Colds And Cough Information
Everything That You Should Know About Colds and Coughs:
Statistics have led professionals to believe that the average individual contracts over 150 colds throughout their lifetime. Everyone is susceptible to catching a cold, and although this number is somewhat surprising, it should not be alarming. Despite this fact, it has been proven that young children, especially those in pre-school, are substantially more likely to catch colds than adolescents, teenagers, or adults.
How To Avoid A Cold
There is no way to avoid contracting a cold or cough during your lifetime. Whether you do come down with one or not is in no way reflective of your health. How quickly you defeat your cold and start to recover is actually a much better indicator of how healthy your immune system is at the time.
You will face many different viruses and types of bacteria in your lifetime that are new. If you have a healthy immune system, your body will fight them off quickly, and you will almost immediately start to recover. If, however, you do not have a very strong immune system, it can take you up to several weeks to start becoming fully healthy again.
Common Colds
Something that you may not have previously known is that the common cold has a scientific name as well: acute viral nasopharyngitis. To put this in simpler terms, the common cold is essentially a viral infection that occurs in the upper respiratory system. There’s many different parts of the body that are considered to be in the upper respiratory system, and the list includes the nose, throat, sinuses, larynx, trachea, and finally, the bronchial tubes.
Once this type of infection enters the body, it almost always results in a common cold or cough.
Studies have shown that colds are the number one reason why individuals go to the doctor, call in sick for work, and miss school. In fact, almost 5 million annual school days are lost in North America due to colds. 2.9 million dollars are spent every single year on over the counter products in order to treat cold and cough symptoms. An additional 400 million is also spent on prescription medications that treat these same symptoms as well. And, these medications are merely for the purpose of symptom relief- they do not even act as cures.
Recently, professionals have started to conclude that over the counter cold and cough medicine is not only ineffective and not useful, but it can also be potentially harmful to the body as well. When individuals purchase these products, they are almost always wasting their money.
All Natural Common Cold Relief
Don’t worry- there are certain measures that you can take that will offer you relief of your symptoms without having to worry about harming your health or body. There are many natural health products that are incredibly useful for treating coughs and colds.
One of these natural remedies is the herb Echinacea. Echinacea has always been known for boosting the immune system and strengthening it, and that is one of the main reasons why it is so popular in numerous countries throughout the world. In fact, consumers spend more than 12 million dollars annually on products that contain Echinacea. For the most part, these 12 million dollars are incredibly well spent.
There is one important thing to note, however: it must be specially bred Echinacea. Specially bred Echinacea essentially means that it is harvested and processed in a specific way that doesn’t suppress any of the agents that serve to strengthen the immune system.
At the end of the day, what this means is that there are only a few products with Echinacea that you can truly trust. One of the products that you can use is Andrographis. Andrographis is mainly used for upper respiratory infections, and it is very effective. It originated in India, and it is commonly mixed with Siberian Ginseng, as that makes it even more effective than normal. Numerous clinical studies have proven that this mixture improves coughs, fevers, and other cold symptoms, such as sore throats.
Goldenseal is another natural cold remedy that is a favorite among both consumers and professionals in the medical world. Its scientific name is Hydrastis, and it is oftentimes considered to be “nature’s antibiotic”. It is a very common treatment for both the common cold and upper respiratory infections that lead to coughs, and scientists believe that it is effective because it contains a compound known as “Berberine”. Berberine is very efficient at killing bacteria, preventing inflammation, and treating inflammation once it has already occurred. Because of this fact, it is a great option for treating both coughs and colds.
Before you ever start a new medical treatment, program, medicine, or supplement, make sure that you consult your physician beforehand, or get approval from another professional.
