Ah-Choo!
The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold
by Jennifer Ackerman
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Pub. Ed. $22.99
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Ah-Choo!
Americans catch as many as a billion colds per year. On average, we will spend five years of our lives suffering from a cold. But what is the common cold? How does it affect our bodies? And can you really fight one off? These are just some of the questions Jennifer Ackerman addresses with her characteristic flair in Ah-Choo!
In this ode to the odious, Ackerman shares numerous insights from the world of cold research, both established and cutting-edge. We know, for example, that the common cold is caused by at least 200 different viruses; the largest family, the rhinoviruses, accounts for 40 percent of all colds. Saliva initiated by a sneeze is unlikely to spread infection; you’re much more likely to get infected by shaking hands with someone with a cold. Here also is the revelation that a typical cold victim blows her nose an average of 45 times during the first three days of illness.
Elsewhere in these pages, we learn that exposure to cold temperatures almost certainly has nothing to do with catching a cold; colds are more common in fall and winter because the cooler, wetter weather drives people indoors, where viruses may more easily jump from one person to the next. As for possible cures, Ackerman details an impressive range of historical attempts, from kissing a mouse (which was supposed to do the trick in ancient Rome) to chlorine therapy to chicken soup—and we learn why a cure has remained so elusive. Beyond detailing colds, Ackerman also lives one, by willingly enrolling in a University of Virginia study in which she and others are infected in order to track their symptoms.
Don’t wait for your nose to get stuffy and your throat to get sore—start reading Ah-Choo! today and learn all about this all-too-common condition.
Hardcover : 256 pages
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA ( September 02, 2010 )
Item #: 13-182407
ISBN: 9780446541152
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Product Weight: 13.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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