People are most likely to catch colds when changing seasons. In addition to the recent flu epidemic, many messages have been received backstage:
Doctor, many people around me have caught a cold. Only by taking what can we prevent the cold?
How to give children medicine? Is it better to take medicine or infusion?
Why have I taken medicine for several days and have not recovered from my cold? Did you not take the medicine, right?
Cold is very common, so there are many misunderstandings about it. You may not have taken the right cold medicine for a long time.
Seven cold medicines [no]
Taking medicine cannot prevent colds.
In order to avoid catching a cold, many people will take some medicine to prevent it first. Unfortunately, no medicine can prevent the common cold, nor can cold medicine.
The best prevention is good living habits: washing hands frequently, ventilating frequently, exercising more, ensuring sleep, eating a balanced diet, etc.
In addition, influenza can be prevented by injecting vaccines, but it should be noted that influenza vaccines can only prevent influenza and have no preventive effect on the common cold.
Vitamin C does not prevent colds
Rumor has it that eating more vitamin C can prevent colds, so vitamin C is very popular.
In fact, routine doses of vitamin C cannot prevent colds. Large doses may achieve certain preventive effects, but large doses of vitamin C also have the risk of poisoning.
Wash your hands well and don’t take your medicine indiscriminately.
Don’t mix cold medicine with
Cold medicine can relieve headache, fever, nasal obstruction, runny nose and other cold symptoms, so that we are not so uncomfortable. Some people may think: several drugs taken together, should be able to get better faster?
Absolutely wrong.
The ingredients of cold medicines are complex, and many cold medicines will have repeated ingredients. Mixing them at will will increase the risk of drug overdose.
Take acetaminophen, a cold medicine, for example. It is the most commonly used drug used to reduce fever and relieve pain symptoms. Conventional doses are safe. If used in excess, there is a risk of liver damage and, in serious cases, death.
In December last year, there was an example: a young man in his twenties bought several boxes of cold medicine after catching a cold and took three or four kinds of medicine together. Later, due to drug overdose, people were already in shock when they were sent to the hospital. Fortunately, the rescue was timely, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
Photo Source: Daily Business News
Don’t increase your dose
In addition to mixed eating, many people will also increase their own dosage, thinking that eating more can [accelerate recovery].
Wrong! Cold has a fixed course of disease, and it takes about a week to recover from it or not. Unauthorized increase in the amount of medicine will not improve faster, but will increase.Risk of adverse drug reactions.
It is safest to take medicine according to the dosage in the instructions.
A few days ago, a hospital in Shanghai successfully saved the life of a patient with severe liver disease. The cause of her illness was that the [glutamic pyruvic transaminase] value reached 17,000 (the normal value should be below 45) due to overdose of cold medicine.
Experts believe that it is rare that such a value [off the charts] can be rescued. Not everyone can be so lucky.
Photo Source: Yangguang Network
Don’t take cold medicine containing antihistamines before driving.
Spring Festival is the peak time for travel. Many people will drive long-distance buses home. If they catch a cold at this time, they must be careful when taking medicine.
Antihistamines are common ingredients in many cold medicines and are mainly used to relieve nasal congestion and runny nose symptoms. However, it usually has a side effect: drowsiness.
When you catch a cold, it’s good for gangsters to sleep soundly after taking medicine, but it’s too dangerous to drive sleepy on high speed!
Common antihistamines include chlorphenamine and diphenhydramine, which will be indicated in the drug instructions.
In addition, there is a simpler way to identify: look at whether there is lethargy in the [adverse reactions] item in the instructions. If so, don’t take this kind of medicine before driving, and take it instead of not drowsiness.
Don’t use Bupleurum injection to reduce fever for children.
When I was a child, I caught a cold, and nine times out of ten I would be taken to the hospital by my parents for a bupleurum injection.
However, just in May last year, the State Food and Drug Administration explicitly required in the newly issued < < Requirements for Revision of Instructions for Bupleurum Injection > > that [children are forbidden] must be indicated in the [taboo] item.
Photo Source: State Drug Administration
Because the risk of adverse reactions caused by traditional Chinese medicine injection is high, it should be avoided in children.
There are only two kinds of antipyretic drugs for children with high safety factor recognized in the world: one is acetaminophen (available for babies over 3 months old) and the other is ibuprofen (available for babies over 6 months old).
Moreover, both drugs are available in pharmacies, and parents can take them to their children according to doctor’s advice or instructions.
Children under 4 years old are not recommended to take compound cold medicine.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and mainstream academic sessions in many countries have clearly pointed out that children under the age of four are not recommended to take compound cold drugs because there is no evidence that such drugs have more benefits than risks for children.
Moreover, as mentioned earlier, cold medicine will not make the child better faster, but will only make the child feel better.
We prefer to choose single-ingredient drugs to help children relieve symptoms. For example, acetaminophen and ibuprofen mentioned above, in addition, physiological sea water can be used to help children clean nasal cavity and relieve nasal congestion and runny nose.
Cold medicine should be taken like this.
Having said so many common pits of cold medicine, let’s talk about the correct way to open cold medicine.
Make sure your symptoms meet the conditions for taking cold medicine.
The main components of cold medicine usually include antipyretic, analgesic, antitussive, expectorant and relieving nasal obstruction, runny nose, sneezing and other symptoms.
If you have these symptoms and affect your work and life, you can consider taking cold medicine.
Sit according to symptoms
Fever, headache, runny nose and nasal obstruction can be selected with acetaminophen and chlorphenamine maleate. Cough and expectoration can be selected with both dextromethorphan and guaiacol glycerol ether.
These names are too long to remember? Then look at the indications of the cold medicine instructions. If you have all those indications, it is suitable for you.
If you don’t have some indications, then choose another indication that is more consistent with your symptoms, so as to avoid taking some unnecessary ingredients.
Take a good rest and let your body repair.
The purpose of taking cold medicine is to make yourself feel better. It doesn’t mean that after taking the medicine, you can continue to fight like chicken blood, which will overdraw your body.
Rest is the best way to promote recovery.
A cold is like a small temper in your body, reminding you not to patronize your study and work, but also to pay attention to the combination of work and rest.
This article has been reviewed by Wang Yi, Master of Pharmacology, Sun Yat
-References-
1. The common cold in adults: Treatment and prevention, updated: Oct 24, 2018
2. The common cold in children: management and prevention, updated: Jan 02, 2019.
3. Https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/G5_rENgjfUogjq-1E-KQyw
4. Https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/aRm3ti96RMboZURptyGX8A
Source of cover photo: www.hizy.net Genuine Photo Library
Editor: Dong Tian