Symptoms of a common cold include fever, nasal discharge and congestion, cough, and a sore throat. The duration of the illness can extend to three weeks, yet one remedy could shorten that.
There are more than 200 viruses that can cause the common cold, attested the leading journal in pharmacy U.S. Pharmacist.
Signs of a cold usually manifest within two days after coming in contact with the virus.
Typically, symptoms can last between seven to 10 days, although a lingering cough could persist for up to three weeks.
It’s reported that the incidence of the common cold declines with increasing age.
Children are most prone to falling ill, catching between six to eight colds per year.
Adults under the age of 60 tend to have between two to four colds per year, while older adults may get one cold per year.
Stress and the lack of sleep may increase the risk of the common cold in adults.
People with underlying health conditions may be at a higher risk of complications.
For instance, asthma may worsen, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could be exacerbated, and some people could develop pneumonia.
One supplement you may want to consider taking to help fight against a cold is elderberry.
Also known as sambucus nigra, the elderberry is thought to have “antioxidant and immune-modulating properties”.
Evidence supports this, with one study showing how elderberry supplementation reduced symptoms of the flu.
Elderberry extract was given daily for three days to those who had symptoms of the flu.
The group was then monitored for an additional six days, alongside a placebo group – who also had symptoms of the flu.
After three days of treatment, symptom resolution was demonstrated in 46.7 percent of elderberry-treated patients.
Another study involved supplementing flu patients with elderberry extract four times daily, for five days.
Most patients in the treatment group reported “pronounced improvement” within four days compared to the placebo group.
The placebo group managed to reach the same level of improvement in eight days.
This finding suggests that elderberry extract could half the duration of symptoms that occur when infected.
It must be noted that these studies consisted of small sample sizes, limiting the generalisability of the results.
Elderberry reportedly is “well tolerated” and “very few adverse reactions” were noted.
As a safety precaution, U.S. Pharmacy warns people not to eat raw or insufficiently cooked elderberries.
This is because they can cause vomiting, dizziness, weakness, nausea and stupor.
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