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" For Sarah Null, a middle school teacher in Marietta, GA, her first year in the classroom stands out as the year she was always sick. &amp;quot;It was as if I had one long cold that started in November and lasted until April,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;Just as my sniffles and coughing began to clear, a new round of symptoms started up.&amp;quot; Adults average two to four colds a year. &amp;quot;But some get more,&amp;quot; says David A. Blandino, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It may just be bad luck. &amp;quot;Some years, you simply encounter more viruses you&amp;#039;re not immune to,&amp;quot; he explains. Null, now 30 and the mother of a 19-month-old son, has a pretty good idea of why she was always sick that winter: Beginning teachers encounter so many new viruses, &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s common knowledge that your first year you can expect to be sick more days than you&amp;#039;ll be healthy,&amp;quot; she says.  Teachers aren&amp;#039;t the only people at increased risk. Mothers are, too. Kids average up to 10 colds a year throughout childhood, and tend to bring home every new viral strain introduced at school or day care. The germs not only teem in a child&amp;#039;s nasal secretions, but can be passed on via hands, backpacks, lunch boxes, and other schoolroom paraphernalia. So when you welcome your daughter or son home with open arms, often you&amp;#039;re also saying hello to one of the more than 200 strains of viruses that can cause a cold.  Then, if you do get sick, a vicious cycle sets in: With all that coughing and nose blowing, you don&amp;#039;t sleep as soundly and you wake more frequently \u2014 adults with cold symptoms get almost half an hour less sleep per night than they usually do, reports a study from the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. Poor sleep, in turn, is linked to lowered immune response. So the sleep deficit triggered by your first cold may make you more susceptible to the next one and the one after that, and so on.  Frequent colds may also be payback for not following Mom&amp;#039;s warning to bundle up and keep dry. In a British study of 180 healthy adults, those whose feet were soaked in cold water for 20 minutes were twice as likely to develop cold symptoms in the next week as volunteers who stayed warm and dry.  There may also be a snowballing effect. In the wet-feet study, the volunteers who got sick generally suffered more bouts of the sniffles per year than those who didn&amp;#039;t get sick. &amp;quot;Although it&amp;#039;s not proven, once you get a cold, your immunity may be a bit low, which could make you more likely to catch the next virus going around,&amp;quot; speculates Anne Gershon, M.D., a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. And then there&amp;#039;s the possibility that what&amp;#039;s making you miserable is not another cold at all, but a secondary bacterial infection. Cold viruses cause cell surfaces to become &amp;quot;stickier,&amp;quot; increasing the likelihood that harmful bacteria will cling to and flourish in nasal, bronchial, and throat passageways. You can end up with sinusitis, bronchitis, strep throat, or pneumonia \u2014 all of which may require antibiotics. Signs it&amp;#039;s time to call the doctor:  You&amp;#039;ve been sick 10 days, with few signs of improvement You have chest pain with shortness of breath You have severe throat or ear pain, a headache, stiff neck, or toothache You have a fever over 102\u00B0 F    Stuffed-up nose: One dose of an oral decongestant that contains pseudoephedrine (brand names: Sudafed, Mucinex D) can open up your nasal passageways so you can breathe more easily. Subsequent doses don&amp;#039;t help as much, but do provide some relief when used for an additional three to five days. Note: Because pseudoephedrine can be used to concoct illegal street drugs (methamphetamines), by law, these products must be stocked behind the counter. You may see similar-sounding cold remedies on the open shelves (Sudafed PE, Tylenol Cold Head Congestion); these usually substitute another ingredient, phenylephrine, which has not been shown to work well as a decongestant, though other ingredients in such products do help relieve other cold symptoms.  You can also restore free breathing with a treatment called nasal saline irrigation. It&amp;#039;s as weird as it sounds but worth a try, especially if you can&amp;#039;t take decongestants because they make you jumpy or you have high blood pressure (some decongestants can raise pressure or interfere with blood pressure medication). You pour a premixed salt solution (Sinus Rinse, Nasopure) directly into one nostril; the solution then drains out of the opposite side. A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine study found that the practice helped relieve nasal congestion in 70 percent of patients. Sneezing and runny nose: Older antihistamines, such as those that contain chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), may help you dry up. But studies suggest that the effects are small. One possible benefit of these products, though, is that they knock you out so you fall asleep more easily. &amp;quot;But some people find these antihistamines too sedating. They&amp;#039;re less alert the next day,&amp;quot; says Dr. Blandino. The compounds used in newer &amp;quot;non-drowsy&amp;quot; allergy medicines like Claritin or Allegra work to block the action of histamines (so you don&amp;#039;t have a sniffly allergic reaction), but they won&amp;#039;t stop cold symptoms caused by a virus. Coughing: Choose a cough syrup containing dextromethorphan (there are dozens of brands; look for one that has &amp;quot;suppressant&amp;quot; in the name or on the label). A recent analysis of six studies found that the ingredient helps cut the frequency and severity of coughs. Also try sipping a citrusy or spicy hot liquid. &amp;quot;It can quiet a tickle in your throat as well as prevent dehydration \u2014 a concern if you&amp;#039;ve been running a fever,&amp;quot; says Brian Berman, M.D., director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Herbal tea, clear broth, or just plain hot water with a slice of lemon, grapefruit, or orange are all good choices. Sore throat: Take your pick: ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). They&amp;#039;re equally effective in taming cold-related sore throat pain, reports a study from the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in Wales; both also help combat the fever, achiness, and headache that can come with colds. Also, a French study that compared the two pain relievers in over 2,800 cold sufferers found that they have an equally low risk of triggering unpleasant side effects when used daily for a week.  Be a clean freak: It&amp;#039;s the number one form of prevention. You know to wash before eating, after using the bathroom, and when a sniffling acquaintance has just shaken your hand. But there are less obvious times when hand cleaning is warranted, says Tammy Lundstrom, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at Wayne State University in Detroit \u2014 before unwrapping a throat lozenge, for example, or putting on lipstick, or any time your hands will be near your face. If you keep a hand sanitizer or moist towelette in your purse, it&amp;#039;ll be easier to clean up after you&amp;#039;ve used the ATM, pumped gas, or picked up a community pen at the bank. &amp;quot;It means a lot of washing up,&amp;quot; says Dr. Lundstrom, &amp;quot;but it&amp;#039;s the best way to keep infections away.&amp;quot;  Go herbal: The verdict on echinacea has shifted again. A major review of 14 studies found that use of the supplement cuts the odds of developing a cold by 58 percent. And there&amp;#039;s little known risk to taking echinacea, says Dr. Berman. The general recommendation is 300 milligrams three times a day at the first sign of a cold or when you&amp;#039;re flying or in any situation where there&amp;#039;s a high likelihood you&amp;#039;ll catch a cold. Another herb in the &amp;quot;won&amp;#039;t hurt, may help&amp;quot; category is North American ginseng (a patented extract of this plant is used in Cold-fX): In research from Canada, a moderate dose (two capsules a day) of Cold-fX resulted in 25 percent fewer colds during a four-month study that coincided with peak cold season.  As for other supplements, the latest review of vitamin C showed that people exposed to cold temperatures or extreme physical exertion, such as marathoners, skiers, and soldiers performing exercises in subarctic regions, did get a significant benefit from regular use of the vitamin. For less active folks, there wasn&amp;#039;t any preventive payoff, but it did make their colds a bit milder, so the verdict may be up for review. Same goes for zinc. A review from the Stanford University School of Medicine did not find impressive evidence that it worked, but suggested that further studies might change the picture. Get moving: Women who exercise moderately (think brisk walking) for 45 minutes a day five days a week have half the risk of catching a cold as those who are less active, reports a study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Experts aren&amp;#039;t sure why, but believe that exercise boosts immunity. And sometimes stay still: If you do have a bad cold, &amp;quot;consider taking a day off,&amp;quot; says Dr. Gershon. Not only will your coworkers appreciate it, but taking the time to get better and build yourself up may bolster your resistance to the next cold. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a17378/endless-cold/>