AS YOU KNOW, we are advocates of using natural methods to build up your immune system instead of automatically running to the pharmacy or taking antibiotics at the first sign of a cold or the flu. However, this doesn’t mean you won’t sometimes incur symptoms that require professional medical treatment. Allow wisdom and common sense to reign in your life instead of fear. For disease in general, risks can be greatly reduced by doing things that contribute to good health, including healthy eating habits and exercise. In addition, routine checkups by a doctor greatly increase the chances of successful treatment later for any kind of ailment.
When it comes to dealing with infectious diseases, sometimes going to your doctor or an emergency medical clinic is the best option. A word about doctors: they deal with treatments, which are remedies developed and prescribed to provide temporary relief for the symptoms associated with infection. A treatment differs from prevention in that it is designed to target the symptoms of a disease. Treatments do not prevent diseases from occurring. Physicians recommend treatments for illnesses, and often there are no guarantees. Doctors, after all, are human.
However, neither should you allow a cold or the flu to linger too long before you seek treatment. Tamiflu and Relenza are good prescription treatments for attacking the flu virus and preventing it from spreading. Also, treatment should begin within two days of the onset of symptoms. So don’t foolishly try to “gut it out” if your fever has stayed at 101 or higher for a few days, you are unable to keep even chicken soup and crackers down, and your body is so weak you can barely get out of bed to use the bathroom.
Pay attention to your children’s symptoms too. Some childhood illnesses seem unavoidable. Earaches and sore throats are great examples. If you have children or work with children, you have likely seen them suffer from one, if not both, of these illnesses. For some children these infections occur frequently—so often, in fact, that their parents don’t take them to see a doctor. However, even if a child gets these illnesses often, it is wise to see a professional. Earaches and sore throats are often signs of an infection. Infections always have the possibility of becoming complicated and causing severe illness if not treated properly.
Ear infections are especially common among young children. Infections of the throat affect most people by the time they reach adulthood, but some of the germs that cause these infections may also be carried on the skin and not cause symptoms. Both may also lead to severe complications if not treated properly. Sore throats are often symptoms of respiratory illnesses, such as colds, flu, and pneumonia, which is why you should not simply ignore them in hopes they will “go away.”
GET VACCINATED
One way to keep trips to the doctor to a minimum is through vaccines, which can help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Vaccines take advantage of your body’s specific immunity. Once your body becomes infected with a germ, it can mount a specific immune response against it. While you may become ill the first time, with subsequent exposures to the same germ the body can respond more quickly because it “remembers” the germ. Usually, healthy people do not become ill when infected by the same germs at subsequent times in their lives. Essentially you become resistant, or immune, to those germs. This is the driving force behind vaccine development. A vaccine is a low or noninfectious dose of a germ that is given to provide protection by triggering a specific immune response.
Of particular note when it comes to cold and flu season is the flu vaccine. Although we noted earlier in this book that flu vaccines are not foolproof, that doesn’t mean you should shun flu shots. The flu vaccine is an injection that contains killed viruses; therefore, you cannot get the flu from the vaccine. It actually contains three different strains of the flu virus. The strains that are chosen each year are the ones that scientists believe are most likely to be present in the United States that year. If their choice is correct, the vaccine is 70–90 percent effective in preventing the flu in healthy patients under sixty-five years of age. The flu vaccine is recommended for adults and children over six months of age.
The flu vaccine contains the preservative thimerosal, which contains about 50 percent mercury by weight. There are thimerosal-free vaccines that your physician can order. Especially for young children, a thimerosal-free vaccine is a good idea. While many doctors also recommend the thimerosal-free flu vaccine for adults, adults are not nearly as susceptible to the harmful effects of thimerosal as young children.
It is recommended that you get the flu vaccine each year if:
• You are a health-care worker.
• You have diabetes, heart disease, or other long-term health problems.
• You have a suppressed immune system.
• You have problems with your kidneys.
• You have a suppressed immune system.
• You have a lung problem such as asthma or emphysema.
• You are over fifty, and especially if you are over sixty-five.1
A second way to prevent infection with influenza viruses is to take antiviral drugs. There are a few antiviral drugs that are available for prevention of the flu; examples are amantadine and rimantadine. You should consult your physician before using this approach. Also, these drugs are prescribed early in the course of the infection, so you must see a physician immediately after symptoms appear.
SINUS INFECTIONS
A related infection that often accompanies a cold is a sinus infection. Colds and allergies (especially in children) are the most common triggers to sinus infections.
When you get a cold, your nasal mucous membrane becomes inflamed, swollen, and irritated. The entire lining of the nose and sinuses is covered with a thin coat of mucus. That mucus is sticky and collects airborne particles. It contains enzymes that destroy many bacteria.
The cilia are tiny hairs that line the sinuses and respiratory passages, which sweep away the debris that has been collected by the mucus out of the respiratory passages and sinuses. Anything that impairs the function of the cilia or the mucus can trigger a sinus infection. In addition, factors that cause the mucous glands to secrete more mucus or that create swollen tissues that block drainage can trigger a sinus infection too.
A cold virus shuts down the cilia, causing mucus in the nose to stagnate. Dry air from heaters and furnaces during cold winter months makes it worse. Cold air and frigid temperatures further irritate and injure the cilia, which is what triggers a runny nose. So you can see, many different factors work against the movement of the cilia and set you up for a sinus infection.
When mucous membranes become inflamed, swollen, and irritated, the mucous glands secrete even more mucus. Mucus normally drains easily through sinus openings, but if the membranes become swollen, irritated, and inflamed, the mucus can’t drain out. It becomes stagnant and easily infected. If the mucus doesn’t drain efficiently, the person will experience quite a bit of facial pressure, swelling, and pain over the sinus cavities.
Structural problems can also contribute to sinus infections. You may have a deviated nasal septum that hinders proper drainage. Nasal polyps inside the nasal cavity are growths that look similar to grapes and set up sinus infections by obstructing nasal drainage.
It’s not clear why nasal polyps develop. Some may be caused by allergies, while others may be triggered by aspirin, chemicals, or even infections. But polyps commonly return. If you suffer from nasal polyps, your doctor may prescribe one of the new low-dose steroid nasal sprays, which are effective in keeping polyps from returning. Many factors can both cause and trigger sinus infections. By recognizing the irritating factors, you can then take measures to protect your cilia and mucous membranes from an assault.