European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Is Dave Didio most research into the cause and treatment of colds is conducted by pharmaceutical companies not the government. Researchers shortchange the common cold by Michael Woods the Toledo Blade mention the common cold and people think of the very epitome of the medically trivial a Mere trifle of an ailment far Down the list of today s big health concerns. How strange and unfortunate that the common cold clings to this deceptive reputation. For it Fosters surprising neglect of a disease that causes widespread misery every Winter costs billions of dollars makes millions of people miss work or school and wastes so much Money on trips to the doctor. The common cold certainly does not rank anywhere near serious conditions like coronary heart disease cancer or stroke. But neither does it belong on the trash Heap of biomedical research buried among rejected projects and superficial concerns not worthy of a major research Effort. Consider the common cold s Impact on society the . Centers for disease control and prevention estimates More than 70 million cases of the common cold occur each year. Colds Are the leading cause of school absenteeism with the typical kid getting 6 to 8 colds a year. With today s two income families a kid staying Home from school often mean that mom or dad must miss a Day of work. Colds Are a major reason Why people spend Money on office visits to tuesday october 25, 1994 physicians and nonprescription drugs. Colds cause More than 21 lost work Days for every100 employed americans. People who Tough it out and go to work with a cold May do More than spread the disease they May endanger the safety of other people. British researchers have found indications that colds and influenza can impair human performance. People infected with certain respiratory viruses government spending on the common cold i unbelievably Small considering the Impact colds have on the nation s population. For instance experience a decline in reaction time of 20 percent to 40 percent. That compares with the 5 percent to 10 percent deterioration seen in people who work after having a couple of drinks. Cold victims might logically expect the Federal government to spend a few Hundred million dollars or a few billion on research to prevent or treat the common cold. The National institutes of health after All spends More than $10.3 billion annually on All kinds of biomedical research. However government spending on the common cold is unbelievably Small. The National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases estimates it spent $1.3 million on cold research in 1991, the most recent year for which data was available. Yes that is million. The Institute which is part of Nih emphasizes it funds other cold research which is tabulated As research on influenza or . That s no Solace because the government in 1991 spent less than $50 million on flu and pneumonia combined. Much common cold research thus is left to pharmaceutical companies. Prevention Alhi stopped looking for a vaccine 21 years ago. Even the Basic knowledge to advise people on How to avoid infection is lacking. Some experts insist cold viruses Are transmitted mainly through droplets of saliva and mucus sprayed into the air when a cold victim sneezes or coughs. Others insist you catch most colds from touching the same object As a cold victim or by shaking his or her hand. Treatments victims Are left with Over the counter stuff like antihistamines that make you drowsy or nose sprays that work for three Days and then make your nose More congested. Vitamin a of course has shown Benefit in some studies in preventing colds and reducing the severity of symptoms. But there is no Clear Cut information on its effectiveness or the optimal dose. Nih must by Law focus on diseases that cause the greatest amount of damage to society measured in terms of factors such As number of death and amount of disability suffering and financial loss. That makes it All the More surprising that Nih Doles out such a pittance on a disease that affects so Many and costs so much. Scripps Howard nows service science shorts safer laser for surgery scientists May have found a Way for lasers to Cut brain tissue with unprecedented precision and that it could reduce Side effects for some kinds of brain surgery. Surgeons usually do not use current lasers within the brain because of damage to healthy tissue next to the areas Cut or vaporized said researcher or. Michael Copeland of the Vanderbilt University medical school in Nashville Tenn. But a study in rats shows that damage is greatly reduced with an infrared laser beam tuned to a different Wavelength Copeland s team reported. It said the right Wavelength causes less damage because it melts tissue proteins before vaporizing the tissue s water. As a result the proteins Don t act like shrapnel when the water explodes. Clean cheap fuel researchers who developed clean burning easy to grow Gourd roots for use in fuel strapped third world countries say it can also help residents of the american Southwest. Eugene b. Shultz discovered nine years ago that the Sun dried roots of the Buffalo Gourd found in new Mexico burned More cleanly and More efficiently than Wood for cooking fuel. The roots Are now being used in five countries where much of the population still Cooks on simple Smoky stoves or open fires which have been linked to respiratory problems smoke from indoor cooking with Coal Wood of dung has been linked to respiratory illness in third world studies the same conditions apply on the Navajo reservation that covers sizable parts of new Mexico and Arizona and a Sliver of Utah. A. Medical Symbol mix up for nearly 100 years doctors Book publishers and journalists have been using the wrong Symbol for Medicine. Now the Minnesota medical association is put to set them straight. The More familiar Symbol known As the " Caduceus is two snakes entwined around a staff beneath a pair of wings. But the Caduceus Kuh Doo see us is the Symbol of Hermes the greek god of Commerce and merchants also known As the messenger god. The Correct on according to an article in this month s Issue of the Mma journal Minnesota Medicine is the staff of asclepius As keep be us the greek god of Medicine a single Snake wrapped around a crude staff without any wings. If it s got wings on it it s really not the Symbol of Medicine said Mma spokesman Mark Vukelich. The associated press a the stars and stripes 19