Medicine: Kler on Colds

Led go! You are hurtig be!—The Elephant’s Child.

Some new facts about the common cold were presented recently by Dr. Joseph Henry Kler of New Brunswick, N.J. For two years he has been studying the subject among New Brunswick and Chicago employes of Johnson & Johnson, surgical-supply house. To the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, he reported:

¶ In winter, in New Jersey, the largest number of colds started on Saturdays. The rest of the year they started on Mondays. In Chicago, all year round, almost as many colds started on Monday as on all other days combined. This had no relation to the weather. Monday colds were especially common among men.

¶ In Chicago, people took more medicine for colds than in New Jersey, got well quicker. But vitamins did no good. ¶ Women were half again as likely to get colds as men. The average woman lost 4.9 days a year from colds, the average man, 2.7.

¶ People who worked standing up did not get so many colds as people who worked sitting down. Office workers got worse colds than factory workers. ¶ Sudden drops in temperature were followed in a day or two by an increase of colds.