Cold & Flu Treatment, Causes, Types, Symptoms, Medication And Facts

Drug abuse is highly common in youngsters especially those in college right now. This is a very tough situation to deal with as conventional techniques do not help in solving these problems. To completely make someone abstain from drugs is a complex issue that needs to be addressed in the right manner otherwise it could ruin the life of an individual. Treating the habit needs to be considered instead of punishing youngsters who have fallen into this vice. To deal with this situation you should know how to recognize people who are suffering from this substance abuse. There are many symptoms you look for before working on the treatment.

The body temperature of an individual using drugs is bound to be affected which causes mood swings and aggressive behavior. Not getting a regular dose of the substance invokes such drastic reactions. For college going students there are a lot of changes in behavior that point towards drug abuse. Irregular attendance in school, picking up fights, becoming a recluse, loss in concentration and the ability to focus spells of time are some of the symptoms of drug abuse. Attitude modifications, psychological changes are also seen as a result of change in body temperature due to this habit.

There are different medical symptoms guide for the various types of substance abuse. To detect alcohol abuse, you have to check out for breath odor, condition of the eyes, improper hygiene, getting into bad company and so on. Using drugs like marijuana will invoke bursts of laughter on occasions. You will tend to talk loudly, develop inflammation in your eyes if you get involved with marijuana. In the later stages, it induces sleeping spells. It also leads to distorted reality which makes unable to distinguish between the real and the imaginary.

Other stimulants like cocaine can cause one to perform rigorous activities without feeling tired. The person will talk continuous for long stretches but not on one subject for long. Random subjects are used to prolong the speech. Some serious effects include blood flowing from the nose and chronic nasal problems.
All these drugs are quite harmful for the body and once involved in such an abuse, it is difficult to get over it. Not getting regular dose will lead to severe headaches and other problems. The simplest option would be to get into a rehabilitation centre to get over the problem. A normal doctor is not equipped to handle such problems.

Although the common cold is rarely dangerous, it is always frustrating to have. The accompanying runny nose, congested head, and sore throat can make your life a drag. So it’s understandable why people want to hope and believe there are remedies which will shorten the duration of their illness. But is vitamin C (ascorbic acid) something that will truly help you? Let’s take a closer look at the facts to find out.

What vitamin C can and cannot do
Nowadays, there are some companies which make pretty bold claims as to what their supplements can do. When it comes to vitamin C, marketers usually tout it as something that will boost your immune system. Sometimes, they even go so far as to say it’s a vitamin that can treat, cure, or prevent a disease. The skin care industry has even hopped on the bandwagon; they’re now making vitamin C skin care products.

The truth of the matter is that vitamin C has not been clinically proven to enhance the immune system. Make no mistake about it; our bodies do need this vitamin to survive. In that sense, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is needed not only to support your immune system, but also your general health. But does an ascorbic acid dosage in excess of that amount offer additional benefits? That is unknown.

What the FDA says about vitamin C
The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) makes it very clear: dietary supplements (like vitamin C) should not be used to treat, cure, or prevent a disease or medical condition. Therefore, according to them, ascorbic acid should not be used as a cold or flu remedy. Rather, it should only be used as a general dietary supplement.

Meanwhile there are some people who allege the FDA has been corrupted by big-pharma, and therefore they have an ulterior motive to promote expensive drugs instead of cheap vitamins and minerals. Whether those allegations are true or not… who knows. But what we do know is that currently in the United States, it’s illegal to claim a dietary supplement (vitamins) can be used to prevent or treat a medical condition, like the cold or flu. Therefore, you should actually be wary of vitamin companies that make that claim, especially considering that their claims have not been proven in clinical trials yet.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome had greatly damaged lives and economy in the past years. It had affected primarily economies hampering tourism of Asian countries. SARS in its worst had made thousands of casualties.

In its devastation, 14 countries around the globe suffered the setbacks. The development of SARS epidemic in the United States was not that apparent but it still left a stigma in the society.

It was well affirmed by specialist and researchers that all SARS patients had a strain of the virus of paramyxovirus family. The virus that damaged the respiratory system of the person is the metapneumovirus which kills the antibodies responsible to the strength of the immune system.

Metapneumovirus is thought to be not only the reason behind SARS but other viruses have shared the strain. Moreover, researchers haven’t found yet a medicine to kill the virus. However, they are very hopeful that they will be able to crack down the cure to SARS.

After careful microscopic research by virologist, it was found out that there are other viruses that thrive in the infection. These viruses are more likely the same with the ones that cause the flu and the common cold. Having this vital knowledge paved the way to the understanding of the SARS as a cold and flu family which is less serious than expected.

Researchers were able to track the coronavirus as a support to the metapneumovirus. These two viruses which cause SARS are interdependent on each other in terms of purpose and living aspect. This discovery also helps virologist to connect atypical diseases to the strain viruses.

After a careful research of the two viruses, virologists were able to conclude the cure of SARS. They were able to defectively kill the metapneumovirus by using the coronavirus.

This paves the way to the understanding that SARS and cold have common aspects in terms of illness viral causes.

Colds are usually pretty simple. They show up, cause their share of irritation, and run their course in less than a week. Although it’s somewhat uncommon, complications of a serious nature can set in when you get a cold. These complications can include: an ear infection, sinusitis or bronchitis.

If the following symptoms accompany or appear in the wake of a cold, you should monitor them very carefully.

Serious complications
The doctor doesn’t normally need to be involved in treating a cold at all. But if you suddenly develop a fever in excess of 101°F a doctor should be contacted immediately. This could well be a symptom of a serious flu and your initial cold symptoms could simply have been mistaken for a cold when the flu was actually what you had all along.

If you have asthma you should be especially careful about cold symptoms. Symptoms of a cold can provoke an asthma attack in certain instances or make the symptoms of your asthma somewhat worse. If you feel a tightness in the chest and your asthma symptoms are growing steadily worse, call your doctor or get medical attention as soon as possible.

People who suffer from emphysema can have their cold symptoms linger long after a simple upper respiratory infection would have left their system.

Sinusitis (a sinus infection)
Typically, a cold can inflame the mucous membranes in your respiratory areas. Sinusitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes. Sinusitis works in a way similar to cold in that inflammation provokes the sinuses to produce more mucus. This in turn, can block up the sinuses and you’ll start to feel pressure in your nose, perhaps even pain. Pain is a reasonably sure sign that your sinuses had been affected by your cold. But a lingering cold can also indicate a sinus infection. Headaches and pain above the teeth, as well as a lingering cough and a greenish-yellowish nasal drainage are also signs that your sinuses are infected.

Bronchitis (a chest cold)
If your lungs are inflamed and producing excessive amounts of mucus you have bronchitis.

The more common type of bronchitis is acute bronchitis. It’s usually caused by a viral infection such as the flu or a cold. Some people simply called acute bronchitis a chest cold, which is okay. The mucus produced by bronchitis may be quite thick, yellow and contain traces of blood. Medical treatment beyond that given for a cold is usually not required and recovery can take a week or two. Persistent symptoms accompanied by tightness or shortness of breath should be taken more seriously and medical attention and advice should be solicited.

Because the flu presents with such a wide variety of symptoms determining just what the flu is can prove to be a bit of a challenge. If you’re worried about contracting swine flu (H1N1) or any other variety of flu it’s best to know exactly what you’re dealing with.

Influenza
Influenza or the flu is a disease caused by a number of different related viruses that typically affects the respiratory as well as other areas and functions of the body. It is characterized by being exceptionally contagious and seasonally prevalent. In the winter time and through the spring this virus enters the body through the respiratory tract and manifests itself by causing a myriad of different symptoms.

Respiratory tract viral infections encompass both the common cold and influenza. What typically distinguishes the flu from a cold are a fever and other symptoms that incapacitate the person suffering from the disease–including lethargy and aches and pains.

The flu is also much more likely to lead to complications that can have long-lasting and potentially life-threatening results. Pneumonia is not an uncommon result of the flu.

Colds and flu are alike in that their viruses and cannot be treated with antibiotics designed to kill bacteria. As mentioned above there are antiviral medications that have proven to be effective against the flu; these are of no avail in fighting a cold of any kind.

Is stomach flu the flu?
What is commonly referred to as stomach flu is more correctly called gastroenteritis, another exceptionally prevalent viral infection. We may think that we have stomach flu when we are actually suffering from a bacterial infection, food poisoning or a host of other things that can upset our digestive systems.

Spreading the flu
Spreading the flu is easy to do, because there are so many ways to do so. Person-to-person contact, airborne droplets and secretions can rapidly spread the flu out among any number of different groups of people. Nursing homes and day care facilities, college dormitories and educational institutions of all kinds routinely suffer outbreaks of the flu.

More specifically, all you need to do to get the flu is inhale some droplets from the air on which the flu virus is riding, share an eating or drinking utensil with someone who is infected already, or even shake hands with someone who has shaken hands with someone else who may have stifled a sneeze a number of minutes ago. That goes a long way toward explaining why washing one’s hands frequently and considering the use of a hand sanitizer is recommended so very often for combating the flu.

How Many Kinds of Flu Viruses Are There?
The answer to that question might be more all the time. Scientists generally divide the many flu viruses up into three different types: A, B, and C. with a frequency that rivals some of the livelier science-fiction stories flu viruses mutate on an almost continual basis. That means that no one is ever completely or permanently immune to this disease.