The symptoms which cause so much discomfort, and perhaps in severe cases, pain in the course of a common cold, are essentially the effects of inflammation. Inflammation as whole is an interesting phenomenon and, in its particular relation to colds, its characteristics are well worth a little notice, in that it will help towards an understanding of what happens during a cold and how these symptoms may be alleviated.
Inflammation is the body’s reaction to injury. It occurs locally in the part injured, and also in the system as a whole, which as it were, adapts itself to assist as far as possible in helping the local reaction. Thus, if the local attack is severe the body temperature rises and the patient shows all the signs of a general illness.
Though inflammation may cause such uncomfortable symptoms that we look on it as an evil in itself at the time we should be helpless against attack if it did not occur. If, for example, a germ invasion of the body is very sudden and virulent, the patient may go downhill with very few signs of reaction and ultimately succumb to it. Or, again, if the patient’s power of resistance are low, the same result will occur; thus an attack of pneumonia in an old person may be quickly fatal, and there will be few signs of inflammatory response during the illness.