Cough, Cold, Flu Information
Treatments
Cold treatments recommended in commoncold.org have been properly tested and found to be effective. Their side effects are known and are acceptable for treating a mild illness like a cold. They include the following:
Older antihistamines ("first generation")
Nonsteroidal antinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Decongestants (vasoconstrictors)
Cough suppressants (narcotics)
Anticholinergics (ipratropium)
A common cold is a two step process (see How Cold Virus Infection Occurs and What Causes Cold Symptoms). The first step is virus infection of nasal cells. The second step is the activation of the inflammatory mediators which directly cause the cold symptoms. Ideally, it is desirable to treat both parts of the process but currently drugs for treating the virus infection (antivirals) are not commercially available
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