Covering your chest with brown paper and vinegar, soaking your feet in hot water, or wearing wet socks – the old cures for the common cold can seem laughable in light of modern medicine.
Yet the apparent benefits of many of the treatments we take for granted today – such as dosing up on vitamins or snorting salt water – evaporate under scrutiny. So what works and what doesn’t? BBC Future has sifted through the evidence to find out.