Spring is the season when colds are common. As you know, there are two types of colds: common cold and influenza (flu for short). How to distinguish them?
1, the causative viruses of the two are different: the common cold is mostly caused by rhinovirus, mostly epidemic, weak contagious, not easy to epidemic; while the flu is caused by the influenza virus, highly contagious, not only through the virus-containing droplets for transmission, person-to-person contact or contact with contaminated objects can also be transmitted, easy to cause outbreaks of epidemic or pandemic.
2, the clinical symptoms of the two are different: the early symptoms of the common cold are dry and itchy or burning sensation in the throat, sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose, starting with clear water-like nasal discharge, thickening after 2-3 days; can be accompanied by sore throat; generally no fever and systemic symptoms, or only low fever, headache. It usually heals after 5-7 days. In contrast, the typical clinical features of influenza are acute onset of high fever, significant malaise, generalized muscle aches and pains, while upper respiratory cata symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose and sneezing are relatively mild.
Therefore, the common cold is often easy to induce infection when people’s organism resistance decreases, such as cold, malnutrition, excessive fatigue, excessive smoking and drinking, systemic diseases and chronic diseases of the nose itself affecting the smooth flow of the respiratory tract. Influenza, on the other hand, is infectious, often “unknowingly” in the disease.
There are still many misconceptions about the treatment of the flu, and the biggest problem is the abuse of antibiotics. As we all know, whether it is common cold or flu, it is caused by virus. Since there is no effective antiviral drug, cold is still treated mainly by supportive therapy and symptomatic treatment, paying special attention to rest, drinking plenty of water, eating lightly and giving sufficient physical support to the immune system. Therefore, blind use of antibiotics is not only ineffective, but will also enhance bacterial resistance, which is not conducive to the body’s immune system to play its normal role. Antibiotics should only be used when there is a concurrent bacterial infection.
Chinese medicine has been treating cold and flu for thousands of years. In the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, there are records of “Theory of Heat” and “Theory of Cough”, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the “Treatise on Typhoid” by Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of medicine, treated all kinds of fever according to the “six meridians theory”, which pioneered the theory of evidence-based treatment in Chinese medicine. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the rise of the School of Warm Diseases, Chinese medicine made a leap from practice to theory in the treatment of various infectious diseases, including influenza. Chinese medicine treatment of the flu is not focused on antiviral, but to improve the internal environment of the body by harmonizing the Ying and Wei, relieving the symptoms and promoting the lung, and harmonizing the Yin and Yang, so that the virus cannot survive in the body and achieve the purpose of cure.
Generally speaking, Chinese medicine classifies the common cold into wind-cold cold, wind-heat cold, summer-damp cold, deficiency cold and other types of evidence. And the influenza is called the seasonal cold in Chinese medicine.
The clinical characteristics of each type of cold are different, and the Chinese medicine treatment method chosen is also different.
Wind-cold colds.
In addition to general symptoms such as nasal congestion, sneezing, cough, headache, etc., the patient also has characteristics such as aversion to cold, no sweating, muscle pain, runny nose, vomiting thin white sputum, no thirst or thirst for hot drinks, and thin white tongue coating. We often use pungent and warming formulas to relieve the symptoms, and we can choose to add and reduce the amount of soup, such as Ma Huang Tang, Gui Zhi Tang and Jiu Wei Qiang Wu Tang.
Wind-heat cold.
In addition to the general symptoms of cold such as nasal congestion, runny nose, cough and headache, patients are also characterized by heavy fever, thick yellow sputum, sore throat, usually painful before cold symptoms, sputum usually yellow or blackish, and constipation. Treatment should be based on the principle of pungent cooling and relieving symptoms. The soup can be treated with the addition and subtraction of Yin Qiao San and Sang Ju Drink, and the Chinese patent medicine can be treated with Yin Qiao Xie Po Wan, Antelope Xie Po Wan, Lian Hua Qing Hui Capsule, and Shu Feng Qing Lung Granules (in-hospital preparation). It is worth noting that the treatment of this evidence is based on light and clear products to promote the dispersal of lung qi, and not to abuse heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs, otherwise “the door will be closed and the enemy will stay”, resulting in the condition lingering and difficult to cure.
Heat-damp cold.
Patients show symptoms such as cold, fever, tasteless mouth, headache, head swelling, abdominal pain and diarrhea. This type of cold mostly occurs in summer. Treatment should be based on clearing summer heat, dispelling dampness and relieving the symptoms. Patients can be treated with medicines such as Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Shui and Yin Qiao Xie Po Wan.
Deficiency cold.
The patient’s symptoms are physical weakness, low resistance, usually easy to sweat, intolerance of wind and cold, tiredness, loss of appetite, mild fever, runny nose, often lingering for a long time, or repeated colds. At this time, the effectiveness of the general cold medicine is not good, the soup medicine use Yu Ping Feng San, Chai Hu Gui Zhi Tang, the cold soup and other additive treatment, Chinese medicine can be used to supplement Zhong Yi Qi Wan, body deficiency cold oral liquid, Fuzheng Royal Lung granules (in-hospital preparation), etc.
Cold-inclusive fire cold.
The patient’s symptoms are similar to those of wind-heat colds, but with the manifestation of external cold such as aversion to cold and clear runny nose. Don’t be confused by the illusion, still treat as wind-heat cold, but strengthen the power of medicine to dispel lung qi. The Chinese medicines used are Yin Qiao Xie Po Wan, Lian Hua Qing Fei Capsules, Qing Qing Lung Granules (in-hospital preparation), etc.
Seasonal colds.
The patient’s symptoms are similar to those of wind-heat colds. However, the symptoms of patients with seasonal cold are heavier than those of patients with wind-heat cold. Patients may have sudden chills, high fever, headache, chills, chills, severe headache, body aches, fatigue, nasal congestion, runny nose, dry cough, chest pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and may be complicated by pneumonia or heart failure in infants and children or the elderly. Treatment should be based on clearing heat and detoxifying the toxin, draining the wind and penetrating the surface. Chinese medicine can be used to prevent wind and Tong Sheng Wan, Lian Hua Qing Fei capsule, Shuang Huang Lian oral liquid, sparing wind and clearing lung granules (in-hospital preparation) and so on.
In short, the treatment of cold should not be neglected and not over-treated, but it is better to apply the method of Chinese medicine to treat the symptoms, so that the condition can be controlled quickly.