What, you think I actually know something about medicine just because I act like I do?
Ahem. Anyway, here's what Wikipedia has to say:
"The symptoms of the common cold are believed to be primarily related to the immune response to the virus. The mechanism of this immune response is virus specific. For example, the rhinovirus is typically acquired by direct contact; it binds to human ICAM-1 receptors through unknown mechanisms to trigger the release of inflammatory mediators. These inflammatory mediators then produce the symptoms."
Wikipedia may not be any more reliable than me, but at least it's something. Unfortunately it looks like the cited paper is behind a paywall.
Yes, the symptoms are primarily the immune response. Hence my point that it's probably not smart to interfere with the immune response just because you don't like the symptoms. The immune response is the only thing that will actually get rid of the virus. That sentence from wikipedia doesn't mention anything about an "overreaction".
Well excuse me for not reading your mind as to what you meant by "that." :P
I'm not aware of anything that shows that people who take medications to alleviate symptoms take longer to recover than those who don't, while they're often more comfortable in the meantime. That seems sufficient to establish "overreaction."
Ahem. Anyway, here's what Wikipedia has to say:
"The symptoms of the common cold are believed to be primarily related to the immune response to the virus. The mechanism of this immune response is virus specific. For example, the rhinovirus is typically acquired by direct contact; it binds to human ICAM-1 receptors through unknown mechanisms to trigger the release of inflammatory mediators. These inflammatory mediators then produce the symptoms."
Wikipedia may not be any more reliable than me, but at least it's something. Unfortunately it looks like the cited paper is behind a paywall.