You woke up in the morning, and your nose is not breathing, your throat is sore and sore, your head is cast iron, you have chills. This almost completely means that you have caught a viral infection, it has already entered the body and has begun its “dirty” business. What to do? Take action urgently!
You shouldn’t be so self-confident as to think that “it will go away on its own.”
For your information!
A viral disease goes through five stages:
— infection (the virus is introduced),
- replication (the virus multiplies),
-inflammation (the virus hijacks and kills healthy cells, continuing to multiply),
-intoxication (affected cells die and poison the body with decay products),
- recovery (the body blocks the spread of the virus, removes toxins, restores affected tissues).
The first day on which we realize that we are sick is usually the stage of replication or inflammation that has already begun. If you had managed to prevent infection the day before (for example, apply oxolinic ointment, rinse your nose with saline solution, or warm up your entire respiratory system with steam and prevent the virus from entering), the second stage might not have occurred.
If “weaving” and “coughing” have already appeared, the disease is in full swing. Now you have to go through all the stages.
Morale
A common mistake: a person immediately runs to the pharmacy and asks for “some strong, effective, efficient, best” medicine for a cold. She accepts it and, thinking that now everything will pass, rushes about her usual business: to work, to school, etc. Not so. The medicine will relieve symptoms for a while, and under its “cover” the virus will actively multiply and continue to destroy your body.
The right decision: cancel all your affairs and start treatment. It just seems that no one can get along without us and there’s no way we can “fall out” of life for a day. Can! And it is necessary! Take a day off, warn that you will “lie down” for a day.
Flu: how not to get sick and how to be treated
This year we are again afraid of swine flu, which is especially dangerous and insidious. But you and I, ordinary patients, absolutely don’t care what kind of flu came this time: swine or fish. Prevention measures and treatment methods are the same for any flu.
What to protect yourself from
Influenza is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus. It is transmitted from person to person and spreads very quickly. The virus mutates every year and comes to us with a new epidemic.
Influenza virus model /
The first symptoms appear within one to two days.
- The temperature rises quickly and suddenly.
- My head hurts a lot.
- Eyes hurt in bright light.
- Aches and pain appear in the muscles and joints.
- Later a cough and runny nose appear.
Sometimes these symptoms are accompanied by gastrointestinal disorders, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and dizziness.
The flu is dangerous if it is severe and causes complications. Those at risk include young children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses.
There is no cure for influenza. The maximum we can do is try not to get infected and prepare the body so that the disease passes in a mild form.
How to protect yourself from the flu
The flu is extremely contagious, meaning it is easy to catch. Since during the epidemic we cannot sit at home without communicating with people, even with a medical mask on our face the risk of catching the virus is very high.
Besides complete isolation, there is only one protection against influenza - vaccination.
But the vaccination must be done 2-3 weeks before the expected epidemic, so that the body has time to develop immunity.
Unfortunately, the vaccine will only protect against a specific virus. That is, you can still catch another ARVI (not the flu). But, believe me, the usual “runny nose, cough, sore throat” are nothing compared to the flu.
Jes/Flickr.com
The remaining precautions are to reduce contact with sick people to a minimum and strengthen the body. This means that it is better to postpone going to crowded places and traveling on public transport, wear disposable masks, wash your hands as often as possible, clean and ventilate the premises.
Taking care of the body consists of a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, hardening, good rest and sports. It is useless to buy drugs “to strengthen the immune system” at the pharmacy; the flu does not respond to vitamins.
If you are sick
Stopping the flu is like stopping a train. If you are late with vaccination, no one can guarantee your health. What to do if the flu gets to you?
Stay home.
On behalf of everyone who is still healthy, the Lifehacker editors ask all those who are sick not to go to work, not to take their children to school, and not to travel on public transport. Flu without bed rest is too dangerous for both you and others.
Be sure to call a doctor who will prescribe you antiviral drugs and remind you of the regimen. If on the third or fourth day of illness you do not feel better, call the doctor again: you need to check whether a complication has been added to the flu and whether the treatment needs to be changed.
What to take
We come to the most interesting part - medications. There is a temptation to buy a miracle pill that will completely protect against any flu. And you don’t need to look for advertisements with such promises - they will find you on their own.
Indeed, in the first hours of the disease, taking antiviral drugs makes it easier to survive the disease. Here's what WHO writes about these drugs:
There are two classes of such drugs: adamantanes (amantadine and remantadine) and influenza neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir and zanamivir).
Translated from medical to human, this means that there are several drugs with the indicated active ingredients, and the doctor will definitely prescribe them for you.
To increase resistance to infections, local immunity modulators are used. They can be in the form of nasal sprays, lozenges, capsules. Pay attention to the composition. The active ingredients of such drugs are bacterial lysates. Your doctor will also prescribe the medications in the required form.
VadiCo/Shutterstock.com
An unimaginable number of other remedies (including widely advertised ones) are likely to help you spend your money. But it won't do anything with the flu.
Be careful with antipyretics. Firstly, do not rush to lower the temperature if the thermometer shows 37.3. Be patient up to 38.5 - up to this threshold, the body fights viruses with the help of temperature without much harm to your condition. If the thermometer still shows more than needed, use ibuprofen or paracetamol. But it is better to put off aspirin (especially for children and adolescents).
How to help yourself
Getting the flu is difficult and unpleasant, but you can help yourself to make the symptoms easier to bear.
- Drink more. The best drinks are herbal teas and dried fruit compote. And more - this is not for one cup a day, but for several large mugs. The liquid will help you cope with fever, prevent nasal congestion and soothe a sore throat.
- Ventilate. Ventilation is one of the ways to disinfect a room. And it will be easier for you to breathe fresh cool air.
- Maintain air humidity. Optimal values of relative air humidity are 40–60%. With this indicator, it is easier to breathe, the mucous membranes of the nose and throat do not dry out, which means they suffer less from the attack of the virus.
- Do wet cleaning every day. In the first days of illness, you don’t even want to move, but ask someone to help with washing the floors and wiping down the furniture. Wet cleaning helps maintain the correct microclimate.
- If possible, get sick in a separate room, and wear a mask when interacting with people so as not to infect anyone. You need to eat and drink from separate containers.
And remember that the flu is developing at a tremendous speed. It’s better to spend a few days resting at home while your body copes with the disease than to deal with complications in the hospital for several weeks.
Medicines
Mistake : you should not immediately take everything that the pharmacy clerk, friend or neighbor recommends. There are no drugs that can kill the virus! Only your body can do this. All you need on the first day: miramistin or even just a regular saline solution (for rinsing the nose), vasoconstrictor drops (it is better to take a children's dosage). Pharmacy cold medicines often contain ingredients that stimulate the psyche, such as a large dose of caffeine. This will help lift your mood and improve your performance, but after 4-5 hours your condition will inevitably deteriorate.
Antibiotics are powerless against the virus. Taking them will weaken the already working in emergency mode immunity.
As for antiviral and immunostimulating drugs that are actively advertised in the media, it is worth understanding: their effectiveness has not been clinically proven. They affect everyone differently. If any arbidol/anaferon/AGRI/polyoxidonium/oscillococcinum/etc. helped your friend well (or even you personally last time) - it’s not a fact that it will have the same effect on you now.
Internet survey
How do you treat a cold?
- I use well-known medications - 42% (1050 votes)
- Folk remedies - 30% (756 votes)
- I'm waiting for it to pass - 18% (456 votes)
- I'm going to the doctor - 6% (156 votes)
- I'm not sick - 4% (99 votes)
Many people, having suffered from one or another illness, wonder what to do to avoid getting sick? And this does not apply only to colds, because, as a rule, many people suffer from cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, and joint diseases. What can be done in this case so that they all bypass the person?
Bed rest
Sleep is the best cure for a viral infection. A warm bed is where you should ideally spend the first day of a cold. In 90% of cases, this is enough for the active development of the disease to stop the next day. If this is not possible and you need to be “on your feet,” you should sleep at least a couple of hours during the day and go to bed in the evening as early as possible.
The most important thing: put off all outdoor activities. The following are strictly prohibited: travel, hiking, and generally staying outside (even on the balcony!).
Remember: you can’t wash yourself and, especially, wash your hair on the first day of a cold.
Whole grain products
Whole grains and sprouted grains are excellent sources of healthy carbohydrates. Give preference to whole grain bread, pasta and cereals. Grains such as quinoa, spelled and amaranth are excellent sources of high-quality protein and nutrients. Depending on gender and age, the daily intake of carbohydrates can range from 140 to 250 grams.
The carbohydrates in white flour and rice are processed quickly by the body, causing a spike in blood sugar, and their nutritional value is much lower than that of whole grains.
Drink
The breakdown products of the virus are excreted by the kidneys. Warm liquid activates metabolism.
It is very important to drink often and quite a lot. It would be great if it were homemade fruit drinks, compotes, tea with mint, linden, lemon and honey, green tea, ginger tea.
Remember the rule: a cup of hot drink every two hours is a must! Hot drinks are also a thermal procedure!
A few words about alcohol .
Some people claim that vodka with pepper or hot beer, as well as mulled wine, help fight viruses. They lie blatantly. All this only temporarily lifts the mood and puts a strain on the liver and kidneys.
Prevention of joint diseases
Many people complain about joint diseases, what can you do to avoid getting sick, and even in old age not to have problems with them? First of all, you should watch your diet. The deposition of calcium salts occurs due to excessive physical exertion, as well as with excessive consumption of meat, because the product of its breakdown is uric acid salts, which cause inflammation of the joints and their damage. In addition, you need to try to reduce your weight, since excess body weight puts pressure on the joints and deforms them. Water should be purified using filters to remove harmful salts. To avoid osteoarthritis, you need to say goodbye to fatty meats, beans, salt, smoked meats, dried fish, and pickled foods. In your diet you need to include unsalted sea fish, herbs (parsley, celery), black currants, rose hips, buckwheat porridge, flaxseed oil and drink more grapefruit juice.
In addition, it is worth knowing that monotony of postures and limited movements are the worst enemies of joints. Standing for a long time leads to the fact that the spine and some muscle groups are overloaded, and others relax, which leads to deformation of the joints. Therefore, you should change your body position every 15 minutes, and do the same when sitting. It is necessary to take care of the correct position of the spine during sleep, then the joints will not hurt and you will have a good rest. As for carrying heavy objects, it is best to use carts and bags with wheels whenever possible.
Warm
Viruses really don't like warming up. Almost all of them die already at 39-45 degrees. That is why during a cold the temperature rises, the body itself strives to kill the virus.
From the very beginning, it is important to “warm up”: warm socks (you can pour mustard powder into them, which will warm your feet like mustard plaster), warm clothes, a woolen scarf. Even if you are at home and do not leave your bed, insulate “strategically important” places: neck, legs, back and chest. Grandma's old down scarf can work wonders!
If you have a fever, you should not immediately take antipyretics. Give your body the opportunity to “fight.” Provided that the temperature is tolerated normally, without severe headaches, convulsions and confusion, it does not need to be reduced to 38 - 39 degrees. Most likely it will go down on its own in a couple of hours.
If there is no temperature, thermal procedures are required. There are many options: breathe over steam or boiled potatoes (about 10 minutes) two or three times a day, warm the sinuses with a warm boiled egg, make a semi-alcohol compress on the throat. A very effective remedy is steaming your feet. We keep our feet in a basin of hot water for 15-20 minutes, then warm ourselves up and go to bed.
Attention. Going to a bathhouse, a sauna, or sitting in a cedar barrel on the first day of a cold is absolutely not allowed. This will only fuel the virus!
Berries
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Article on the topic
Outwit winter.
How to support the body during the cold and cold season Why are they useful: They are rich in microelements, flavonoids (substances that boost the body’s defenses) and antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, which neutralize harmful agents from the environment.
Nuances: Frozen berries (including store-bought ones) are almost as healthy as those picked from the bush. There is a lot of antiviral ascorbic acid in raspberries, currants, sea buckthorn, lingonberries, rose hips, and cranberries. By the way, raspberries also contain a substance that is sometimes called natural aspirin. It works as an excellent diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant and analgesic. Cranberry is a berry with unique bactericidal properties. It reduces temperature and relieves inflammation. However, with increased stomach acidity, peptic ulcers and liver problems, it is better not to eat sour berries.
Nutrition
Huge mistake : refusing to eat on the first day of a cold, snacking on sweets and sandwiches.
Don't forget that food is also medicine. Proper nutrition on the first day of a cold can significantly alleviate the condition and help fight the virus. Poor nutrition aggravates the disease. You need to eat often, little by little, choosing foods that are light and rich in protein.
We eat: omelet, liquid milk porridge, soups, vegetable salads, fish. Don't forget about greens, onions and garlic. Strictly prohibited: smoked, fatty, salted, fried, fast food.
By the way : chicken broth is a natural anti-inflammatory!
Chicken eggs
Photo: Shutterstock.com
Why they are useful: They contain vitamin D, which we really lack on cloudy winter days. Meanwhile, it is especially needed during the cold season. Not long ago, scientists from Copenhagen found that a lack of vitamin D reduces the body's protective resources and increases the risk of colds and exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Nuances: In addition to chicken eggs, fish oil and fatty sea fish can be a source of vitamin D.
#2. Garlic
“Everyone knows that garlic is good for colds, it’s true,” says Konstantin Spakhov, Candidate of Medical Sciences, a doctor at one of the Moscow clinics . - But not everyone knows how to treat them. If you eat the whole clove, it will not do any good. Garlic must be prepared correctly: the cloves must be chopped finely and finely and wait until the garlic itself turns itself into a miracle medicine. Under the influence of oxygen, enzymes are activated in crushed garlic cells, converting the inactive substance alliin into the powerful agent allicin (the names differ by one letter “c”). The ideal time for the accumulation of this substance is 15 minutes. Allicin contains sulfur and has a strong pharmaceutical effect. It protects the heart and blood vessels, reduces blood pressure, and has an anti-cancer effect. And it also helps with flu and colds - it strengthens the immune system and has antimicrobial and antiviral effects. Raw garlic is healthier; it can be added to salads, sandwiches, or grated on bread crust. Scientists from Germany, who studied the medicinal and preventive properties of garlic for various diseases, came to the conclusion that it is good to eat at least 2 cloves daily. During a cold, the dose can be multiplied by two.
Beverages
To keep your body hydrated, drink water or unsweetened tea throughout the day. If you like red wine, enjoy a glass with your meal. There is evidence that wine's antioxidants, called polyphenols, may prevent damage to blood vessels, lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Scientists disagree on the health effects of wine, but one glass with dinner probably won't hurt, right?
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Choose foods rich in vitamin C
It strengthens the immune system. Since this vitamin is not able to accumulate in the body, we must replenish its reserves regularly with food. To do this, you need to eat 5-6 servings of vegetables and fruits daily, which are rich in this vital vitamin. These include bell peppers (especially red ones), cabbage (especially broccoli), greens, kiwi, citrus fruits and berries. For example, for breakfast you can prepare a delicious vitamin cocktail from a banana, orange juice and fresh or frozen blueberries. Or simply add blueberries to granola or yogurt. Eat vegetables for dinner. For example, try cooking spinach with garlic, sautéed in olive oil.
Eat colorful fruits and vegetables
They contain beta-carotene in abundance, which is converted into vitamin A in the body and also increases immunity. Fortunately, many carotene-rich foods are readily available during the fall and winter months, such as pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, and persimmons. It is also found in apricots, mangoes and other red, orange and yellow fruits.
