Is This Why Sipping Hot Tea Helps?

David Trammel's picture

I came across this novel idea to treat early colds.

BLOWING OFF THE COMMON COLD GETS EASIER

"It works like this: As soon as someone notices cold symptoms such as a stuffy nose or sore throat, he plugs in a small device similar to an electric hair dryer and begins breathing in hot air. Droplets of common decongestants, analgesics and bactericides also may be inhaled along with the hot air. This is done for four or five minutes at a time a few times a day, and that`s it. Within a few days, symptoms of the cold should be gone or at least greatly relieved, said Robert Krauser, inventor of this device, which he calls the Viralizer. Krauser, an inventor with an interest in medicine but no formal degree, said he became interested in cold prevention and cure when his own youngsters seemed to catch every cold going around.

The theory behind Krauser`s invention is simple. It is known that viruses are easy to kill in a laboratory by heating them. The body`s natural reaction to infection is to elevate body temperature slightly, and there is evidence that fevers are nature`s way of killing viral invaders. Because viruses causing cold symptoms live and multiply in the nose and mouth, Krauser decided it was logical to direct a little local ''fever'' to those areas in the form of hot air. He modified a hair dryer so it wouldn`t make air much warmer than 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and he started testing to see if he could treat the colds his two young children kept getting.

''It worked. It`s so obvious, it`s almost too good to be true,'' said Krauser, now president of Viral Response Systems, a company in Greenwich, Conn., that makes Viralizer."

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I seem to remember my mother taking a towel and covering my head over a pot of hot water, so I could breath in the hot steam, when I was a kid. You could perhaps do the same thing but use herbs rather than over the counter manufactured medicine.