The common cold and flu afflict millions of children (and adults) every year. But it doesn’t have to afflict your family.
The common cold and the flu are viral respiratory infections that affect untold millions of children and adults every year. For families, the onset of sickness is a monkey wrench thrown into the precarious balance of their daily lives - school days get missed, workdays get shuffled, and plans are changed at the last minute.
For parents, the onset of the cold and flu season presents a challenge on two fronts: protecting themselves, and protecting their children. Kids are very susceptible to colds - in fact, school children may have up to twelve colds a year! The good news is that the traditional remedies used for generations still work; the bad news is that both sicknesses still by and large have to run their course before the patient feels better.
For parents, detecting early signs of symptoms is sometimes the best defense.
The most common early warning sign of a common cold is a sore throat. As a viral infection takes hold of the respiratory tract, mucus from the sinus passage drains down the airways, creating the "froggy throat" that signals the cold’s onset. Researchers believe common cold viruses spread through the air when carried by aerosol gases or by contact with contaminated people or material. In fact, the viruses spread very fast - sometimes in as little as eight hours, with full bore symptoms appearing two to five days after initial infection.
For the influenza virus, more commonly known as the flu, first symptoms usually involve chills or fevers. Symptoms begin a day or two after infection.
Viruses cause the common cold and flu.
The common cold, or acute viral nasopharyngitis, usually spreads throughout the body after infection by a rhinovirus, a coronavirus, or the human parainfluenza virus. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause, with over one hundred different varieties known to cause cold infections.
The flu is caused by one of a trio of RNA viruses, the most common being Influenza A. Influenza A and C affect many different species of animal life, though Influenza B affects humans almost exclusively.
Recognizing common cold and flu symptoms
Once the common cold takes hold, symptoms can inlcude fatigue, headaches or dizziness, sneezing and runny nose, coughing, and restlessness. The flu routinely causes body aches, coughing and sneezing, fatigue, headaches, and fever. The symptoms are in fact very similar to the common cold, though their severity might be much worse, especially aches and pains in the muscles and joints.
Symptoms in children can continue for up to one week, though it’s not uncommon for them to last twice as long. With the flu, fevers and aches may disappear after just two of three days, though other symptoms can last an additional week.
Fevers are a sign, not a symptom
Running a fever is a very common sign of influenza. Some adult patients may deal with fevers ranging to a 103 degrees Fahrenheit. For parents with a feverish child, monitoring the fever is especially important when considering whether to seek medical help.
Fevers are sometimes tricky, because they’re not a symptom themselves but a side effect produced by influenza virus-infected cells. Instead, parents should watch the fever doesn’t grow above 102 degrees in children. They should also check if the fever doesn’t occur in conjunction with symptoms such as a swelling of the neck’s lymph nodes. This combination, a sign of oncoming strep throat, should be taken into a doctor’s consultation.
Fight the illnesses with bed rest, isolation, and hydration
Because the common cold and flu are caused by viruses and not bacteria, antibiotics will not work against them. Over the counter medicines alleviate suffering, but will not treat the underlying infections. While the infection runs its course, parents should stock up on antihistamines and decongestants to help their children remain as comfortable as possible while resting.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommends plenty of bed rest, drinking lots of helpful fluids, and using saline water to relieve sinus congestion in the nose and throat.
Drinks with caffeine such as coffee and soft drinks should be avoided whenever possible, since they can cause dehydration.
Children should avoid taking aspirin while fighting a flu infection, in order to avoid a potentially fatal disease of the liver known as Rye’s Syndrome.
Herbal and organic remedies for the common cold, and their effectiveness
While "megadosing" on Vitamin C is a popular folk remedy, the national Food and Drug Administration has yet to recognize it as a proven preventative or treatment of cold and flu symptoms.
For herbal remedies, liquorices and garlic are suggested organic cures, though proven results are still forthcoming. Zinc and Echinacea have also found wild popularity as preventatives, though their proven effectiveness is undocumented. Large doses of zinc may also encourage anemia in some patients.
Making prevention the best medicine
Viruses spread in hot, damp areas. When wintertime chills require the need for heaters and humidifiers, be careful the family home doesn’t become too humid.
Children are more likely to contract cold and flu viruses at day care centers and schools, where their classmates and friends can remain contagious for weeks after their own bouts. Parents should make sure day care administrators and teachers are careful to maintain a sanitized environment for all children.
Household cleaners and antibiotic washes are fine for the home, but parents should also be careful not to over-sterilize. Some experts have recently posited a "hygiene hypothesis" which asserts that removing all bacteria from the home can retard the development of children’s immune systems by leaving them under-trained to deal with infection.
Looking ahead, past the infection and recovery
Parents should also remain alert that the cold and flu infections not leave the door open for more serious conditions such as bronchitis or, in infants and toddlers, bronchiolitis. These conditions often mimic cold and flu symptoms, but their potential results are sometimes far more damaging.
Michael Kabel is senior staff writer for http://www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com. Stop by for parenting and baby resources, unique baby gifts, baby gift baskets and baby shower favors.
Cold-FX Official Cold Flu Remedy COLD-FX, a unique extract from the ginseng root, is marketed as a daily defense against colds and flu by Edmonton-based CV Technologies Inc.
Your Life Regained
The cold symptoms you then feel are not the virus though. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, and aching are signs that your immune system is fighting an infection that somehow got in your body because your defense system was not working.
Murder In The Medicine Cabinet
By 1905 many other drug companies were making acetylsalicylic acid preparations and calling it Aspirin, but they were selling it as a common cold remedy.
Boost Your Immune System
That means you have an additional line of defense from the onset of any illness. Goldenseal helps to fight off types of bacteria that can cause illness in your body.
http://naturalcoldremedies.staypowerful.com/home-remedy-for-a-sinus-cold
http://naturalcoldremedies.org/
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