10 things you probably never knew about the common cold and how a tennis ball can unblock

your nose.
1 What causes colds? Any one of more than 200 types of virus. One, called rhinovirus, is the most active. Under a microscope, the virus looks like a 20-sided golf ball, but it is tiny. 50,000 of them could be put on the head of a pin. 2 How often do we get colds? During the average lifetime (75 years) well suffer about 210 colds, each lasting five or six days. On any one day, 50 million people worldwide have a cold, and on average we each spend three years of our lives coughing and sneezing. Children have more colds than adults, as many as eight a year. 3 Are colds caused by being cold? People traditionally link colds with cool temperatures, but although colds are more common in winter than in summer, its really because in the winter we spend more time together indoors, making cross-infection more likely. Or it may be because we are more depressed in winter and this affects the performance of the immune system. However one thing that definitely does make us catch more colds is being stressed. 4 How do we catch colds? No one is sure. It may be directly from people coughing or sneezing, or by picking a virus up on your hand from a contaminated surface, e.g. a door handle, and then wiping your nose or touching your eye. 5 Why does our voice deepen when we have a cold? Inflammation of the throat makes the vocal chords thicker and, like the strings on a guitar, the thicker they are, the deeper the sound. 6 Is there anything we can do when our nose is blocked? When we have a cold, one side of the nose is normally more blocked than the other. When we fall asleep, our body always makes sure that one nostril stays open. Apparently it does this by a sophisticated reflex system activated by pressure on our arm as we lie on our side, keeping the nostril on the upper side open. If you squeeze a tennis ball under your arm, you can trick the brain into thinking youre asleep, so opening up the other nostril. 7 Why do we cough? Its a reaction to the irritation in the throat caused by colds, and is affected by personality. People who are obsessive cough much more than others. 8 Why do we sneeze? It is a reflex action controlled by sensitive nerves which detect the invaders (the viruses) and get the lungs to blow air through the nose and mouth. When the weather is cold we sneeze more often. We close our eyes when we sneeze, in fact its almost impossible to keep them open. This means that if you sneeze while youre driving at 80kph, youll be driving blind for 50m. 9 Will there ever be a cure? There already is one: our immune system. If it wasnt working, a cold would kill us. There is unlikely to be a vaccine, because there are so many different viruses and each vaccination would work only against one type. 10 What can we do to relieve the symptoms? Reduce your daily consumption of dairy products such as milk and cheese and drink plenty of hot drinks. Eat spicy food such as curry because it makes your nose run and helps to clean out the virus. For headaches you can take painkillers. Above all, be positive and dont worry as this tends to make your symptoms worse.

Eternal youth: new developments in anti-ageing research

Even if we have an extremely healthy diet and lifestyle, the human body is programmed to wear out at a maximum of about 120 years, and usually less. We all have a biological clock inside us which determines the moment when our organs cease to function properly. This is because our cells have stopped renewing themselves and our body can no longer repair itself. This is also the moment when we are more likely to begin to suffer from the diseases of old age such as arthritis and Alzheimers. However, rapid advances in DNA research are beginning to throw light on the secrets of the ageing process. By the end of this century we could literally have the power of life over death. Although it has long been accepted that humans have a fixed lifespan, it is also a fact that certain other organisms, such as reptiles and amphibians, appear to live indefinitely. The only reason we do not see 500-yearold alligators is because in the wild their lives are always in danger, from man, from pollution and from other animals. When they are kept in zoos they do not seem to age at all after they are fully grown. The same is true of some species of fish, which grow indefinitely and show no signs of ageing. The existence of animals with no fixed lifespan seems to indicate that an age gene really does exist. It is this gene which scientists are searching for, which may retard or repair damage to the body caused by ageing. Another new area of research involves the oxidation theory, which says that ageing is caused by the same process that makes iron rust. In controlled experiments, the lifespans of certain animals were shown to be lengthened with anti-oxidants; for example, the lifespan of mice can be increased by 30%. Anti-oxidants are already being used in face creams and other cosmetics, and they are likely to play an important part in keeping people physically young. Perhaps the most immediate advance we are likely to see in the battle to halt the ageing process will be organ replacement. By the year 2020 it is likely that we will be replacing injured bones or even organs like livers and kidneys with ones grown in laboratories. By 2050 perhaps every organ in the body, except the brain, will have become commercially available. Recent experiments also show that it may one day be possible to grow new organs inside our body to replace worn-out ones, something which lizards and alligators already do. Suddenly immortality seems within reach. We can begin to imagine a future where we are born, we grow to maturity, but we never grow old and die. But do we really want to live for ever? Glossary wear out become too old to use lifespan the number of years sb / sth lives the wild natural areas, not on farms or in zoos rust the action of air and water on metal, making it go brown mice plural of mouse

Are you a perfectionist? If so, it might be time to take things a little bit easier, for your own good and everyone elses!
We live in an imperfect world, yet we are constantly given the message that everything should be perfect: our homes, our gardens, our children and ourselves. This obsession with perfection, says Pauline Yardley from the Association of Stress Management, is one of the main causes of stress and depression nowadays nobody ever thinks they are good enough. But is doing things perfectly a positive thing? Some experts are not so sure. Consider these three examples of perfection: 1 The perfect employee They are always smartly dressed, completely reliable and efficient, and never moody or stressed. They are intelligent, well educated, and express themselves clearly at all times. All the work which leaves their desk is 100% perfect. So what could be better? Well, according to Sir John Harvey-Jones, a management specialist, this kind of worker can be bad news for a company. He says, Business is always a race against the competition and speed is everything. Perfectionists take longer over their work and can delay things too much. If workers are obsessed with doing their work perfectly, they may never finish it in time. 2 The perfect partner They keep their house in perfect order, think about everything their partner might want and make an enormous effort to keep themselves fit and fashionable. They are always busy and are admired by everyone who knows them. But, according to Pauline Yardley, the reality is that their partner is probably wishing they lived with somebody/someone who was more relaxed and would let them put their feet up on the sofa in the evening. 3 The perfect mother Its hard to stop them early in the morning as they rush out of the beautifully clean kitchen where they have been baking bread, to take the children to school and then go off to do a part-time job. They dont look stressed, in fact they smile more than most people do. Their car has always just been washed and they belong to the school Parent Teacher Association. But, according to Tim Kahn, who works for a parent support group called Parent Network, they arent the ideal mothers they think they are. Perfection has no place in parenting, he says. It puts too much pressure on you and your family, and makes you irritable and resentful. It also means you start sacrificing yourself for your children which isnt a good idea. Its important for parents to relax and make an effort to appreciate what their children can do, and not expect them to do much. The problem with perfectionists, says Pauline Yardley, is that it is very difficult to relax around them. Although we applaud perfectionism in sportsmen and women and scientists, it has little place in everyday life. In the end most people dont really admire it. Human life with all its imperfections is much more interesting. Adapted from Good Housekeeping magazine