Colds

Question 1

what is the most common infection?

Answer 1

colds

Question 2

what are colds made up of?

Answer 2

viruses (ex: coronavirus, influenza)

Question 3

What do viruses do to our body? what role does our immune system play?

Answer 3

viruses destroy tissue, our immune system creates symptoms to get rid of the virus (ex: sneeze, cough)

Question 4

Is there a cure for the common cold? how long does it last? what about remedies?

Answer 4

No. it lasts for about a week. remedies don’t get rid of a cold, but they may make us think we feel better (chicken soup)

Question 5

What happened in Salisbury England?

Answer 5

They wanted to do a trial on humans.
- Offered participants a free vacation (not really a vacation)
- they would collect the sneeze from someone will a cold and use it as an artificial sneeze to insert into someone else
- sneezes were found to be not good spreaders of colds

Question 6

What is it that spreads colds?

Answer 6

Mucus and touching surfaces + your face

Question 7

What is mucus made of?

Answer 7

water with a bit of mucin

Question 8

What happened with the Tristan Ca Cunha Island?

Answer 8

The remote island would only have cold outbreaks following a visit by boats. June, July, august is their winter so they have the worst weather and therefore no colds because no visitors

Question 9

Coronavirus major and minor transmission

Answer 9

Major: Respiratory
Minor: surfaces

Question 10

cold —– with age:

Answer 10

decrease

Question 11

Why do you get fewer colds as you age?

Answer 11

You built up immunity and antibodies in your immune system. “memory” of the infection so you don’t get it again.

Question 12

What are 6 different types of meds for colds?

Answer 12

antipyretic +anelgysic, decongestive, expectorant, antitussive, antihistamines

Question 13

What is menthol’s role?

Answer 13

weak topical analgesic- activates nerve endings

Question 14

Is menthol better in liquid form or a cough drop? why?

Answer 14

cough drop because it touches the surface for longer, liquid goes to the stomach

Question 15

What is the best topical pain reliever?

Answer 15

Cepacol - spray
don’t use it all the time, will remove the sensation

Question 16

descongestant - what is a popular kind

Answer 16

dries up a runny nose, pseudoephedrine (vasoconstrictor)

Question 17

what was pseudoephedrine being made into? what was a popular decongestant before?

Answer 17

amphetamine - meth

Question 18

nasal sprays contain which decongestant?

Answer 18

oxymetazoline

Question 19

what does an antihistamine do? side effect?

Answer 19

• removes allergy symptoms, cough, nausea
• drowsiness

Question 20

which antihistamine is popular for colds?

Answer 20

chlorpheniramine

Question 21

which antihistamine is popular for allergies

Answer 21

dimenhydrinate

Question 22

what are the 2 types of coughs?

Answer 22

dry + productive

Question 23

what did they use in the past to stop coughs?

Answer 23

opium + heroine (ended up being more addictive than opium)

Question 24

What is an antitussive? example?

Answer 24

suppresses nerve reflex to cough - for dry cough
dextromethorphan

Question 25

What is an expectorant?

Answer 25

for a productive cough, make you cough, you want to get rid of all the mucus but it is easier to do this when it is more watery - not clinically proven to work... drink water instead

Question 26

Why are multi-symptom meds bad?

Answer 26

decongestants and expectorants work in opposite directions... how does that make sense day time doesn't include antihistamines but the nighttime does... but they both include decongestants which is a stimulant so will keep you awake anyway

Question 27

which is the number one selling cold med?

Answer 27

cold-fx

Question 28

does colf-fx work?

Answer 28

no, made from starch which has no antiviral properties - ginseng root: looks like a person - clinical trials made up their own stats

Question 29

issue with gravol (ginger+ willow bark)

Answer 29

does ginger have an antiviral effect? 80% effective at a certain dose and what's in the meds is 1/20th the amount that should be effective

Question 30

what % of colds are due to the flu?

Answer 30

15

Question 31

what does the H and N stand for? what do the numbers mean?

Answer 31

H: hemaglutinin N: neuraminidase # shows variation and change in the protein

Question 32

What med does the prof recommend?

Answer 32

Sinutab - pseudoephedrine