Catching a Cure
Every few years, some backyard inventor triumphantly reveals that he has built a perpetual motion machine, and every few years someone claims to have found a cure for the common cold. Serious people long ago learned to respond to such announcements with a certain degree of caution, most appropriately expressed in the form of utter disbelief. The perpetual motion machine, a hypothetical device that would run on forever and defy the known laws of physics by creating more energy than it dissipates, still awaits its discoverer. Now, though, medical science seems to have been brought a significant step closer to finding a way to prevent, if not cure, a lot of common colds.
Two groups of researchers, working independently, have identified a molecule in nasal cells through which some cold-causing viruses enter the body. That breakthrough expands understanding of how viruses are able to evade or overcome the body’s formidable defense mechanisms so that they can set about producing misery. The molecules on the surface of nasal cells, called receptors, are now seen as providing a specific entryway. Researchers think that by cloning these receptors and administering them through nasal spray or nose drops to people at the risk of catching cold, it may be possible to confuse or tie up invading viruses and so prevent infection.
Scientists caution that a practical anti-cold medicine is at best years away even from being tested in humans, and major questions remain about the costs and general effectiveness of such an approach. Still, there is understandable excitement among researchers. The common cold represents an enormous health and economic drain. Nearly 100 million disabling colds occur each year, producing more than 295 million days of restricted activity, more than 35 million days absent from work and about 45 million days of lost schooling. The cost in lost wages and productivity runs into the billions. About $2 billion more is spent each year on cough and cold medicines. Cold researchers aren’t promising fast, fast, fast relief, but they are holding out the hope that misery can eventually be reduced. A world waiting for the chance to be grateful wishes them well.
