Coping with Cold Sores

Filed in archive General Health on June 4, 2007

The mouth and lips are things people first notice about another, especially when talking. So it's no wonder that cold sores are a source, not only of pain, but of embarrassment. Cold sores, or fever blisters, as they're sometimes called, are difficult to cure, so it's best to avoid them.

This isn't easy, however, because cold sores are highly contagious. ArcaMax Health and Fitness has this suggestion:

There's no known cure for the herpes virus, but there are a couple of tricks you can try to reduce the frequency of flare-ups. The best place to start is to eat a well-balanced diet and get plenty of rest to keep your immune system in top fighting form.

The Science Blog issues a warning for those who suffer from frequent cold sores:

A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene. The new findings, published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, add some scientific heft to the idea, long suspected by some scientists, that herpes somehow plays a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease.