Do you gets colds?

[humuhumu]

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This is a serious question. No matter what preventive measures I take, inevitably I catch at least one cold every winter. Upper respiratory infections or even the flu are no big deal if you have a normal life, e.g., you can take a day or two off and catch up when you get back. But what about med school, especially after MS2 when your schedule becomes so inflexible? And residency? Can residents even think about getting sick, ever? And if you do get sick every now and then, are you considered weak and sickly, unfit for the rigors of medical training?

I can enjoy long runs of good health if I'm getting enough rest, exercising regularly, eating right, managing stress effectively, etc. Zinc lozenges and a humidifier also seem to help stave off colds in the winter. But given the sleep deprivation and stress of med school (not to mention the regular exposure to pathogens in the hospital), I'm concerned about how well my immune system can hold out. How do you all manage?

 

[fun8stuff]

This is a serious question. No matter what preventive measures I take, inevitably I catch at least one cold every winter. Upper respiratory infections or even the flu are no big deal if you have a normal life, e.g., you can take a day or two off and catch up when you get back. But what about med school, especially after MS2 when your schedule becomes so inflexible? And residency? Can residents even think about getting sick, ever? And if you do get sick every now and then, are you considered weak and sickly, unfit for the rigors of medical training?

I can enjoy long runs of good health if I'm getting enough rest, exercising regularly, eating right, managing stress effectively, etc. Zinc lozenges and a humidifier also seem to help stave off colds in the winter. But given the sleep deprivation and stress of med school (not to mention the regular exposure to pathogens in the hospital), I'm concerned about how well my immune system can hold out. How do you all manage?

i too will be entering med school this fall and have often thought this same thing. i seem to always get at least one cold every february that knocks me off my feet for about a week. i was thinking this last feb about how much it will suck if it happens next year.

oh and by the way, many studies have shown zinc lozenges to be ineffective in treating/prevention colds. The studies that have been positive I have only been weakly positive and they have been with taking the lozenges at the first onset of the cold every 2 hrs for 2 weeks....
http://www.med.umich.edu/pediatrics/ebm/cats/zinc.htm

 

[dr.z]

It depends on my stress level. Moderate stress helps me fight most infections, but if I'm really exhausted I tend to catch something. I guess you should work on getting rid of excess stress.

 

[humuhumu]

oh and by the way, many studies have shown zinc lozenges to be ineffective in treating/prevention colds. The studies that have been positive I have only been weakly positive and they have been with taking the lozenges at the first onset of the cold every 2 hrs for 2 weeks....
http://www.med.umich.edu/pediatrics/ebm/cats/zinc.htm

Well, there's always the placebo effect! 🙂

 

[doc05]

wash your hands to prevent the cold. and nobody should take a day off for a cold. that's just being lazy.

prevent the flu with a flu shot.

 

[humuhumu]

oh and by the way, many studies have shown zinc lozenges to be ineffective in treating/prevention colds. The studies that have been positive I have only been weakly positive and they have been with taking the lozenges at the first onset of the cold every 2 hrs for 2 weeks....
http://www.med.umich.edu/pediatrics/ebm/cats/zinc.htm

Your comment inspired me to look up a more definitive review of dietary zinc and health. This one is good:

Walker CF, Black RE. Zinc and the risk for infectious disease. Annu Rev Nutr. 2004;24:255-75.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...d&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15189121&query_hl=6

Here's what it says about zinc and the common cold (the numbers in parentheses refer to references at the end of the article):

Zinc for the treatment of the common cold was first investigated in the early 1980s with the use of zinc gluconate lozenges. Although zinc has been found to inhibit the replication of several rhinoviruses in vitro (41), the same effect in vivo has not been observed; the exact mechanism for how zinc may work in humans is not known. Three systematic review articles summarizing the effects of the first eight clinical trials found that zinc gluconate lozenges have an inconsistent effect on the severity and duration of the common cold (40, 46, 60). Beneficial effects were found in three trials (34, 45, 64), and no benefits were found in five trials (5, 33, 35, 111). Many trials have been criticized for study design problems (34, 111) and small sample sizes (5, 35).

Since these reviews were published there have been mixed results in trials of the use of zinc as a treatment for the common cold. Macknin et al. (58) did not find a difference between the time to resolution of cold symptoms between children receiving 10-mg zinc gluconate lozenges five to six times a day and those receiving placebo for the treatment of the common cold. In a study by Turner (106), prevention and treatment of rhinovirus infection with intranasal zinc gluconate did not prove to be effective (n = 91).

Turner & Cetnarowski (107) assessed the efficacy of zinc acetate and zinc gluconate lozenges among 273 persons challenged with a rhinovirus and among 281 natural cold patients. Among those with artificially induced colds, zinc gluconate significantly reduced the duration of the cold [2.5 days compared to 3.5 days among placebo (p = 0.035)]. No effects on duration were observed among zinc acetate-treated persons, and no effects on severity were observed with either zinc acetate or gluconate. Among those presenting with a natural cold, no effect was observed on duration or severity with zinc acetate or gluconate treatment. Prasad et al. (73) found zinc acetate lozenges to shorten the mean overall duration of cold symptoms (4.5 days in zinc-treated patients compared to 8.1 days in placebo, p < 0.01) and a decreased overall severity of symptoms based on patient scoring. Mossad (63) studied the efficacy of zincum gluconicum nasal gel and found that zinc-treated patients had a significantly shorter duration of illness (4.3 days versus 6.0 days) when compared to placebo (p < 0.005). Zinc may or may not be efficacious for a decline in the severity of, or the complete resolution of, common cold symptoms, but it does not appear to cause any significant adverse effects if used as a lozenge or nasal spray for the treatment of the common cold.

 

[humuhumu]

wash your hands to prevent the cold. and nobody should take a day off for a cold. that's just being lazy.

prevent the flu with a flu shot.

I think you're right about washing hands, but it may also be important to never touch your nostrils (or your eyes). Sometimes when I'm studying I catch myself doing just that, sort of a nervous habit. Makes me wonder how often I've inoculated myself that way....

 

[ddmo]

Forget the supplement game. Take a multi-vitamin if you want, although it's unnecessary. Like Doc05 said, just wash your hand regularily. Get a flu shot. I went the entire school year without being even slightly sick, which was rare because I normally get sick about twice a year. That said, I now wash my hands probably 10 times a day.

I agree about touching your face while studying, that's why I wash my hands extra often while studying considering there is all sorts of nasty stuff in the library and my hands are always on my face.

 

[heldicus]

wash your hands to prevent the cold. and nobody should take a day off for a cold. that's just being lazy.

prevent the flu with a flu shot.

Because we all know how easy those are to obtain....

 

[AJM]

Because we all know how easy those are to obtain....

As a health care provider, you are in one of the groups where it is recommended to get the flu shot. The vast majority of hospitals will provide flu shots to their house staff for free. Even this year with all the supply issues, house staff did not really have a problem getting the shots. This year my hospital offered flu shots to all the housestaff. Almost all of those who didn't get the shot came down with the flu and had to miss ~2 days of work each.

If you get the flu as an intern/resident because you did not get the flu shot, it is your own fault. Unless you have an egg allergy or some other really good reason to not get the shot, every house staff should get one, IMO. If you don't get one and are taking care of patients during the wintertime, you are all but guaranteed to get the flu. Even if you've "never had it in your life", you working in the hospital and taking care of other patients who have the flu makes it a whole other ball game.

 

[doc05]

Because we all know how easy those are to obtain....

interns, residents, and students on clinical rotations had no trouble getting the flu shot this year -- at least at my institution. I got the vaccine without any trouble, no waiting.

 

[jamie]

interns, residents, and students on clinical rotations had no trouble getting the flu shot this year -- at least at my institution. I got the vaccine without any trouble, no waiting.

ditto.

 

[PineappleGirl]

interns, residents, and students on clinical rotations had no trouble getting the flu shot this year -- at least at my institution. I got the vaccine without any trouble, no waiting.

tritto.

Same where I work.

 

[DrChandy]

Colds are very easily prevented if you use a little common sense. Use just a tiny drop of any EtOH containing solution on your hands before eating. Ethanol (ideally a solution 70% by volume) is a great antimicrobial and antiviral agent (only except for bacterial spores). Washing hands, although somewhat effective, is limited to how well you can wash; regular soap only washes away pathogenic agents, whereas antibacterial soaps are not immediately effective as antibiotic agents. Continue to wash your hands of course, however, the use of ethanol can kill microbes on hands within 15 seconds of contact (denatures bacterial cell walls/protein components of viruses).


And like others here have said, dont touch areas of your eyes, mouth, nose, (or any other area of your body with a mucosal lining), and you should be fine.

Good sleep, nutrition, and exercise help boost the immune system to fight such infections, whereas the above are very simple and easy preventive measures. I haven't had a cold in a long, long, long time.

 

[humuhumu]

The paucity of responses is impressive, suggesting that most of you don't get colds. Guess I need to step up the prophylaxis...