Psychologist George Spilich at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to think and concentrate. He put non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived of cigarettes through a series of tests. In the first test, each subject sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well. The next test was more complex. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine, active smokers were faster than deprived smokers. In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers. In the fourth test, non-smokers were the best and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. As the tests became more complex, non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins. Scratchy throats, stuffy noses and body aches all spell misery, but being able to tell if the cause is a cold or flu may make a difference in how long the flu lasts. That's because the prescription drugs available for the flu need to be taken soon after the illness sets in although the symptoms can be eased with over the counter medications. As for colds, the sooner a person starts taking over-the-counter remedy, the sooner relief will come. Cold symptoms such as stuffy nose, runny nose and scratchy throat typically develop gradually, and adults and teens often do not get a fever. On the other hand, fever is one of the characteristic features of the flu for all ages. And in general, flu symptoms including fever and chills, sore throat and body aches come on suddenly and are more severe than cold symptoms.