they make from the prices of these drugs. In developed countries where the prescribing of drugs is completely separate from the selling of drugs, flu prescriptions focus upon discomfort and nothing is generally prescribed for colds among people who are otherwise healthy.
What's the best way I can escape catching cold or flu? Short of living alone on an isolated island far from civilization, most physicians recommend washing your hands very often. Bear in mind, cold and flu infections occur only by exposure to their respective viruses. Colds do not come about from you being cold. Rather, the name originates from the tendency to feel cold or chills after infection.
For a more technical discussion of this subject see Molecules of the Immune System by Susumu Tonegawa. For discussion of cold and flu origins see Physiology of Human Adaptability by Peter T. Ellison. Ed.ng.
by Angel
Stephens
angel_stephens@hotmail.com
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