You are a remarkable organism!

Your body will work to repair itself and stay well.

Drugs can alleviate symptoms. They can even kill invading organisms. But if you're going to get better, your body will have to do the work.

Take colds and fevers.

A fever is just a way your body destroys germs. It does this by bringing them to a temperature at which they can't survive. Medicine may see a fever as a symptom and high fevers can be dangerous, but a fever is part of your body's healing process.

A cold is basically a nasal infection. It can lead to sore throats and other things, but a cold lives and dies in your nose. The rhinovirus, strains of which account for most colds, gets its name from that fact. Rhino means nose.

Cold viruses thrive at temperatures slightly cooler than the 98.6 degrees considered normal. So when faced with this invader, your body's first defense is stuffiness.

Why?

Because breathing through your nose keeps your nasal passages cooler and the virus alive.

But when you get stuffy and are forced to breathe through your mouth, your nose, no longer air cooled, reaches a higher temperature and becomes less friendly an environment for the virus. The virus dies, and after your body does some necessary cleanup and repair work, you're good as new.

That's why almost anything you do to relieve a cold's symptoms will only prolong it. It tends to interfere with your body's healing process.

Of course, some diseases are easier for your body to handle than others. That's why your best defense is a good offense and you need to take an active part in your health rather than expect your doctor to fix things after they go wrong. In most cases, he really can't fix much and anything he does will depend on your body's cooperation, anyway.