 | Blood Test Results And Common Cold
  Viruses that do succeed in penetrating the mucus and attaching themselves to membrane cells set off a series of reactions called immune responses. This can be proven when finding a correlation between blood test results and common cold. Working through a variety of cell types and unique chemical substances, the immune responses act to isolate the trouble, whatever it may be, and prevent it from spreading. The responses divide into two broad categories of activity: one nonspecific, attacking whole classes of enemies, the other specific, keyed to attack a very narrow range of adversaries with powerful effect. Although each specific agent works against only a single kind of invader, all the specific agents together cover a vast range of potential enemies.
The first nonspecific troubleshooter to arrive is an antiviral substance called interferon. At the onset of a cold, the infected cells release interferon into fluids of the mucous membrane and it begins to make surface contact with still-healthy cells nearby. When a virus later attaches itself to one of these “prepared” cells, it finds the host cell less submissive to the invasion. Interferon has somehow induced the cell to produce antiviral chemicals that keep it from collaborating with the enemy; the cell thus does not make more viruses, as body cells do when overwhelmed by a virus invader and it remains fully capable of producing its own materials in normal fashion. More can be found on this in the details of common cold virus.
Viruses vary greatly in their propensity to spur cells into producing interferon, and they also vary considerably in their susceptibility to interferon blockage. The extent of interferon ‘s role in defending the nose and throat against colds and in limiting their duration is not precisely known, and scientists presume that the answers, when found, will vary for each group of viruses.
After several days of holding the line in lonely battle, the cells and interferon begin to get some help from another nonspecific defense, inflammation. The results of the inflammation process are familiar to every cold sufferer: redness, heat, swelling and occasional pain inside the nose. The normally pink, shiny surface of the mucous membrane turns an almost fiery red and the sensations are the common symptoms of a cold—a runny, stuffy nose, often accompanied by a mildly sore throat. Many people ask the question how does the common cold affect your body and this article reviews this aspect as well.
This onset of discomforts is usually the first overt signal to the victim that a cold is “coming on.” The fact is that the cold is already there, The burgeoning discomfort is less a mark of viral damage than of the body’s first steps to conquer the virus—the invasion, though destructive, was essentially painless. The cold sufferer feels fine while being attacked by infection, discovers he has “just” caught a cold at the point when his body is beginning to cure it, and feels miserable mainly because his body is making him well.
The inflammation begins immediately after the incubation stage of a cold, when membrane cells, such as the mast cell pictured on page 58, spill substances known as mediators into the tiny spaces surrounding the cells. Among the first of these mediators to be released is histamine, which sets off a powerful local reaction almost immediately—it directs nearby blood vessels to expand and thus increase flow of warm blood to the damaged area. This process produces the redness and heat of inflammation. | Most Popular Common Cold And Flu ArticlesHow Does The Common Cold Affect Your Body Palpitations And Need To Cough Cough With Frothy White Sputum Types Of Rheumatic Heart Fever Pain Constant Low Grade Fever Nutritional Requirements Needed To Treat Fever Flu Symptoms With Neck And Back Pain And Muscle Aches Who Discovered Influenza Is Canada Ready For A Pandemic Influenza | |
| The dilation of the blood vessels also helps increase their permeability, much as stretching a stocking enlarges the spaces between the threads. Through these spaces seep blood plasma (essentially blood fluid minus its red and white cells) and some blood chemicals, including a series of defensive compounds known collectively as complement (page 51). The fluid floods tissue spaces within the mucous membrane.
This infusion of liquid into the tissues causes them to swell, narrowing the nasal passages. The swelling of tissues with fluids to narrow nasal passages is popularly known as congestion, a word that is frequently misunderstood. It does not mean that the nasal passages become blocked with thickened mucus, nor do the nasal decongestants employed against congestion remove mucus. Their effect is to temporarily reduce swelling of the tissues surrounding the passages, returning them to normal size and giving the mucus more room to move out.
As the nasal tissues swell, mucus-secreting cells increase their production, causing an excess of moisture on the surface of the passages. Some of the mucus, unable to make its way up through the constricted nasal passages, has no place to go and must drip out the front of the nose—and the nose begins to run.
The swelling and destruction of the nasal tissues are likely to impinge on nerve endings in the area, causing them to send impulses to the brain, where they are interpreted as pain. Not looking after the flu symptoms with neck and back pain and muscle aches will cause you to be bed ridden for some time.
Irritations in the region of the nose and eyes may also send complaints to another site in the brain, setting in motion the almighty sneeze. In a Rube Goldberg sequence of events, the sneeze center of the brain sends a series of commands to the muscles around the lungs that lead to a violent explosion. Mucus-laden air exits primarily from the mouth but also from the nose at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour and is propelled as far as 12 feet. The sneeze brings temporary help in clearing the area of excess mucus and fluids.
Inflammation and mucus in the pharynx, larynx, trachea and still lower segments of the respiratory system frequently produce coughing, another auxiliary defense mechanism.
Unlike a sneeze, a cough may be either voluntary or involuntary—some coughs are uncontrollable, but others can be initiated by a conscious decision. The cough center of the brain instructs chest and abdomen muscles to tighten and simultaneously orders the glottis, a narrow opening at the top of the larynx, to close.
The tightening muscles squeeze the lungs but air cannot escape from them because the larynx is shut, Consequently, air pressure builds up in the lungs until the glottis opens suddenly; then trapped air rushes upward and out explosively, generating the noise known as a cough. The sudden burst of air in a cough helps keep respiratory passages open and prevent infectious mucus from descending into the lower respiratory tract. When for any reason it fails in this task, more serious secondary infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia can follow. This can be prevented if we look on blood test results and common cold relations. | Twitter About The Common Cold Cure  | | Common Cold Tip Of The Day Cold sores or fever blisters—the familiar small blisters that erupt around the edges of the lips—are badly misnamed. They are not caused by either colds or fever; they are symptoms of an infection by a virus, herpes simplex type 1, that has fascinated scientists for decades. |
| |
