Autumn is a frequent season for colds, transitioning from hot summer to cold winter. The temperature difference between day and night is large. If you don’t pay attention, you will easily catch a cold.
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. Xiao Li has a cold recently - Sore throat , cough, nasal congestion, it was too uncomfortable to not take medicine, so he found the cold medicine at home "day and night" and felt much better after taking it according to the instructions. But he heard from his colleague that taking Viagra Yinqiao tablets with a cold is effective. In order to get better, he went to the pharmacy to buy them. After taking the medicine, Xiao Li developed nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, anorexia, and excessive sweating. After visiting the hospital, he found that Xiao Li's liver had been damaged. The doctor said that fortunately found it in time, and in severe cases, it could lead to coma or even death.
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I believe that many people like Xiao Li after catching a cold, thinking that a cold is a "small disease". They buy some cold medicine by themselves. If one effect is not good, they will take a variety of them. The cold will be cured soon. Little do people know that most of the cold medicines on the market are compound preparations, and most of them contain several Western medicine ingredients. When buying medicines, people only know that the product names are different, and they will ignore the chemical name and ingredients of the medicine, which may lead to repeated use of drugs or even overdose. Just like Xiao Li's medication, "Day and Night Baishen" contains acetaminophen , pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, dextromethorphan hydrobromide , and chlorphenamine maleate . The components of vitamin C Yinqiao Tablets include acetaminophen, chlorphenamine maleate, and vitamin C. The drug has been reused in , which may bring potential risk of overdose and may even have adverse drug reactions.
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Therefore, experts recommend that you: ① Choose the right cold medicine according to your own situation; ② Many compound cold medicines that combine Chinese and Western medicines have been added with Western medicines. should avoid taking with the same active ingredients of Western medicine; ③ You must not take several cold medicines in combination. At present, cold medicines only relieve the symptoms of colds. Using cold medicines together not only cannot speed up the recovery of colds, but also brings the risk of overdose.
So, how to choose cold medicine correctly?
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1. Select the corresponding medicine according to the symptoms of a cold.
Cold fever, sore throat, and muscle aches throughout the body. can choose one-prescription or compound cold medicine containing antipyretic analgesics. This type of ingredients include acetaminophen, ibuprofen , etc. Acetaminophen is more commonly used, but it should be noted that excessive use may cause liver damage to or even liver necrosis .
If you have allergic symptoms such as "sneezing and runny nose", can increase anti-allergic drug , which include chlorphenamine maleate, loratadine , etc. It should be noted that this type of drug can cause drowsiness, , fatigue, etc., and workers engaged in vehicle and ship driving, climbing operations or operating precision instruments should be used with caution.
For symptoms such as nasal congestion and nasal mucosa congestion, it can choose to alleviate nasal mucosa congestion drugs. This type of ingredients mainly include pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. In addition to oral administration, this type of drug can also be used directly orally, but it should not be used continuously for more than 7 days.
If you cough, you can choose antitussics. This type of ingredients include dextromethorphan , codeine, etc. It should be noted that central antitussive drugs will inhibit the excretion of sputum, so patients with a lot of sputum should be used with caution; if there are cold symptoms such as excessive sputum and not easy to cough up, compound cold medicines with expectorant drugs can be used, such ingredients include ambroxol hydrochloride, carboxystamp , etc.
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2. Be especially careful when choosing compound cold medicines. Do not blindly use medicines to avoid repeated use.
Many compound cold medicines that combine Chinese and Western medicine are added with Western medicine. If you take Western medicine with this type of active ingredient at the same time, it is easy to cause overdose and poisoning. Like the vitamin C Yinqiao tablets mentioned above, in addition to traditional Chinese medicine, they also contain acetaminophen, chlorphenamine maleate, and vitamin C. If you have a fever and take acetaminophen, you cannot take vitamin C Yinqiao tablets to avoid repeated use of the medicine. Before taking cold medicine, we should carefully read the instructions and pay attention to the drug ingredients to prevent overlapping the drug ingredients.
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3. Common cold and flu , do not use antibiotics without authorization.
People often say, "If you take medicine for a cold or not, it will be cured after 7 days! But if you think about it quickly, it is best to hang anti-inflammatory and needle water." Is this true? Of course not!
First check what is the common cold? Common colds are usually respiratory diseases caused by pathogens such as rhinovirus and coronavirus. They are not contagious and have mild symptoms. They are generally self-limiting. No complications can be cured by themselves in 5 to 7 days. Currently, there are no special antiviral drugs for treating colds, mainly for symptomatic treatment and alleviate the symptoms of colds.
Influenza is an influenza virus, mainly an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza A and B virus infection. It is very contagious and mainly spreads through close-range droplets. It can also be transmitted through mucosa such as the mouth, nose, and eyes. Contact with items contaminated by the virus may also cause infection. Influenza patients should be isolated and treated as soon as possible. People with severe or high-risk infection of influenza virus in should be given antiviral treatment as soon as possible to relieve symptoms and reduce complications.
It can be seen that common colds and flu are mainly caused by viral infections, and antibiotics have no killing effect on the virus, but instead increase bacterial resistance. The adverse reactions of antibiotics will also harm our liver and kidneys. Therefore, avoiding blindly using "anti-inflammatory drugs" must be used appropriately under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist, when there are indications of bacterial infection.
Of course, if you want to get a cold quickly, in addition to taking medicine, you should also pay attention to rest, drink more water, keep indoor ventilation, and avoid secondary bacterial infections. This is the best "cold medicine"! Follow me! Bring more popular knowledge on health science to everyone.
Author: Guangzhou Panyu District Central Hospital Deng Xiaoxia
Review: Guangzhou Panyu District Central Hospital Lu Weiqiang
