Vitamin C and the common cold Vitamin C and the common cold The common cold, or simply cold, is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract. The cold is indeed common, and is a significant cause for absences from work and school. Even before the discovery of vitamin C, folklore had it that certain fruits were effective in both preventing and treating the cold. After scientific identification of vitamin C in the early part of the 20th century, research began into the possible effects of the vitamin against the common cold. Vitamin C has not decreased the frequency of colds in the general population,
History of medicine in the Philippines surveyors of herbal medicines at the localities where they were assigned. Common disease during the Spanish period in the Philippines were diarrhea, dysentery, and leprosy. There were also the presence of cholera, inﬂuenza, smallpox, beri-beri, dysentery, bubonic plague, scurvy, rheumatism, asthma, syphilis, tetanus, toothache, and ulcers. Many Filipinos believed in "pasma" (a resulting condition similar to spasm which involves the occurrence of hand tremors, sweaty palms, numbness and pains after the body's exposure to "unhealthy cold" and water), the state of "nausog" ("distress" caused by an unfamiliar person), and "personalistic sorcery". It was in 1830 when the "true pharmacies" were