"Common Cold" Cure?
So i'm writing this while sniffing my nose and trying to breath and eat at the same time. It's the cold, it's back.. more of a flu this time. We all hate beeing all soggy and especialy leaving the house with a fever. So i was thinking.. since this happens to be one of the oldest "diseases" on earth.. why hasent it been cured yet?
Wiki says:
The acute nasopharyngitis, often known as the common cold is a mild viral infectious disease of the nose and throat; the upper respiratory system. Symptoms include sneezing, sniffling, nasal congestion; scratchy, sore, or phlegmy throat; coughing; headache; and tiredness.
Well we recognize most of those nasties so.. why hasent there been any cures yet?
ViroPharma Incorporated and Schering-Plough have been developing an anti-viral drug that targets picornaviruses, that cause the majority of common colds. Pleconaril has been shown to be effective in an oral form, but there were safety problems with that formulation. Schering-Plough is developing an intra-nasal formulation that may overcome some of those safety issues. However it may not be until 2008 or 2009 that the drug is on the market and it is unlikely that benefit will be more than one day.
Ok.. but i think i'll get another 50-60 colds by 2008 :) So.. still.. why?
I'll cut the medical mambo jambo short and say that the common cold can be produced by quite a lot of viruses and it mutates very fast. Thus it's hard to find a common strain to fight the virus directly.
So why does the cold go away in a few days? The human body.. beeing as adaptable and amazing as it is, can produce antibodies to fight against the virus specificly based on the virus and mutation it suffered in the human body.
So... why can't the same be done in labs? Well it's a matter of logic. Making antibodies.. actually white cells that "eat" the virus, have to be done for EACH individual person and can take quite a while to make. Thus it has never been attempted to be treated since the body can do so much better then any labrats can. (No offence to any labrats reading this blog :))
All in all... from the times of early Egypt to the times of the fictional Star Trek universe, no cure for the common cold has been found. Common cold is and allways has been an ennerving disease. Damn it.. need more paper napkins. *snif* *snif*

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