Do colds take you down throughout the year?
Immune health is a year-round worry according to the latest research by Potter’s Herbals expert panel, the Henry Potter Advisory Committee.
In a survey of 2,000 men and women, more than half said that they were concerned about their immune health all-year round rather than just in the winter.
Few of us escape the common cold, which is exactly why it is called that. In fact adults suffer two to five colds each year while school children can suffer seven to ten colds.
The chances of getting a cold are much higher when we are alongside other sufferers. Long haul flights are a prime example of a time when we can be packed in close together with 400 potential sources of a common cold infection. However, the Potter’s Herbal research findings reveal that the number one source of infection, as voted on by the British public, is the workplace with almost one third of people.
More than a third are particularly concerned about their immune health when it gets colder, Surprisingly, as many as one in five of us worry that British wet weather will trigger an early cold.
Despite all the concern around immune health, the British public still make very little effort to reduce their risk of getting a cold in the first place. More than half of the Potter’s Herbals survey participants do not take any preventative measures. Surprisingly, those who are most prepared to fight colds and flu are the 25-34 year olds, with 15.7% of them stating that they would cancel a night out with friends if they feared they would catch a cold.
People tend not to visit their GP when they develop a cold, but of those that do, almost half visit their doctor because the medicine they are taking is not working. Few people also visit their pharmacy when they have a cold. And just 3.3% consult with their pharmacist.
Overall, these survey findings paint a dismal picture of people feeling helpless in the face of a cold, worried about their immune health, yet having little idea as to what to do about it. There is also a huge lack of knowledge around cold remedies particularly traditional herbal remedies.
Dr Chris Etheridge, a medical herbalist from the Henry Potter Advisory Committee says: “Although the common cold may seem inevitable, we can take active steps to prevent and treat infections naturally. Keeping the immune system strong and treating colds with a herbal remedy at the first sign of a sniffle or cold can help minimise any possible symptoms and leave us free to get on with enjoying our lives, our activities and our families and friends throughout those autumn and winter months, when colds can make our lives a misery. Look for a product like Potter’s Elixir of Echinacea Plus, which contains a specific type of Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia) combined synergistically with wild indigo and fumitory to help crucially prevent that onset of a cold or flu.”
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