Cold, flu & The Fashionista
When it come to looking good Fashionistas are always looking for the next "It thing" to make you stand out from the crowd, however it's difficult to look good when you have a bad cold or flu cramping your style. Looking good is fine and dandy, but when you're not feeling 100% all the bling and fabulous clothes in the world won't help your cause.
Current treatments can help bring some relief & may shorten the duration of a cold/flu. There are a variety of cold remedies & medications that may help relieve your symptoms.
Common Treatments for Cold & Flu
Amantadine
Antihistamines
Echinacea
Lysine
Septra
Tamiflu
Tussionex
Vitamin C
Zinc
Things you can do to help yourself:A. Blow Your Nose Often.
Blow your nose frequently when you have a cold rather than sniffling mucus back into your head & respiratory tract. The proper technique is not to blow to hard, Most people have experience the pressure, headaches, & earaches associated with blowing to vigorously. The best technique is to blow your nose by pressing your tissue covered finger over one nostril while you blow steadily but gently to clear the other. Wash your hands promptly afterwards & properly dispose of the tissue ( Be considerate of others & don't spread germs).
B. Get Rest
Resting when you first come down with a cold or the flu helps your body direct its total efforts & energy towards your immune system. Battling a cold/flu extremely taxes your body. So enable your body to do its thing. By lying down and getting the rest. The world will continue but you won't if you don't take care of yourself. And for the Fashionista the quicker you recover the better you will feel and look.
C. Gargling Helps
Gargling can moisten a sore throat and bring temporary relief. Try a teaspoon of salt dissolved in warm water, four times daily. To reduce the tickle in your throat, try an astringent gargle -- such as tea that contains tannin -- to tighten the membranes. Or use a thick, viscous gargle made with honey, popular in folk medicine. Steep one tablespoon of raspberry leaves or lemon juice in two cups of hot water; mix with one teaspoon of honey. Let the mixture cool to room temperature before gargling. Honey should never be given to children less than 1 year old.
D. Drink Plenty of Hot fluids
Hot liquids relieve nasal congestion, help prevent dehydration, and can soothe the uncomfortably inflamed membranes that line your nose and throat.
E. Steam Helps
A soothing Steamy shower helps to moisturize your nasal passages and relax you. If you're dizzy from the flu, run a steamy shower and just sit in the room with door closed and take in the steam ( A natural decongestant).
F. A nose ointment may help
A small dab of mentholated salve under your nose can open your respiratory passage ways and help soothe the irritated skin just under the nose which is often irritated during a cold. Menthol,eucalyptus and camphor all have mild numbing ingredients that help relieve pains as a result of rubbing your nose raw.
G. A Hot or Cold Compress placed on the skin surrounding your congested sinuses
may offer some relief and comfortable. You can buy reusable hot/cold compasses at your local market or pharmacist. If you are a do-it-yourself individual of pressed for cash just make your own. Take a damp washcloth and heat it for 55 seconds in a microwave (test the temperature first to make sure it's not too hot for you.) For a cold pack you can use any frozen pack of vegetables wrapped with a clean cloth for a homemade cold compress.
Vitamin C of course is helpful and so is Sunshine. Many Fashionistas are unaware that direct exposure to sun rays are vital to maintaining health and well being! With all of the talk of skin cancer people are confused. I think it's time to state a few facts.
Ironically there are more health disorders associated with a lack of sunlight than to those caused by too much sun. Sunshine is a natural protect against a colds and many other diseases, such as: Osteoporosis, Heart Disease, breast cancer, prostate, and colon cancer. Sunlight definitely protects you against depression, insomnia, and an overactive immune system.
The informed Fashionista should know that some sun exposure is essential in order to maintain health, and homeostasis, because the Sun helps our bodies make vitamin D. (Sunscreens blocks out nearly all UV radiation.) If you're out in the sun for relatively short periods, with a UV index less than 3, which indicates a moderate amount of UV rays hitting your area on a given day, then sunscreen and other sun protection (like hats and protective clothing). Interferes with properly absorbing the necessary Sun rays required for out bodies to produce Vitamin D which out teeth and bones require.
The government's recommendations are 200 IUs a day up to age 50, 400 IUs to age 70, and 600 IUs over 70. Some health care provides advocate that these recommendations are too low to maintain proper vitamin D blood levels. Some experts suggest that supplementation in the winter be 2,000 IUs per day and a dose of daily direct sunshine in the summer.
Summer is a great time to sock up on the Sun's Vitamin D making abilities. When the sun's UV-B rays hit the skin, a reaction takes place that enables skin cells to manufacture vitamin D. If you're fair skinned, experts say going outside for 10 minutes in the midday sun—in shorts and a tank top with no sunscreen—will give you enough radiation to produce about 10,000 international units of the vitamin. Dark-skinned individuals and the elderly also produce less vitamin D, and many folks don't get enough of the nutrient from dietary sources like fatty fish and fortified milk.
Thank God for the Sun our life sustaining ever renewing source of energy which without all life upon our beautiful planet would perish!
No Fashionista can afford to miss out on sun exposure. It's the sun's rays our body craves & requires to convert the nutrients we consume into Vitamin D. This mean we all require some unprotected time in the sun during the mid hours of our day when our sun is at its highest point the UV-B rays penetrates our atmosphere best.
It's difficult to quantify exactly how much of vitamin D is needed for each Fashionista (Personally I'm on Vitamin D therapy now). Obviously your skin pigmentation affects how much sun your skin absorbs and the darker the berry sweeter it is-Well the darker ones skin tone the more protection you'll have against skin cancer. Unfortunately this is a bit of a double-edge-sword since the more melanin your skin has the more difficult it is for sun rays to penetrate it. (melanin is the pigmentation in our bodies which determines darkness of complexion. which gives skin its color) the less able it is for your skin to absorb UV-B rays.
Keep in mind that the amount of bare flesh you expose to direct sunlight is a factor and of course the time of day ( Ex. High Noon,Evening, early AM). For fair skinned Fashionista sunning yourself outside wearing a tank top and shorts high at noon, you probably require a few minutes without sunscreen. For naturally tanned Nubian beauties or out Hispanic fashionista you need maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Extremely dark complexion sister may need about and hour in order to obtain the vitamin D levels necessary to maintain proper vitamin D levels. Keep in mind if you are like me and spend hours into working at your computer than not matter what your complexion you may need a vitamin D supplement, talk to your health care provider a simple blood test can determine your vitamin d level and whether or not you need a vitamin d supplement or just to change your diet to include vitamin enriched foods.
For light-skinned Fashionistas you definitely need less exposure. In any case research is ongoing on this topic to establish how much skin pigmentation, clothing, sunscreen, and seasonal changes affect our vitamin D levels.
Information changes daily on this topic. I suggestion you be studious & practice caution and pro-health advocacy. Keep your ear to the ground and keep up with new findings.
Keep in mind that there are unscrupulous manufactures out there pushing all sorts of products who deliberately create public panic in order to stimulate their profit, Consumer beware!
Skin Cancer (Melanoma a type of skin ca) is a real threat
The amount of sunshine needed depends on your skin complexion which is determined by the amount of melanin in your skin. Melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin disease in the USA. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 70,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in 2010 so and helpful new treatment offers these people renewed hope. The FDA has approved a new skin cancer drug called ipilimumab (Yervoy) It will be used to treat adults with metastatic melanoma (skin can which has metastasised throughout the body) the drug is suppose to help the body develop a stronger immune response against cancer cells. You may want to follow-up on this tid-bit.
Experiencing cold/flu symptoms can cramp your style. Hand Washing is still The most effective intervention against catching and spreading germs.
The difference between Cold & Flu primarily are the severity of the illness and its duration. Both have similar signs &symptom, however influence (flu) can lead to pneumonia and other life threatening respiratory disorders.
When it comes down to the Common Cold:
Signs & Symptoms associated with a cold are generally less severe than those associated with flu and are usually of shorter duration.
Practice Self-health advocacy to stay well:
If you're like most Fashionistas you have heard it said, "There is no cure for the common cold you just have to ride it out". So what's up with all the new hoopla over anti-cold/flu treatments & these mystery medication & so-called anti-flu cocktail now being hailed as possible preventative, protection against the flu. They are more effective but not a total cure. So practice self-health advocacy common sense.
Washing your hands frequently.
Try to avoid people already infected.
Be considerate of others when you have a cold/flu & sneeze or cough into a tissue or the elbow area of your forearm.
Clean surfaces with a germ-killing disinfectant.
Don't touch your face or mouth unless necessary.
Most of us know when we are ill we generally experience:
Weakness/Tiredness just not feeling your perky self.
Stuffy/runny nose.
sore throat.
Bad cough.
Headache/body aches
Fever.
There are some things you can do to feel better:
Maintain hydration. Drink plenty of fluids.
Get rest & allow your body to repair itself.
A humidifier can help with congested head and chest.
There are many helpful over-the-counter cold & could medications which may help.
A flu vaccine can decrease the risk of getting flu. Optimal time to get the flu vaccine from mid October to November, since this is when most people catch the colds and flu. Like any vaccine you may experience some common side effects like: weakness and or fever for a few days after being given the injection. So eat nutritious meals and avoid unnecessary stress. Should symptoms become severe contact your health care provider stat. Anyone is entitled to a flu injection the reason people 65 or older & nursing home residents are advised to receive annually injections is because the elderly are often in a weakened condition to start. Young children over six months are often advised to get a flu injection when they have preexisting ailments such as: Asthma, chronic diseases (Like HIV or any immune system compromise) . Health-care providers and childcare providers are exposed to more potential to exposure of germs which cause colds and flue so it may be wise to have a flue shot.
Not everyone can have a flu shot.
Some may be allergic to the flu shot, especially people who are allergic to eggs since the vaccine is developed using eggs for incubation.
If you already have pneumonia don't get a flu shot. It might complicate your situation.
No vaccine should be taking while feverish.
Of course pregnant and nursing mothers are not advised to have the flu shot ordinarily.
Today many doctors won't give antibiotics for a cold or flu. In fact the FDA Advises against it. They say they won't work and that you should take antibiotics only when really needed. The problem with that is abuse of this new rule. I've witnessed as both a health care provider and as a patient so I speak from practical experience. To prejudice and biases slip into the patient care management situation. I am peeveed that often antibiotics have been with held from the poor and minorities. This system isn't perfect and there are bad people in all walks of life. Fortunately most health-care providers provide quality of care regardless to social status or race. I am just afraid of where this deliberately with holding medications in fear that they may potential be overused and become ineffective is walking a very thin line. To often antibiotics are with held until the patient is so acutely ill it takes a more potent antibiotic, medical intervention and recovery time than it would have if antibiotics had been given earlier. So it can be a difficult call on this antibiotic debate and the jury is still out.
We're at a cross-road and for many ordinary people the best thing you can do is educate yourself. You are a health care consumers. You most ask questions, trust your instincts, switch doctors when you feel the need and protect your own interest.
Ask your health-care provider about new medications to help prevent and shorten flu. With some of these medications even if you already have a flu when taken within 48 hours of the onset may help shorten your flu's duration.
There is so much information floating around out there, & health advances. I can not address it all in one article but I will be taking on various health & beauty topics for the modern fashionista here, so until next time strut your stuff and you are fierce girlfriend!
Copyright
by Tiease D. Deutsch May 6, 2011
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