The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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8 'J'llK IIeALTII JJlLLKTlN January, 192"!
York St:ito
as compared with tho more
temperate elimate of California are not
major factors in the susci'i)til)ilit.v to
111 1»spiratory traet infections. It
may he a (lisapiinintment to those uiven
to otfhand pronouncements to read tliat
whetlier the students use sleeping
porches, well ventilated hedrooms or
l)Oorly ventilated bedrooms for sleeping
purposes does not materially affect the
susceptihility grou])ing. Although the
morbidity is slightly higher among those
using poorly ventilated rooms, the difference
is not great enough to warrant
any definite conclusions. Only by facing
the statistical facts squarely without
commitment to any unproved hypothesis
can it be hoped to make real progress
in the mastery over the common cold.
Meanwhile the methods for prevention
and measures for protection may well
be based on common sense hygiene
rather than specious theories."
— Journal A. M. A.
"The Season of Colds"
"The approach of cooler weather will
soon bring with It the usual crop of
colds. While much attention is being
given to «ancer and heart disease and
similar important health problems no
one seems much concerned over the subject
of common colds.
"Endowments are being asked for
many types of health work, none of
which surpass the common cold in producing
disability or in leading to other
and more serious consequences. There
is probably no disease of as far reaching
importance—unless it is syphilis
as the common cold. Its economic
significance among wage earners cannot
be computed, but it is known as the
cause of the greatest loss of time and
efficiency with which industry has to
deal although individual losses are not
large.
"Why are not more serious efforts
made to determine the cause and eradicate
it Organized research backed by
ample funds would doubtless uncover
many important facts now buried in
ignorance or lack of interest in the subject.
"Does the lack of possible spectacular
results detract from this field A solution
of the causation of the common
cold will entitle its discoverer to fame
as lasting as that of Koch. Pasteur.
Keed, or other c(mquerers of man's disease
enemies. The solution may lie in
the fields of Itacteriology, or physiology,
or of chemistry, or in all three, but
wherever it is, the service to mankind
will more than comi)ensate for efforts
put forth in its attainment. Let us
cease considering the cold as a minor
affliction and attack it vigorously and
effectively. Tlie result will be worth
far more than any cost or time involved."
The Nation's Health.
"How We Catch
Common Colds"
"Almost every one has a belief as to
the cause of catching a cold and has a
method of treatment that he thinks will
cure it. Among the more common
secondary factors usually mentioned are
sitting in a draft, changing from winter
to summer underwear, going from a
hot room to a cold one, and getting the
feet wet. The cures include the use of
a warm foot bath, a hot bath, a cold
bath, lots of fresh air, no fresh air,
eating of onions, carrots or celery, and
a half dozen other methods based on
some grandmother's advice or a superstition.
"Most physicians believe that colds
are transmitted from one person to another
by the intermediation of a germ
as yet unidentified, and that one is
likely to catch cold particularly if he
has been in a draft or has otherwise
been exposed to some change of external
temperature.
"Dr. D. F. Smiley of Cornell University,
after an investigation of common
colds among the students of that
school, concluded that it is impossible
to prove that overexercise, cold baths,
loss of sleep, drafts, kind of underwear
worn, mouth breathing, the kind of
shoes worn in wet weather, sweating
after exercising, or the removal of
tonsils or adenoids are factors in catching
cold.
"More recently Dr. William H. Barrow
of Stanford University concluded
after a study of colds in that institution
that the various systems of heating
such as coal stoves, steam heat, gasoline,
oil stoves or no heat at all did not
seem to influence in any way the num-