Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Medical Advances vs The Common Cold by Diane Burton

"I'm late, I'm late...for a very important date," says the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

This post is late. The above quote popped in my head since I'm reading a book by Josie Brown (The Housewife Assassin's Killer App) in which a hacker quotes Lewis Carroll's works to get the good guys' attention. 

Can I blame my tardiness on my cold? My head hasn't been "in the game," so to speak. How is it I can escape a winter cold yet get a summer one? 


For the past week, I've gone through the stages of a cold--sneezing, stuffy nose, headache, coughing. It's just about run its course. (Hubs so kindly shared his cold, given to him--probably--by one of the grandkids.) 

Since I write science fiction, I subscribe to The Medical Futurist, an online magazine about the future of medicine, hoping it will give me some ideas for my stories. 

I've learned about using virtual bodies to test drugs, how digital technologies impact medical specialties, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for health care. But I've yet to see that the future has a cure for the common cold.

Almost everyone gets a cold. We muddle through it, feeling wretched and unproductive. So, where's the cure? Or, better yet, the prevention?

In the grand scheme of things, a cold is an inconvenience. It's not life threatening. We're miserable, but after a week we're better. Meanwhile, we've probably shared the virus with whomever we've come in contact. (Sorry, family.)

All I can say is in my imaginary future world, colds--no, wait, all viruses--have been eliminated. No more colds. 

Stay healthy, my friends.

12 comments:

Diana Stout said...

Summer colds are worse than winter ones! Wishing you great health FAST!!!

Diana

Alina K. Field said...

I had that cold this summer! It was a big PITA. I've found oil of oregano to be effective for the sore throat part of it, but one always smells like pizza!

Maureen said...

Hope you feel better soon!

Francesca Quarto said...

So glad you're on the mend. Summer colds are the absolute worse! Got lots of great reading done on my last sick days, but not much else! Stay healthy and enjoy the coming dog days of the season!

Francesca Q.

Pamela S Thibodeaux said...

Hope you feel better soon! I would love to live in your future world...no illness ever!

Great post
Good luck and God's blessings
PamT

Nightingale said...

Like Pam, I'd like to live somewhere without the misery of the common cold, etc., but it depends on what that world is like--as in being watched over by Big Brother. Feel better soon.

Diane Burton said...

Diana, I think you're right--summer colds ARE worse than winter ones. In winter, we stay in because of the cold outside. In summer, we want to be outside. Frustrating.

Diane Burton said...

Alina, I never heard of oil of oregano for a cold. Interesting. Too bad about smelling like a pizza. lol

Diane Burton said...

Thanks, Maureen.

Diane Burton said...

Francesca, I agree about colds. One day, I couldn't read--my eyes hurt too much. I listened to TV with my eyes closed. Of course, I fell asleep. lol Reading and binge-watching Netflix is about all I'm doing. And catching up on email.

Diane Burton said...

Thanks, Pam. I want to live in my future world, too.

Diane Burton said...

Linda, life is a trade-off. I imagine we'd have other problems in the future.