Or does the wisdom of grandmothers work better instead? Family doctor Madis Veskimägi helps to clarify and get well. The word "cold" clearly indicates that the disease is caused by cold. It may happen that a person has really caught a bad cold, but does not get sick. Conversely, a sick person cannot remember having a cold, but is still completely sick. Seasonal viral diseases are more often caused by rhino, corona, adeno, parainfluenza or respiratory syncytial virus. In fact, it is also difficult for the doctor to say with certainty whether the disease is caused by a virus or a bacterium instead.
These pathogens are very different, like earthworm and rhinoceros, but the disease picture can be similar. Often, in the first three days of illness, it is a viral infection that is not treated with antibiotics. However, lack of signs of improvement may indicate a bacterial complication such as sinusitis, bronchitis or pneumonia, in which case you need medical advice and help. A blood sample, more specifically an indicator of inflammation, i.e. the content of C-reactive protein, helps in diagnosis. If it is more than 50 mg/l, it may be a bacterial infection, in which case the patient needs antibiotic treatment.
Where does the disease come from?
The pathogen attacks the human body through the upper respiratory tract as a droplet infection. The incubation period depends on the causative agent and the body's resistance and can be from 12 hours to 1-2 days, rarely 5-6 days. The first symptoms are dryness of the nose, itching, scratchy feeling in the throat, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, stinging eyes, after a few hours muscle soreness, feeling cold, and then a rise in fever. Everything depends on the capacity of the body's immune system, children and younger people have a higher resistance. The fever can quickly rise to 40 degrees, then one is sick for 1-2 days and the illness passes.
In a patient with a lower resistance, the fever does not rise as high, and the disease lasts longer. After a few days, the watery discharge from the nose is replaced by a thicker runny nose, the greenish-yellowish discharge is "neutrophilic secretion" in the language of doctors. If it persists for more than a week, it indicates a complication, sinusitis. Coughing at night can be very disturbing: when lying down, a layer of mucus accumulates in the nasopharynx, which irritates the nerve endings and the cough reflex follows.
How to treat?
• When the first signs of the disease appear, time must be taken. Fulfilling work obligations at any cost and ignoring body signs is not wise.
• If there is no fever, but the instinct tells of an imminent illness, the immune system could be stimulated. Help can be obtained from a warm bath or sauna, younger people benefit from moderate exercise, jogging or walking with a cane followed by a warm shower. Of course, you have to dry yourself properly and dress warmly! NB! When you have a fever, a runny nose and muscle pain, DO NOT put a lot of strain on your body. In this way, there is a risk of developing a dangerous complication, myocarditis.
• At the first signs of the disease, it can be helpful if you irritate the mucous membrane of the nose with an onion and use it to trigger a series of sneezes - of course, if there is no one else "in range".
• Smearing the hands and soles of the feet with a warming, skin-reddening ointment (turpentine ointment, e.g. Vietnamese balm), wearing warm socks or making vodka socks (with diluted vodka) reflexively affects the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, especially the nose, which improves blood supply and increases resistance to pathogens. The opposite situation occurs when the hands and feet are cold - the mucous membrane of the nose narrows, its protective capacity decreases, and if by chance some virus is ready to attack nearby, you can get sick.
• In folk medicine, it is known to put a few drops of medical ether on a teaspoon of sugar, swallow it while holding your breath, and immediately drink water. Since ether has an antiviral effect, it can be an effective remedy at the first signs of the disease. However, it is not recommended to try it at home without consulting a doctor.
• Inhalation of warm, moisturizing steam relieves the dryness of the nasal mucosa.
• Drink warm burdock leaf, linden flower, chamomile, yarrow, raspberry stem or mint tea with honey. A sufficient amount of liquid ensures good moisture of the respiratory mucosa and thus better resistance. Avoid black tea or any other tea that contains caffeine, as the latter has a stimulating effect, and the sufferer should be able to rest peacefully.
• Moisten the nasal mucosa with a 0,9% solution of table salt, or physiological solution (dissolve 9 g or 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 liter of boiled hand-warm water). Pour the solution into the palm of your hand, bend over the faucet and draw it to your nose, carefully tilt your head to the nape of the neck, hold for a few seconds, and then, leaning forward, let the saline solution pour out of your nose. Rinse 5-10 times to moisten the nasal mucosa and release inflammatory secretions.
• Excessive dryness of the mucous membrane of the nose, throat and trachea at night can cause pain and irritation and a strong dry cough. An air humidifier near the head of the bed will help.
• Coughing at night due to mucus build-up in the nasopharynx can be relieved with a higher headrest. When lying on one's back, the discharge flows from the nasal cavities to the back wall of the pharynx under the influence of gravity, while with a higher head position, the discharge remains in the nasal cavity. It's easier to sniff every now and then than to cough all night.
When to take medicine?
Conventional medicine has no medicine to offer to treat the symptoms of a respiratory infection or to slow the progression of the disease. Over-the-counter medicines can only relieve ailments and improve the feeling of well-being a little, they cannot influence the course of the disease. It is true that if the patient has a known disease that damages the immune system, doctors have some drugs to use. However, they are really given in special situations and in hospital settings.
In the case of a mild viral illness, home remedies should generally be sufficient. Be careful with so-called flu teas, there may be a risk of drug overdose. If you use flu tea containing 1 g of paracetamol 3-4 times a day and also take other herbs containing paracetamol, the amount of medicine can dangerously damage the liver. Flu teas and oral cold medicines contain the active ingredient pseudoephedrine, which relieves cough and reduces swelling of mucous membranes, as one component. Patients with blood pressure disease, heart rhythm disorders, panic attacks, sleep disorders should be careful when using them, because during the disease blood pressure rises and fever is accompanied by a moderate increase in heart rate.
If, in addition, you diligently use the herb, which whips the heart even more, it can harm your health. A medicine containing pseudoephedrine is also a traffic hazard, as one of the side effects can be delusions and visual disturbances. Paracetamol is suitable for relieving moderate muscle pain and lowering fever, which is available as a syrup, suppository, and tablet. Ibuprofen, both as a tablet and as a syrup, has a similar effect. Acetylsalicylic acid, more commonly known as aspirin, is a long-known medicine that also relieves the feeling of ill health caused by fever and pain.
Aspirin should not be given as a fever reducer to children under the age of 12, because they may develop a life-threatening condition, Reye's syndrome, as a result. Its primary symptoms are loss of consciousness, vomiting and convulsions. Swelling of the nasal mucosa can be alleviated with nasal drops containing xylometazoline and oxymetazoline. As an oral medication, pseudoephedrine, which can be combined with an anti-allergy medication, reduces swelling of the nasal mucosa and paranasal sinuses. Care must be taken with the use of over-the-counter nasal drops (active ingredients xylometazoline, oxymetazoline) that reduce the swelling of the nasal mucosa.
If the drops are overdosed or used for more than 3-5 days, a rebound effect may occur, and after the effect wears off, the nose is more blocked than before, and there are risks of a new disease, chronic damage to the nasal mucosa caused by the drug. If it has been proven that the illness was caused by an influenza virus, and its exact type is known, it is possible to use antiviral drugs prescribed by a doctor at the first symptoms. It may happen that there are antibiotics left over from a previous course of treatment at home - they must not be taken without consulting a doctor, otherwise there are risks with several consequences: drug insensitivity due to insufficient dosage, adverse side effects, allergic reactions.
For and against fever
Fever has a protective function to a certain extent, the rise in body temperature indicates that the body's immune system is fighting the pathogen. A higher temperature slows down the attack of the pathogen. If you tolerate the fever well, even if the degree glass shows 39 degrees, there is no need to lower it.
Suppressing fever risks prolonged illness. It is necessary to lower the fever if:
• it is accompanied by a very bad feeling, headache and muscle pain, disturbances of consciousness,
• convulsions and disturbances of consciousness have occurred in children with high fever.
