common cold

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Research Shows Why Some Colds Seem to Last Weeks
Research Shows
Why Some Colds
Seem to Last Weeks
new study

Research Shows Why Some Colds Seem to Last Weeks

Like COVID, other respiratory infections and their effects can linger

(Newser) - As far as acute respiratory infections go, lingering symptoms aren't just for COVID-19, researchers have found. "Long colds" and their symptoms can last more than four weeks, according to a study published Friday in the Lancet's EClinicalMedicine journal. "Our findings may chime with the experience of...

How Doctors Treat Their Own Winter Illnesses
Under the Weather?
Do as Doctors Do

Under the Weather? Do as Doctors Do

Advice from those in the know

(Newser) - If you've been hit with a winter illness, do as the experts do—an approach made easier by the Wall Street Journal and HuffPost , which spoke with asked ear, nose, and throat specialists; pediatricians; and family doctors about what they turn to when they get sick. Among their advice:...

Blame Your Nose for That Winter Cold
Blame Your
Nose for That
Winter Cold

new study

Blame Your Nose for That Winter Cold

Researchers discover colder temps reduce our nose's germ-fighting abilities

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom says that you're more likely to get a cold or flu in the winter. Now science backs that up. CNN reports on a "breakthrough" study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that sheds light on the connection between colder temperatures and increased viral...

Promising News on Common Cold and COVID, but With Caveats

Scientists: Catching a cold may offer some COVID protection, but vaccination is still best defense

(Newser) - Could catching a cold in the age of the novel coronavirus actually be a good thing? Scientists out of Imperial College London say maybe, with new research suggesting that those who've had a common cold may be offered some protection against a future bout of COVID. Researchers have long...

Research Finds New Path to Curing the Common Cold

Scientists use gene editing to block protein that viruses need to spread

(Newser) - It's not a cure just yet, but researchers have found a way to stop the spread of viruses that cause half of all common colds. Teams at Stanford and the University of California-San Francisco used gene editing to prevent cells from supplying a protein that the viruses need to...

Twice as Many White Kids Get Unnecessary Antibiotics

Researchers call for investigation of parental expectations

(Newser) - It's becoming something of a mantra: Antibiotics do nothing to treat the flu or common cold. And it apparently needs repeating, because even though antibiotics treat bacterial instead of viral infections, as many as 75% of kids with viral respiratory infections like a cold are prescribed them, reports Health...

100-Year-Old Antiseptic Could Battle Viruses and Superbugs

It does double duty, binding to DNA of both patients and bacteria

(Newser) - An antiseptic that German scientists invented in 1912 using coal tar has the potential to help treat and prevent both viral and bacterial infections, according to new research out of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Australia. Acriflavine was used throughout both world wars as a shotgun approach to...

Vaccine Trial for Common Cold Nothing to Sneeze At


Vaccine Trial for
Common Cold
Nothing to
Sneeze At
STUDY SAYS

Vaccine Trial for Common Cold Nothing to Sneeze At

Monkeys, mice given 'simple solution' developed antibodies against variety of rhinoviruses: scientists

(Newser) - When an expert in rhinoviruses told Martin Moore in 2013 that there would never be a vaccine for the common cold, the Emory University professor thought to himself, "Well, let's look into that." Three years later, it appears his probing against the odds has paid off: Per...

Why Colds Are More Common in the Cold
 Why Colds Are 
 More Common 
 in the Cold 
NEW STUDY

Why Colds Are More Common in the Cold

Immune system is weaker in cold noses, giving rhinoviruses room to replicate

(Newser) - That old wives' tale about catching a cold in the cold may have some truth to it, according to new research out of Yale. While the common cold is still caused by viruses and not actual cold temperatures, it turns out that our immune systems become weaker when our noses...

Deadly SARS-Like Virus Turns Up in Europe

NCoV case diagnosed in France

(Newser) - A man in France has been diagnosed with NCoV, a deadly, newly discovered cousin of SARS and the common cold. The case represents a new frontier for NCoV, which until now has been confined to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia bearing the brunt of it, CNN reports. French officials...

Smartphone App Knows You're Sick Before You Do

DailyData app detects changes that should tell you something's wrong

(Newser) - Your smartphone might have a better grasp on how you're feeling than you do. A new startup has unveiled an Android app that uses your phone's activity to detect the onset of the common cold, the flu, and depression, reports Mashable . DailyData , developed by a group of MIT...

Yes, Zinc Can Help With That Cold
 Yes, Zinc Can Help 
 With That Cold 
study says

Yes, Zinc Can Help With That Cold

New review of studies shows zinc to be effective

(Newser) - Zinc has long been the subject of debate when it comes to the common cold: Can the mineral really shorten the duration of your suffering? Yes, according to a new review of research on the topic. When zinc lozenges, tablets, or syrups are taken within 24 hours of the first...

Echinacea Won't Ease Your Cold
Echinacea
Won't Ease Your Cold
study says

Echinacea Won't Ease Your Cold

Herbal remedy no better than placebo, researchers find

(Newser) - For those battling colds this winter, the herbal supplement echinacea may be popular, but it won’t actually help ease the severity or duration of your misery, researchers find. Those who took the supplement in a 700-person study found their symptoms faded just 7 to 10 hours earlier than those...

Scientists Zero In on Cure for the Common Cold

Drugs could boost body's natural virus-killing process

(Newser) - Until recently, it was thought that there was no cure for the common cold. Now, new research shows that our immune systems can destroy the cold virus after it has entered a cell, the Independent reports. New antiviral drugs could be developed based on this research within the next few...

Childhood Obesity Epidemic Linked to Virus

Cold virus found in disproportionate number of obese children

(Newser) - The steep rise in childhood obesity over the last 30 years may have as much to do with a common virus as it does with diet and lifestyle, according to new research which adds weight to "infectobesity" theories. Scientists studied a group of 124 children in California and discovered...

Scientists Map Common Cold's Genome
Scientists Map Common Cold's Genome

Scientists Map Common Cold's Genome

Makes creating a cure possible, but still pricey and unlikely

(Newser) - Researchers have completed a “family tree” for the common cold, paving the way for an eventual cure to one of mankind’s most stubborn ailments, the New York Times reports. Scientists mapped the genomes of the 99 variations of rhinovirus, which causes most colds, and have cataloged the weaknesses...

Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold
 Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold 

Lose Sleep, Catch a Cold

Little sleep makes us vulnerable to colds

(Newser) - Mom was right: get a good night's sleep. Researchers have discovered a direct link between lack of sleep and vulnerability to disease, Reuters reports. Study volunteers who slept less than seven hours a night for just two weeks were three times more likely to come down with cold symptoms after...

Cold Virus Joins Cancer Fight

Brain tumors may yield to targeted infection

(Newser) - Scientists are trying to beat some of the most untreatable forms of cancer by employing another undefeated ailment: the common cold. A research team in Seattle has "modified the viruses so they can selectively target the tumor cells, replicate inside them and kill them," says one of the...

Cold 'Remedy' Firm Settles Suit for $23M

Airborne ends class action with promise of consumer refunds

(Newser) - Herbal supplement company Airborne will pay $23.3 million to settle a class-action suit alleging false advertising but won't say it did anything wrong, CNNMoney reports. At issue was the company's claim its pills could cure colds. Airborne denies “any wrongdoing or illegal conduct,” but it will give...

Of Mice and Men, and a Cure for Colds

Researchers find a way to infect rodents with rhinoviruses

(Newser) - Scientists have managed to give a mouse a cold. May not sound like a huge deal, but it is: One reason a cure for the common cold has been so elusive is that until now, only primates have been infected with rhinoviruses, which cause them. Now a team at Imperial...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>