Cold/Flu's and body Resistance

Colds and Flu
The common cold and the flu are believed by most physicians to be caused by exposure and susceptibility to a variety of common viruses. (Yet not everyone "catches" a cold or flu when he or she is exposed to such viruses.) For this reason, alternative physicians emphasize treating and preventing the common cold and the flu by strengthening a person's immune system, thereby safeguarding it from susceptibility.
All of us have experienced the sore throat, runny nose, aching, and general sense of misery that announce the onset of the common cold. Other familiar signals include a cough, headache, and dry, sore, or sensitive breathing passages. In a given year, nearly half of the United States population will "catch" a cold and 40 percent will develop influenza, or the flu.1 The symptoms of both the common cold and the flu are often used somewhat interchangeably because both are caused by the same family of respiratory viruses. According to John Hibbs, N.D., of Seattle, Washington, the distinction between the two depends on how severe the infection is and the range of symptoms. The flu, however, is usually more severe, develops quickly, and involves more of the body than a cold. A cold also occurs at any time of year while the flu, by contrast, usually develops in epidemics, normally in late fall and winter.
"Beyond respiratory inflammation," says Dr. Hibbs, "the flu produces a moderate to high fever, aching muscles, and acute fatigue. Vomiting and diarrhea may also develop and, in extreme cases, the flu may lead to pneumonia in particularly susceptible individuals. Other complications of the flu, although rare, include inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) or heart (myocarditis), Reye's syndrome (a syndrome primarily affecting children, involving abnormal brain and liver function), and croup."
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