# Cold fx



## peterboro31 (May 11, 2010)

Any opinions on the remedy Cold FX?

Our experience is that it is a dud remedy!


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

The best solution to a cold is exercise.

Nobody ever believes me, but you should try it.

Drink 1/3 of a bottle of water, then go on a RUN and do a couple pushups. Finish the bottle of water with some food and a multivitamin and you will feel 10x better. 

Trust me.


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

KaeJS said:


> The best solution to a cold is exercise.
> 
> Nobody ever believes me, but you should try it.
> 
> ...


Yeah.... run to your bedroom and do a couple of pushups.... 2 in total.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

It makes me feel better every time.

There is nothing worse than having a cold and sitting around feeling like a dog.

You will feel much better if you expand your lungs and get some blood flow circulating.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

My favourite cold remedy is placebo. Most effective, IMO.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

peterboro31 said:


> Our experience is that it is a dud remedy!


It really isn't pushed as a remedy. Taking it after you have caught something isn't really going to help much. It works by constantly keeping your immune system partly activated so if you have been taking it before you catch something, then your immune system will mobilize more quickly after infection.

It really is more of a mild prophylactic, not preventing illness, just prepping your body to fight it more quickly and effectively.

Great Canadian bio-tech story.


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## Abha (Jun 26, 2011)

Sampson said:


> Great Canadian bio-tech story.


Hasn't the company making this been a massive under-performer?


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

I guess I am more referring to the rise of the idea/product from basic research, launch of a well-lauded product (Governments around the world buy this stuff up to protect their citizens in case of pandemic flu), and I think they are about to be bought out.

The business might be bad, but its rare to see Canadian bio-tech come up like this.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Tamiflu is what foreign governments stockpile for their citizens, not Cold FX. Cold FX is placebo.

Tamiflu itself is questionable. It is proven to slightly reduce the duration of flu symptoms. It's not clear that it helps to reduce severity of symptoms or complications.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

andrewf said:


> Tamiflu is what foreign governments stockpile for their citizens, not Cold FX.


You're right of course.  Bad weekend.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

The best solution is to not be a clean freak and build your damn immunity up a little. I rarely get sick and I don't bother with flu shots


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I think flu shots are exactly designed to boost your immune system. Someone at work thought it makes your immune system lazy. It's like war games for the military--are those a bad idea?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

My point, and the irony, is how people obsess over disinfecting and cleaning everything nowadays specifically to avoid germs. I know what flu shots are for, and I just don't seem to need them but I also travel and go real camping etc. Nothing against flu shots, I just save us all some tax money and don't waste my energy avoiding "bad" germs


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

I seem to remember several years back that they attempted to break into the US market and made some outrageous sales claims. Unfortunately, the product sat on the US retailers' shelves and eventually ColdFX had to eat all the unsold inventory and drastically restate their sales figures. I am not sure how they are currently doing in the larger North American market, however.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Flu shots are designed to limit the spread of flu to vulnerable populations - primarily the elderly, but also anyone with a compromised or vulnerable immune system. 

If only people who are at risk of severe complications from the flu get the vaccine, it isn't effective in limiting the spread. You need to vaccinate the vectors of infection - hence free flu shots in Ontario (and elsewhere?).


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Flu shots aren't mandatory and they certainly are not free, hence saving tax money. Sounds like they cost even more in pensions/OAS/healthcare, but that's poor taste


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Perhaps I should have said "free." No direct cost to consumers. But it isn't well-spent public dollars if only people who are already at risk of complications from flu get the vaccines - a vaccination program for flu only works if the vectors get it as well.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

So you're saying unless you send the police out to round everyone up and stab them with force, it's a complete waste of money? Besides they can only vaccinate for a few strands and that's a lot harder than predicting the weather. Heathcare is just big profitable industry now, that's why you get a prescription for just about anything these days


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

No, I'm not saying anything like that. I don't get the vaccine myself, and I don't have my kids vaccinated for flu, either. I'm not advocating for mandatory vaccination. 

I'm commenting that if the only people who get vaccinated are people most at risk of complications from the disease, the vaccination program won't be effective -- because the flu will still spread, through people who transmit it without experiencing it or experiencing only a very mild form of the flu. 

I was just reacting to your comment that you don't seem to need the flu shot. I don't need it either. I've only had the flu once that I know of, and I had something else going on health-wise at the time that affected my overall immunity. But vaccinating healthy people who "don't need the shot" is actually what would make the flu vaccine program work. It's a public health problem - the people who would serve the public health interest don't feel they need the vaccination, because they (we) don't.


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## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

mode3sour said:


> My point, and the irony, is how people obsess over disinfecting and cleaning everything nowadays specifically to avoid germs. I know what flu shots are for, and I just don't seem to need them but I also travel and go real camping etc. Nothing against flu shots, I just save us all some tax money and don't waste my energy avoiding "bad" germs


 My wife worked in the OR for a long time. Several surgeons she worked with support this. Some would not allow disinfectant anti-bacterial soap in their homes. This didn't apply to the surgeons themselves mind you, just their families.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

mode3, are you familiar with the concept of herd immunity? It does not require 100% compliance, but a high percentage is effective in preventing the spread of illness.

As far as saving money... if you not taking the flu shot results in someone else contracting influenza resulting in complications that require hospitalization (even just for a day or two), you will have wasted decades worth of flu shots.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

I just got my first flu shot in my life today. (I'm 38) unfortunately as I found out last year when my son went to daycare I was continuously sick for 3 months and I usually never get anything. 

I figured out that due to his being in a large daycare about 60 kids I was exposed to about 10,000 more people than I would be usually. 

Plus vaccination works through herd immunity, once a certain percentage of people get the vaccination the flu or any other disease the disease can no longer spread. This protect the vulnerable among us, children, people with depressed immune systems and the elderly. 

If my hubby has a cold I can not get it, but I find that when my son gets ill I always seem to get it. This is because my son requires much closer contact than my husband. Mostly through runny nose and coughing. Last year when our son had gastroenteritis, we had projectile vomiting in our house. We had to go to the hospital with my son and then we thought it would be ok...we all laid down in bed exhausted. Well you can imagine what happened about an hour after we all fell asleep... 

If I can skip one vile infection it's worth a flu shot.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Like I said I'm not against vaccines. I'm vaccinated to travel anywhere in the world (far more than you can get for free) I just never bother with flu vaccines like I said. They are recommended for young, elderly, pregnant women etc. If I needed it, I would have been ordered to get it. Never got the H1N1 either. I am participating in herd immunity by staying healthy and building a strong immunity. To get to the root of the problem, maybe we should get rid of day cares and raise our children at home?


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> I am participating in herd immunity by staying healthy and building a strong immunity.


You can be a carrier/vector for infection even if your immune system is strong enough to prevent the worst of the symptoms.


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