Healthy Health
How to Treat flu - Influenza
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| Flu |
The flu although there are no clear-cut guidelines that determine when you should see your doctor.
For most people who are otherwise healthy getting a cold is no big deal the same is mostly true with, the flu although there are no clear-cut guideline that determine when you should see your doctor.
if you have the flu I'll say this if the flu is going around and you develop symptoms it's best to see your doctor within a day or two since that is when medications for the flu are most effective, outside of that you should use your judgement about seeing a doctor.
So, flu medications like oseltamivir aka Tamiflu are effective only against influenza viruses and can reduce the severity of symptoms shorten the time you're sick by one or two days and make you less contagious with that said they don't cure the flu outright.
So, let's dive a little deeper about anti-influenza medications when indicated these antiviral flu medications should be given as soon as possible because of what I just mentioned they're most likely to provide benefit within the first 48 hours of the illness but it doesn't mean that after 48 hours it's 100% in effect it's just that the sooner that's given the more effective it is and treatment shouldn't be delayed while awaiting diagnostic testing results in patients who have a negative rapid antigen test for influenza but in whom the clinical suspicion for influenza infection is high should be treated because the relatively low sensitivity of the rapid flu test.
So, one major downside of giving these anti flu medications to people who don't need them is the potential to breed resistant strains of influenza.
So, who's okay to skip out on getting treated people who have uncomplicated influenza infection meaning healthy people with a mild infection who are outside the 48-hour window of symptoms.
Okay so there's two exceptions to that one is if they live with someone who is at high risk for influenza complications the other exception to that is if they're a health care provider patients with suspected or confirmed influenza and whom treatment is indicated should be treated with either oseltamivir it's an MOVÂ R primavera or the new FDA approved block severe the gold standard has been the oral medication oseltamivir which is given in 75 milligram doses to be taken twice a day for a total of five days.
If given within the first 48 hours of symptom on set its most likely to reduce the severity of illness to reduce the duration of illness by one day on average and it's gonna make the person less contagious but if given after the 48 hour window it's minimally effective.
Some studies have also shown that oseltamivir reduces
illness severity and complication rates hospital missions and length of hospitalization.
If, giving an oral medication is not an option there's the IV Primavera but it might not be as effective as most ultimate ear inhaled as an MVA is not recommended for the treatment of hospitalized patients with influenza or those who would have difficulty using an inhaler block severe is a new single dose oral medication that blocks influenza proliferation by inhibiting the initiation of mRNA synthesis.
It's approved in the US for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza for age 12 and up who've been symptomatic for less than 48 hours - it reduces the duration of illness by one day on average adverse effects of these medications that I just talked about meaning the neural Emmerdale inhibitors are typically mild if they do occur oseltamivir can cause nausea vomiting.
Cinnamon beer can cause bronchospasm and declin in respiratory function in patients with asthma and COPD and purim of air can cause diarrhea what about other cold and flu remedies when it comes to adults some prescription and non-prescription medications over-the-counter meds can help you feel a little better in general there isn't much difference between OTC cold remedies and those that are prescribed.
One exception is a codeine containing Koster which can help people call and sleep better the cold and flu products on the shelves of pharmacies more or less have the same drugs just in different combinations the decongestants found in most over-the-counter cold flu and allergy medicines can elevate blood pressure and interfere with medications used to treat high blood pressure that's why in general people with heart disease or high blood pressure should avoid medications that contain pseudoephedrine or phenyl Efrain.
These drugs work by constricting blood vessels in the nose and sinuses which improves congestion but these drugs also constrict the arteries throughout the body causing the blood pressure to climb another drug oxymetazoline which is the active drug in Afrin does a great job of opening the nasal passageways but the downside is that it's notorious for causing worsening rebound congestion aka rhinitis Medical meant OSA that's why it's especially important that you don't use it for more than two to three days with children these coughing cold medicines have been shown to be ineffective.
It can have serious side effects so check with your pediatrician so things you can do to help with cold and flu symptoms include getting rest drinking fluids if you're not too nauseated for a sore throat you can gargle warm saltwater or use throat sprays or lozenges.
Use petroleum jelly under nose if it becomes raw for wiping it with tissues you can sit in a steam filled room to temporarily decrease congestion or you can use vaporizers and humidifiers herbs and supplements for the common cold it's hard to talk about most herbs and supplements with absolute certainty because most having been well studied for effectiveness side effects.
Drug interactions and appropriate dosage also the FDA doesn't strictly regulate how herbs and supplements are made so there are no guarantees in terms of strength purity safety and how they affect the levels of other medications in your system.
Some herbs and supplements commonly taken for cold and flu symptoms include vitamin C Kaneesha and zinc vitamin C has been taken with the hopes that it prevents getting the cold and or it's gonna help with cold symptoms but really this is more folklore than reality there were tons of studies and vitamin C and most of them have shown little to no benefit to taking vitamin C for this purpose.
Some of the studies even looked at taking huge doses up to 8,000 milligrams which the studies initially showed a little benefit but then subsequent studies didn't show benefit.
So, as of now there's not enough evidence to warrant taking vitamin C to either prevent or to help with the symptoms of cold in the past B Kaneesha has been used to help with cold symptoms and initial studies suggested that taking it when cold symptoms first begin reduces the duration and severity of symptoms.
However, these studies were low quality and subsequent higher quality studies did not find any benefit zinc may or may not help so far the studies on zinc have not been conclusive so additional research is needed to determine whether zinc actually has an effect on colds so that's all I got for cold and flu.
Hope you enjoyed the highlights if you did enjoy it give this article like and I'll catch you in the next one.
Ramzeen
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