As the season of colds and other sorts of sickness roll in, protecting your family from unwanted guests that causes these is a taxing task. Preventing these would be much easier if you actually invest some time in figuring out which strategies to use. Even if you do manage to catch a cold, the most obvious thing to do would be to get yourself some medicine for cough and cold immediately, right?
Sadly, this is not how everyone operates. Some people are adverse to modern medicine, and sometimes we can't blame them: there is so much conflicting information available that it's hard to choose what to believe! Here are a few myths regarding the cold and flu you might have heard about. Are they True, or false?
Flu Vaccine Causes the Flu - FALSE
Getting flu shots may cause symptoms similar to the flu but, people mistakenly attribute the achy side effects to the vaccine itself. People wonder as to why small doses of the virus that you're trying to prevent are included in the shots! Reality is, the virus that the flu shots contain has already been deactivated, meaning they can’t really cause any sort of infection or sickness. Just because the side effects are often identified as the same to the flu it does not mean that vaccines as such cause the flu itself.
Cough Syrups Don’t Work - FALSE
Cough syrups are most certainly not considered as medical mishaps. They were created to help alleviate the pain and discomfort we often experience when we have cough, although there are limited studies regarding the degree to which cough medicine reduces cough symptoms. One thing’s for sure though: the active ingredients DO have an effect as it coats the throat to reduce the sensitivity of the cough reflex.
One product can do the same job compared to different medications altogether - TRUE
It is possible for just one medicine to do both the job of ridding you of your colds AND cough. Syrup for example is most suitable for a basic solution to coughs because it coats the throat, reduces irritation and soothes the cough reflex.
Going out in the cold or rain will get you sick - FALSE
This is not entirely true – simply getting cold or wet is not the cause of you getting sick. But if you’re already a host to this respiratory virus before you went out in the rain, then this may trigger the symptoms to develop.
Some people never acquire runny nose or cough - TRUE
When colds or getting the sniffles is rampant in one area some people can get mildly infected but won’t show symptoms. Hence, the person who claims and assumes that they never get sick or cold has an immune system that does not react strongly to a cold virus.
Avoid dairy if you’re sick - FALSE
Especially when you have a cough and lots of phlegm – at least that’s what they say. They say that milk makes the phlegm thicker, but this is not true at all. Also it doesn’t cause the body to make more phlegm.
Your cold could turn into a flu - FALSE
There is no morphing involved. If you have a cold then you have a cold, and if you have the flu it’s the flu, simple as that.
When it comes to our health we shouldn’t easily believe traditional norms! Once you feel something is different or wrong, go straight to your doctor for an educated diagnosis. Hopefully these myths won’t increase and we can only do our part by being well informed on the matter.