What Do You Know About the Common Cold?

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish Do you think getting cold can give you a cold? Is it bad to drink milk when you have a cold? Can chicken soup cure a cold? Ranit Mishori is a family medicine doctor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington. She says colds are more common in winter, but not because of low temperatures. The cold weather just means people stay inside more, often with other people. "And the way the common cold virus is transmitted from one person to another is through handshakes, through sneezing, or through coughing on one another." Adults generally get two to three colds a year. Children are likely to catch four or five. Dr. Mishori says some people mistakenly believe they can become resistant to colds. She says, "There are about two hundred different viruses that cause the common cold. People think that once you get infected one time you develop immunity for the rest of your life. This is wrong."There is still no cure for the common cold. But Dr. Mishori says there are ways to feel better sooner. "So if you catch a cold and on day one you start taking about two grams of vitamin C a day, there is evidence you might shorten the number of days that you will be suffering with these symptoms." She says honey can also help. There is evidence that it can shorten the length of the common cold sometimes even by two to three days. She says honey seems to be especiall

Published 2011-05-26 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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