Cold medicine is the most common essential medicine for families. Many people will take two pills for dizziness, headache, fever and runny nose.
Although almost everyone has taken cold medicine, the more accustomed things are, the easier it is to have misunderstandings.
Today, Dr. Clove will come to clear the mine for everyone and talk about how to [take the right cold medicine].
Myth 1: Take cold medicine to prevent colds,
Colds are caused by viruses, and the main culprits are usually rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Cold is the most common disease in life, and it is normal for a person to catch colds 2-6 times a year.
Dr. Clove said here that the cold refers to [common cold], not [influenza] (flu). If you really have flu, it doesn’t work to take your own medicine and you must go to the hospital for regular treatment.
Influenza can be prevented by taking flu vaccines, but there is no specific drug for the common cold, because there is no specific [anti-cold virus drug] at present.
In short, common cold medicines cannot [cure colds], and most of them relieve symptoms, so it is impossible to take cold medicines to prevent colds.
Myth 2: Take Antibiotics as Cold Medicine
As mentioned earlier, the common cold is caused by viruses, with rhinovirus and coronavirus being the most common. However, antibiotics are ineffective in treating viruses, so taking antibiotics for colds is ineffective.
Many years ago, doctors believed that colds caused by viruses often developed complications mainly caused by bacterial infection, such as bacterial sinusitis, so they believed that the application of antibiotics to cold patients could combat these complications.
Later studies showed that indiscriminate administration of antibiotics to cold patients is not beneficial to the disease and cannot prevent bacterial infection. To do so is to abuse antibiotics instead. The evil consequence is to give birth to powerful bacteria resistant to antibiotics, which will lead to [no medicine to save] infection in the future.
Therefore, don’t take antibiotics indiscriminately when you catch a cold.
Myth 3: Only Take Compound Cold Medicine
In fact, there are two types of commonly used cold medicines:
- One is the all-round player, that is, the [compound cold medicine] with more ingredients, most of which are in this team. The other is professional players, i.e. Drugs with single composition and specific symptoms, such as classic antipyretic and analgesic drugs acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
If you know what’s wrong with you when you catch a cold, you can choose drugs specifically, and you don’t have to take compound cold drugs.
For example, if it is only fever, headache and muscle soreness, it is enough to eat acetaminophen or ibuprofen. If there are other symptoms such as nasal congestion, sneezing and runny nose at the same time, then compound cold medicine may be a better choice.
Due to the complex composition and lack of dose standard for children, the risk of taking compound cold medicine for children under 4 years old is much greater than the benefit, so it is not recommended to take compound cold medicine for children.
Myth 4: Take Vitamin C Tablets to Prevent and Treat Cold
When catching a cold, many people will take vitamin C and even take special cold medicines such as vitamin C × × tablets. However, these medicines really have no therapeutic effect and can only be used to comfort the injured heart when sick.
In fact, not only China, but also people in many European and American countries believe that vitamin C can prevent and treat colds, so researchers have also done many related experiments.
In 2013, a study comprehensively analyzed previous tests and found that people who took more vitamin C regularly every day recovered slightly faster from colds, but in fact it was shortened by 8%, which may be less than a day or even less than a few hours in terms of the duration of colds.
Relevant tests have also confirmed that vitamin C is not helpful in the treatment of colds, so taking vitamin C after a real cold is also ineffective.
If you are willing to eat vitamin C, as long as it is not too much, it is not too big a problem. Anyway, Dr. Clove is too troublesome. It is better to eat more vegetables and fruits at ordinary times.
How to choose cold medicine when you catch a cold?
There is an old saying that [three points for treatment and seven points for nourishment], which is perfect for colds, because colds usually heal themselves and it is normal to last for a week or two.
Symptoms are mild, do not take medicine, rest properly, wash hands frequently, drink more water, go to less crowded places, and open windows for ventilation to keep indoor air fresh.
Symptoms are obvious, affecting daily life, can take cold medicine to relieve. As for how to choose cold medicine, according to the symptoms:
- Nasal obstruction, runny nose and sneezing: drugs containing [chlorphenamine] and [pseudoephedrine] can be selected; Cough: Drugs containing [codeine] and [dextromethorphan] can be selected; Fever: If the body temperature is ≥ 38.5 ℃, accompanied by headache, dizziness and muscle soreness, acetaminophen [ibuprofen] can be selected; If the body temperature is less than 38.5 ℃, if there are no other symptoms, physical cooling is sufficient. If you have all the above symptoms, you can take the compound cold medicine containing [antipyretic and analgesic + relieving nasal obstruction + relieving cough].
Finally, I would like to remind everyone not to take several cold medicines at the same time.
Although there are many kinds of cold medicines on the market, the ingredients are roughly similar. If you eat several kinds at the same time, it may lead to drug overdose and liver function damage, which will lead to small losses and big losses.
A cold is easy to cure, but it cannot be prevented.
Washing hands frequently, quitting smoking and drinking, exercising more and keeping a good body are the key to prevention.
If you don’t get any good after taking cold medicine, just see a doctor in time.