Does common cold cause asthma?

US researchers studied more than 250 newborns at high risk for asthma and followed them from birth to 6 years old to investigate the relationship between specific childhood illnesses and early development of asthma. Samples of mucus from their nose and throat were taken and analysed and they were tested for specific viruses during wheezing illnesses.

Researchers found that nearly 90% of the children wheezing with common cold virus, rhinovirus (RV) at age 3 subsequently developed asthma at age 6. The lead author wrote in the Americam Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that rhinovirus which causes wheezing in childhood was the most significant predictor of the subsequent development of asthma at age six.

Critics say that athough the study demontrated an association between wheezing during childhood colds and later asthma, it does not mean that cold is the casue of asthma. Asthma is a very difficult condition to diagnose but asthma at age six does not necessarily mean that the it will persist into later childhood.

Source: "Jackson DJ, Gangnon RE, Evans MD, et al. Wheezing Rhinovirus Illnesses in Early Life Predict Asthma Development in High-Risk Children." Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008: 178; 667–672 ( abstract only)

Vitamin C does not prevent common cold

Vitamin C is the most widely used supplement against common colds, but a new analysis of 30 studies in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library has found that the doses of 200mg per day had little effect on reducing the length or severity of colds.

However, the Cochrane researchers acknowledge that vitamin C supplements might have health benefits other than keeping adult colds at bay.

Echinacea can prevent common cold

A popular herbal remedy, echinacea, in Europe and the US can lower the chance of catching a common cold by half. The findings are published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases after reviewing the evidence of the anti-cold properties of the plant from 14 different studies.

Experts believe echinacea, a collection of nine related plant species indigenous to North America, may work by boosting the body's immune system but stress that further invetsigation on its possible risks is needed.