Did you catch a nasty cold? You will not escape it: there is bound to be a charitable soul in your entourage who will recommend an “infallible grandmother’s remedy” based on lemon juice, garlic, onion, cinnamon, honey, verbena or other clove.
But do these natural and ancestral remedies really have any interest? Not sure, answers Dr. François Montastruc, doctor at the Toulouse University Hospital, questioned by our colleagues from Ouest France: “to our knowledge, and this has been studied by several specialists, these “grandmother’s recipes” have no beneficial effects on the treatment of cold symptomshe says. If people have seen an improvement in their condition, it has more to do with the cold coming to an end.”
The common cold heals spontaneously in 10 days
An example with onion and garlic, two foods regularly cited as “natural medicines”: according to Dr. Montastruc, there is “no side effects [leur composition] which would explain a clear improvement in cold symptoms”. As for the homeopathic remedies, often recommended, they do not present “no demonstrated pharmacological effects“.
On average, according to Health Insurance, the common cold (or “rhinopharyngitis”) heals spontaneously within ten days: in short, this means that no medication is necessary. Moreover, there is no question of using antibiotics, these drugs are exclusively effective against bacterial infections: the common cold is caused by a virus. Against the common cold, the only remedy that works is… patience!
Source : West France
