Best medicines for flu and colds

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The upcoming flu season is pushing ahead with a list of drugs titled "Most Effective Cures for Flu and Colds." At the same time, the ratings are not always compiled professionally. Before following the recommendations and choosing the medicine yourself, you should consult your doctor.

Only a physician can take into account the contraindications specified in the instructions for use, and compliance with a specific clinical picture, age category, compatibility with other medicines.

Selection criteria for drugs

An ordinary consumer is characterized by a picky attitude towards ratings, but intrusive advertising is calculated subtly and is able to induce the purchase of drugs that consistently appear, thanks to the efforts of marketers, in the list of the most effective drugs.

When prescribing medicines, specialists certainly take into account the fact that flu and colds are diseases of different etiologies and the list of effective medicines for them cannot completely coincide. Influenza is a dangerous viral disease that can be transmitted by airborne droplets and is detected only after the incubation period has passed.

The ability of a pathogenic agent to change in the body of an individual person can lead to re-infection of a person who has recovered, but already in a mutated form, against which the immune system has not developed antibodies. The most effective way to avoid infection or severe infection is preventive vaccination.

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Cold symptoms, unlike the flu, can be detected after a short period of time. Their main cause is hypothermia, and the reason for the development of the disease is a weakened immune system. A whole list of negative factors can lead to a pathological state.

Therapeutic tactics and medications for flu and colds are determined by several circumstances. Among them:

• microbes and bacteria that can join the effects of hypothermia with a cold;
• the subtype and type of viral infection with influenza, which determine possible complications and symptoms of the course;
• the age and general condition of the patient;
• individual susceptibility or allergic reaction to drugs (individual components or the main active ingredient);
• the stage of the disease and the intensity of its development, severe symptoms;
• the results of the studies received;
• the presence of chronic or systemic diseases, medications used to treat them.

The most effective medicines for any disease are not included in the lists and ratings, but prescribed by the doctor for a specific patient and an individual clinical picture. For a mild cold, these can be proven folk remedies, physiotherapy procedures and proper nutrition. The most effective drugs for influenza depend not only on the history and physical examination, but also on the intensity of the symptoms detected.

Antiviral and antimicrobial therapy

The main task of carrying out such events is to strengthen the immune system. This is especially true in childhood, until the immune system is finally formed, and in the elderly, when its weakening was the result of age-related changes.

Medicines for influenza and colds are very conditionally divided into two broad categories: pharmacological agents that are effective in combating an existing infection, and symptomatic, which are most in demand for eliminating the negative consequences of the activity of a pathogenic agent in the body.

It is pointless to take medications that temporarily remove the symptoms of infection, and do nothing to eliminate the main provoking factor. As soon as the effect of the symptomatic drug ends, the activity of the pathogenic agent leads to a resumption of temperature, intoxication, lethargy and weakness - the consequences of the active vital activity of microorganisms, viruses and bacteria.

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Determination of the most effective drugs in this situation does not depend on the rating and popularity list, but on the existing need:

• antiviral agents are prescribed for influenza, but their relevance is justified only in the first three days, until the pathogenic agent has time to gain a foothold in the body and begins to actively reproduce;
• antimicrobial and antibacterial drugs are prescribed for colds only after the measures taken have not yielded significant improvement; it is pointless and harmful to swallow antibiotics in the first days, not knowing reliably about the type and presence of the pathogen;
• Immunostimulating agents are taken only for their intended purpose, in normal cases it is considered sufficient vitamin C, in tablets or in food components, this is a natural substance that stimulates the immune system to a natural response.

Differentiation of drugs of the pharmacological group into antibacterial and antiviral, their intended purpose implies caution in combining the most effective drugs for influenza and colds in the rating. The time, dosage and feasibility of taking drugs of the pharmacological group differ, and this circumstance must be taken into account.

Medicines against viruses

There are much less of them in the modern arsenal than antibacterial and antimicrobial agents. When prescribing medicines for influenza, important principles of antiviral therapy are taken into account:

• maximum activity from a damaging factor and relative safety for the cells of the microorganism in which it is activated;
• the choice of one of the categories of antiviral agents - interferons or their inducers, chemotherapy drugs and extreme caution due to insufficient determination of the sensitivity of the provocateur to them and the lack of study of pharmacokinetics;
• interferons are divided into natural and recombinant ones, and their use is decided after studying laboratory data;
• interferon inducers are used in the treatment of rhinovirus infections and influenza virus, but this is a fairly large group of high and low molecular weight compounds, the selection of which cannot be carried out unprofessionally;
• the most popular remedies for influenza viruses - Remantadin and Ribavirin are effective for achieving different goals, the first - at the initial stage and for prophylactic purposes, the second - in aerosols for the treatment of a certain type of influenza (A).

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In the treatment of influenza, only antiviral drugs are prescribed, this applies not only to the influenza virus, but also to other viral infections - parainfluenza, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, cytomegalovirus, etc.

Antimicrobial and antibacterial agents are prescribed only if another infection joins the virus in a weakened organism. The only antiviral drug that can be taken for prophylaxis in the first days of the disease is Amizon, but the dosage regimen for different conditions should be carefully studied in the instructions for use.

Antibiotics

The reason for the development of acute respiratory infections, which is colloquially called the common cold, is also an infection, the etiology of which cannot be finally clarified. But this does not mean that antibiotics are needed from the first days of the disease. They are prescribed only in strictly defined cases - with immunodeficiency, deeply advanced age, oncology, proven addition of a second infection.

It is unacceptable to choose an antibiotic from the rating of popular drugs until the results of bacterial culture are obtained. Even if there are conditions for the appointment of antibacterial drugs: a prolonged cough, a persistently negative condition, inflammation of the lymph nodes and discoloration of sputum, the selection of antibiotics should be carried out taking into account the pathogen.

There are many pathogenic agents and no fewer drugs. For some long-established patients, microorganisms have developed resistance. In this case, taking an antibiotic only aggravates the degree of intoxication of the human body, but does not give any results.

The doctor selects the optimal dosage and the group that is most effective, decides on the duration of admission, controlling the situation. In the popularity ratings, Amoxiclav, Flemoxin Solutab, Sumamed, Cefuroxime, Clarithromycin appear most often, but this is not a reason to take them on their own.

Symptomatic drugs

These include any medicines or folk remedies that help remove the visual manifestations of the disease. These can be the most variable dosage forms - tablets and capsules, sprays, aerosols, drops, inhalations, injections, infusions into the nasopharynx, rinsing. The patient can make a decision on the need to take them on his own, feeling his own negative state, but the choice of a drug should not be made by studying the lists of popularity or looking at advertising posters in a pharmacy.

When treating flu and colds at the initial stage, the main tactics are aimed at supporting and stimulating their own immunity:

• bed rest, so as not to overload the cardiac system affected by the virus and the motor apparatus;
• deep sleep, during which the body begins to develop its own defense tactics and fight the pathogenic pathogen (this requires vasoconstrictor drops and anesthetic);
• plentiful warm drink to prevent dehydration and relieve intoxication from the waste products of bacteria or a virus;
• a clean bed, wet cleaning and a ventilated area, together with the isolation of the patient, will prevent the spread of infection;
• Antipyretic drugs are needed only if the temperature has exceeded 38 degrees, the subfebrile is not knocked down.

Treatment of such diseases can be carried out at home, however, the choice of drugs should not be entrusted to the lists, but to the local doctor or home doctor. After all, even symptomatic drugs are prescribed when it is necessary to eliminate symptoms and they have their own side effects and contraindications.

Conclusion

Treatment of flu and colds should be carried out strictly according to the doctor's prescription. This will allow:

1. Achieve an effective result without using unnecessary means.
2. Avoid the development of side effects and do not take medications if contraindicated.
3. Maintain the required dosage and duration of administration.
4. Prevent the development of complications.

Sources:

www.bbc

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