Cold Cough Tips

Honey can be consumed at any time of the day, however, it is always recommended by nutritionists and dietitians to eat honey in an appropriate amount and also at specific times of the day to reap the best health benefits of honey. We advise you to incorporate honey in your daily routine during these times:

1. Benefits Of Honey In The Morning

A warm glass of water sweetened with honey can do wonders for your overall health and wellbeing. Our body requires energy that can sustain throughout the day. Morning is the best time to eat honey for boosting energy levels and staying all charged up. Having honey in the morning is not just good for your skin but has ample health benefits including:

• Helps you shed those extra kilos
• Improves your digestive system
• Protects against bacterial and viral infections
• Reduces allergic reactions
• Flushes out toxins from the body
• Hydrates the body

Check Out: Honey Fruit Salad - A Homemade Honey Recipe For Healthy Breakfast

2. Benefits Of Honey In The Evening

In the evening time, when half of the day is passed, leaving the person tired & exhausted, honey can help to revitalize you for the rest of the day.

Resist the urge for caffeine when your head gets heavier and boost your energy levels naturally by consuming a spoonful of honey. Fuel your body with honey instead of sugary snacks during evening slumps. Other benefits of honey if consumed during evening time are:

• A quick fix when your energy plummets
• Great source of carbohydrates
• Natural energy booster
• Provides nutrition
• Keeps you active

3. Benefits Of Honey Water At Night

It should come as no surprise that honey is advised to be eaten before going to sleep by health experts. Consuming honey with a glass of warm milk ensures a good night's sleep. Your body absorbs all the goodness from this superfood at night to keep you healthy. Check out the benefits of eating honey at night are:  

• Helps you sleep better
• Improves liver functions
• Assists in weight loss
• Reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
• Treats acid reflux
• Lowers blood pressure

Check Out: Lemon And Honey Water - A Honey Recipe For Cough

4. Benefits of Honey Whenever You Feel Sick

A legit home remedy for cough and cold, Honey can be consumed at times you are sick instead of over-the-counter drugs. Rich in potent antibacterial properties, honey gives relief from sore throat and soothes cough.

Honey stimulates the immune system for faster recovery from illnesses. Besides tasting good, honey is a natural decongestant and has cold-fighting characteristics. So, consuming honey when you are sick is quite beneficial as it:

• Clears up cold
• Boosts immunity
• Protects the body from oxidative stress
• Acts as a natural cough suppressant
• Improves metabolic function

5. Benefits Of Honey Before Or After Workout

A rich source of carbohydrates and natural sugar, honey can be consumed whenever you feel tired and exhausted for an energy rush. Fitness freaks and weight watchers can consume it before or after a workout to replenish energy levels since honey serves as a great alternative to sugary energy drinks.

You can also mix honey with your carbs, fruits, and protein shakes. Honey is beneficial as a workout snack because it:

• Digests easily and absorbs quickly by the body
• Refuels energy levels
• Replenishes blood glucose
• Assists in workout recovery
• Improves your workout performance

Summary:

Touted as a superfood, doesn’t matter at what time you consume, Honey offers enormous benefits and improves your overall health, attributed to its countless medicinal properties.

Update From Lybrate: Buy Sweet Honey for breakfast delights at Lybrate and provide a mouth-watering taste to your palate. These jams, Honey, and spread can also be consumed by health freaks and diabetic patients.

Children who suffer from recurring cold and cough usually develop other respiratory infections that can result in fever, dry cough and difficulty in breathing. It can lead to conditions like infantile bronchitis, tonsillitis, adenoids, etc.

Causes-
With more than over 200 different viruses which can cause cold in children, it can be a difficult condition to treat and prevent from recurring. As the immune system in children is comparatively weaker or underdeveloped, changes in weather can make them susceptible to cold and cough.

Symptoms-
A cold usually begins with a sore throat followed by a runny nose and cough. The sore throat is a result of built-up mucus which will then run down to the throat from the nose. As the cold gets worse, the child will start feeling tired, start coughing and experiencing soreness in his throat and muscle pain. It might also cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

The repeated recurrence of cold and cough makes many children dependent on prescription medications, which is detrimental to their health in the long run. Homeopathy is a much more natural alternative that remedies the infections causing the cold and cough and prevents them from recurring.

Boost Immunity With Medication Of Homeopathy!

Homeopathic Treatments-

1. Homeopathy uses different herbaceous plant extracts to cure colds and coughs that a child might develop after being exposed to cold weather. If the cold causes dryness of mouth and hoarseness, then these extracts will help remedy that.
2. The essential oils derived from certain root vegetables help remedy nasal discharge and violent sneezing. This also helps relieve congestive headaches that occur in the frontal area of the head due to a cold.
3. Certain chemicals are used in diluted concentrations to treat the redness and puffiness of eyes and the frequent sneezing caused by cold. It also helps relieve any fatigue and muscle pain that might be caused by a cold.
4. Plant extracts are also used to treat heavy and constricted breathing that might be caused by a cold.

Benefits of Homeopathy-

Small dosages-
Medicines in homeopathy are prepared from substances derived from minerals and plants and administered in low doses. This makes it much safer for consumption by children compared to other forms of medicine. It also ensures that there are no adverse allergic reactions.

Builds Immunity-
Since homeopathic medicines are sourced from natural ingredients, they counteract any illness at its root level. This helps enhance the body’s resistance and immunity against the disease.

Lifelong viability-
Homeopathy does not carry any risk of side-effects or toxicity, thereby making it suitable for people across all age groups.

A change in weather means a change in heather and thus, a change in your body and we dare say, not every change is a pleasant one. While we welcome the monsoon changes across our window panes with hope, the germs that come along with the rains aren’t a welcome guest. Cold and cough are well-known intruders in the pleasant disguise of monsoon rains and are capable evils against your health. While no long term repercussions are known about cold and cough, we all know how discomforting a sneezy nose can be. Here are a few hacks to avoid letting your rainy joy into a gloomy one.

Maintain A Hygienic Environment Around Yourself -

Cold and Cough are capable villains to affect all around you with little to no control over germs. Maintaining a hygienic space can come handy to avoid seasonal influenza take control over your life. Wash your hands before grabbing any edibles, keep your towels clean and always disinfect the regular surfaces you or your family touches across your home.

Wear Comfortable and Suitable Clothes For The Season -

While we all have a wardrobe we love to flaunt but a little modification according to seasonal changes can help your health by a huge margin. The rainy season tends to get a little colder and humid much to our chagrin. Hence, natural fabric such as cotton and a few stacks of woolen clothes can help add an additional layer of protection that our body needs. We really recommend you to avoid tight-fitting clothes and giving a comfortable clothing a chance. 

Beat the Roga with Your Yoga -

While we know how much you love to procrastinate on your exercising regime, we emphasize on pursuing it like a hobby you can’t get enough of. Despite how lovely and snug the weather can get, we urge you to get out of your bed and start your day with comfortable yoga poses and pranayama. Pranayama includes several respiratory exercises that boost up your respiratory system and help your respiratory immunity up your health. You simply cannot do without this you intend to get through the monsoon hale and hearty.

Avoid Dietary Elements That Lower Your Body Temperature -

According to Ayurveda, some dietary elements that are subtly cool in nature e.g. bananas, ice creams or gourd based vegetables tend to lower your body temperature and thus, affect your natural metabolism. These edibles might appear tempting at first but even an occasional intake of such fruits and eatables can lead you to sneezy nose and cough. We strongly recommend you to be aware of what you consume, its sources and take care of your diet by including some seasonal fruits and leafy vegetables. 

Boost Your Immunity To Avoid Falling Prey To Cough And Cold Germs -

Precaution is always better than cure and what better way than to up your immunity game with some natural ayurvedic immunity boosters.

Infection is generally understood as the invasion into the body tissues of an organism by certain foreign bodies such as bacteria, parasite, and virus. They are transmissible diseases and can be transmitted from one person to the other via sneezing, coughing or physical contact. They can be mild, moderate or severe.

• They can be acute, that is, can last for a short time, or chronic that lasts for a long time, or a latent infection that may not cause any symptoms at first but reactivates and resurfaces over a period of time.
• Although each infection has its own distinct symptom. Generally, these symptoms include fever, swelling, redness, inflammation, burning, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, muscular pain, nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse or rapid breathing.
• If the patient has a severe headache, difficulty in breathing, painful swelling and unexplained prolonged fever or cough, he or she should immediately consult a doctor.

Conventional drugs that are given to treat infections like antibiotics, antiviral, antihistamines and steroids have many side effects on the human body. They on one hand hamper the digestive power of the system and on the other hand lower the immunity power of the body. In the long run, these medicines can have adverse effects on the body. Though conventional drugs suppress the disease for some time, the disease tends to resurface in the future.

However, Homeopathy has been found to be of great success in treating both acute and chronic infections. The best part is that, there is no side effect. Homeopathy also boosts our immune system so that the body naturally develops the strength to fight against infections in future, when foreign bodies invade. Homeopathic medicines have also proved to be effective as preventive measures against infections.

Some of the Homeopathic medicines for the treatment of most common infections are discussed below:

1. Throat infections: Belladonna, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Phytolacca, and Mercurius are most commonly administered to cure throat infections.
2. Skin infection: Common homeopathic remedies are Sulphur, Calendula, Hypericum, Silica, and Hepar sulfuris.
3. Bladder infection: Berberis, Chimaphila, Hydrastis, Apis, Cantharis, and sarsaparilla are commonly prescribed.
4. Stomach infection: Arsenic album, Nux vomica, Carbo veg, Lycopodium, and Pulsatilla are commonly recommended.
5. Sinus infection: Kali bichromicum, Pulsatilla, Mercurius, Natrum muriaticum, and Allium cepa work well in cases of sinus infections.

Most of the Homeopathy medicines are prescribed on the basis of symptoms observed. So, Homeopathic medicines are prescribed, even before the definitive diagnosis is made. Thus, the time saved prevents the infection from spreading, and the patient is automatically cured rapidly.

Common cold and cough is one of the most common viral illnesses that have no specific treatment. Allopathic medicines provide palliative cure to just treat the symptoms, there is no definite antiviral for it. There is also popular belief having cold once or twice a year is a good way to cleanse the body. On the contrary, cough and cold could be the first symptoms of a serious underlying disease like pneumonia. From that angle, it is better to treat it than to just let it run its natural course. Especially in children and elderly, it can be chronic issue with repeated bouts and therefore treatment becomes mandatory.

The good news is that homeopathy provides a cure for this, not just treat external symptoms. Also, like any other condition, homeopathy looks at treating the whole myriad of associated symptoms, thereby providing holistic treatment.  Below are 5 common homeopathic remedies for chronic cough and cold:

Aconitum or Aconite:  Used in the early stages of a cold that was sudden in onset and severe.  There could be associated nasal discharge, fever and chills, chest congestion, itchy throat, and a traumatic experience.  The person may also feel thirsty, anxious, and agitated.

Allium Cepa:  Severe burning and watery eyes, nasal irritation, copious amounts of discharge, hoarseness, and headache. The runny nose improves in open air but worsens when being indoors.
Arsenicum album: The patient usually has complaints on the right side including watery nasal discharge, weakness, restlessness, chills, thirst. The discharge can irritate the upper lip and nasal mucosa.  The cold gradually moves to the throat and the irritation also shifts down (this phase requires a different treatment). 
Belladonna: When the cold has a sudden onset with red face, high fever, cold feet, this can be used in the early stages of the cold.  There is associated high fever, tickly throat, glassy eyes, dry cough, restlessness, and delirium 

EUPHRASIA: Burning eyes and profuse nasal discharge lead to reddened eyes and cheeks. More common in children, the condition worsens in open air, at night, and while lying down. The cough then moves down into the larynx and produces a harsh, hoarse voice. 

PULSATILLA: Yellow or greenish mucous, nasal congestion, mouth breathing are some symptoms where this is used. It is very commonly used in newborn babies if the discharge colour is green or yellow. Associated symptoms include moodiness, easy crying, craving for attention, easily hurt and sensitive. 

Homeopathy does 'cure' the cough and cold in patients, in the true sense of the word.  That provides palliative care and holistic treatment of the condition too.

SGLT2 (sodium-glucose-co-transporter 2) inhibitor is an oral tablet used in conjunction with exercise and diet to improve blood glucose control in Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

The medication works by targeting and helping prevent sodium-glucose transport proteins from allowing glucose that has been filtered by the kidneys to be reabsorbed into your bloodstream.

Who is SGLT2 Inhibitor suitable for?

This drug is not suitable for everyone. Selection of the right patients is crucial to understand the mechanism of the medication and see improvement in the condition.

• SGLT2 Inhibitor is given to patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus as a second-line drug in case the first line of treatment, metformin, fails to keep high blood sugar levels in check.

• If the patient has hyperglycemia i.e. high, uncontrolled blood sugar, and a Body Mass Index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30 due to the accumulation of fat in the abdominal region (central obesity), then SGLT2 Inhibitor could be a useful medication. The drug not only works to reduce high blood glucose but also helps with weight loss. However, in patients with normal BMI, the medication does not induce weight loss.

• SGLT2 Inhibitor may not be suitable for patients with a history of urinary tract infection. Hence, it is advisable for all patients to undergo a urine test before starting with the dosage. If the test results are normal, then only you can discuss the dosage with your doctor/healthcare provider and start taking the prescribed medications immediately.

Benefits of Taking SGLT2 Inhibitor​:

The benefits of using SGLT2 Inhibitor are as follows –

• Helps reduce excess weight if the patient is obese. If taken in the correct dosage as prescribed, you can lose up to 5 Kgs in about three months.

• Helps reduce Systolic blood pressure – if a diabetic is living with hypertension, SGLT2 Inhibitor can bring down systolic blood pressure.

• As an anti-diabetic drug, SGLT2 Inhibitor works to control high blood glucose and improves glycemic control. Thus, with the help of the drug, Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients can keep their HbA1c levels at 7% or less.

Side Effects

• One major side effect of SGLT2 Inhibitor is urinary tract infection. SGLT2 Inhibitor drug filters excess blood sugar from the body in the form of urine. Frequent urination or filtering of wastes through the urethra may lead to infections. Therefore, it is imperative that patients are informed about the mechanism of the drug and its probable side effects before taking the medication. One way to avoid urinary tract infections is to maintain good hygiene – wash and clean your private areas after urination.

• SGLT2 Inhibitor can also cause dehydration in the patient, as a lot of fluid is drained out of the body. Patients are advised to have a glass or two of water more than what they usually drink.

SGLT2 Inhibitor is an effective oral medication for Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. Speak with your doctor and get yourself thoroughly checked before you start taking the drug.

A sensation of pain in the chest is almost automatically associated with having a heart attack. While it is true that it is one of the best indicators of a heart attack, there are quite a few other things which can cause one’s chest to pain and not all need to necessarily be as time critical as a heart attack. So, what are the various things one should be aware of when it comes to pain in the chest? In order to understand chest pain better, it is first very important to understand the various types of chest pain better! So, there is a sharp pain, its opposite which happens to be a dull pain, burning, aching, stabbing pain, as well as a crushing sensation.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room, which is medically known as myocardial infarction or referred to as the infamous heart attack. This occurs when the muscle cells, which are located in the heart die on account of not enough blood flowing through the heart. In simple terms, the best way to get to know that one is having a heart attack is when the person feels a seriously crushing pain in the centre or the left side of the chest. What could be said to be unique about this type of pain is that resting does not make it better.

1. Another condition of the heart which is often mistaken by the layman for a heart attack happens to be myocarditis. Inflammation of the heart muscle leads to fatigue and a fast beating of the heart. The person would also experience some difficulty breathing.
2. Heart disease can come in multiple forms and one of those is known as CAD or Coronary Artery Disease. When there is a blockage in the blood vessels of the heart, the pain [which is known as angina] is caused by this blockage. The probably solitary source of good news is that permanent damage to the heart is not caused by CAD!
3. That being said, a heart attack is a greater possibility. The pain in the chest could spread to the jaw or the back, or even the arm. The sensation is that of the body part being squeezed. The first thing to be done when angina occurs is to rest in order to lower the pain.
4. While these conditions have focused on the heart, pneumonia affecting the lungs can cause deep chest ache. It causes a cough and chills. There is also likely to be pus from the respiratory tract which is coughed up!
5. Asthma is yet another respiratory issue which could cause chest pain!

Common cold and cough are one of the most common viral illnesses that have no specific treatment. Allopathic medicines provide palliative cure to just treat the symptoms, there is no definite antiviral for it. There is also popular belief having a cold once or twice a year is a good way to cleanse the body. On the contrary, cough and cold could be the first symptoms of a serious underlying disease like pneumonia. From that angle, it is better to treat it than to just let it run its natural course. Especially in children and elderly, it can be a chronic issue with repeated bouts and therefore treatment becomes mandatory.

The good news is that homeopathy doctors of Chennai provide a cure for this, not just treat external symptoms. Also, like any other condition, homeopathy looks at treating the whole myriad of associated symptoms, thereby providing holistic treatment.  

Below are 5 common homeopathic remedies for chronic cough and cold:

Aconitum or Aconite:  Used in the early stages of a cold that was sudden in onset and severe.  There could be associated with nasal discharge, fever and chills, chest congestion, itchy throat, and traumatic experience.  The person may also feel thirsty, anxious, and agitated.

Allium Cepa:  Severe burning and watery eyes, nasal irritation, copious amounts of discharge, hoarseness, and headache. The runny nose improves in the open air but worsens when being indoors.

Arsenicum album: The patient usually has complaints on the right side including watery nasal discharge, weakness, restlessness, chills, thirst. The discharge can irritate the upper lip and nasal mucosa.  The cold gradually moves to the throat and the irritation also shifts down (this phase requires a different treatment). 

Belladonna: When the cold has a sudden onset with a red face, high fever, cold feet, this can be used in the early stages of the cold.  There is associated with high fever, tickly throat, glassy eyes, dry cough, restlessness, and delirium 

EUPHRASIA: Burning eyes and profuse nasal discharge lead to reddened eyes and cheeks. More common in children, the condition worsens in the open air, at night, and while lying down. The cough then moves down into the larynx and produces a harsh, hoarse voice. 

PULSATILLA: Yellow or greenish mucus, nasal congestion, mouth breathing are some symptoms where this is used. It is very commonly used in newborn babies if the discharge colour is green or yellow. Associated symptoms include moodiness, easy crying, craving for attention, easily hurt and sensitive. 

Homeopathy does 'cure' the cough and cold in patients, in the true sense of the word.  That provides palliative care and holistic treatment of the condition too.

Common cold and cough are one of the most common viral illnesses that have no specific treatment. Allopathic medicines provide palliative cure to just treat the symptoms, there is no definite antiviral for it. There is also popular belief having a cold once or twice a year is a good way to cleanse the body. On the contrary, cough and cold could be the first symptoms of a serious underlying disease like pneumonia. From that angle, it is better to treat it than to just let it run its natural course. Especially in children and elderly, it can be a chronic issue with repeated bouts and therefore treatment becomes mandatory.

The good news is that homeopathy provides a cure for this, not just treat external symptoms. Also, like any other condition, homeopathy looks at treating the whole myriad of associated symptoms, thereby providing holistic treatment.  

Below are 5 common homeopathic remedies for chronic cough and cold:

Aconitum or Aconite:  Used in the early stages of a cold that was sudden in onset and severe.  There could be associated with nasal discharge, fever and chills, chest congestion, itchy throat, and traumatic experience.  The person may also feel thirsty, anxious, and agitated.

Allium Cepa:  Severe burning and watery eyes, nasal irritation, copious amounts of discharge, hoarseness, and headache. The runny nose improves in open air but worsens when being indoors.

Arsenicum album: The patient usually has complaints on the right side including watery nasal discharge, weakness, restlessness, chills, thirst. The discharge can irritate the upper lip and nasal mucosa.  The cold gradually moves to the throat and the irritation also shifts down (this phase requires a different treatment). 

Belladonna: When the cold has a sudden onset with a red face, high fever, cold feet, this can be used in the early stages of the cold.  It is associated with high fever, tickly throat, glassy eyes, dry cough, restlessness, and delirium 

EUPHRASIA: Burning eyes and profuse nasal discharge lead to reddened eyes and cheeks. More common in children, the condition worsens in the open air, at night, and while lying down. The cough then moves down into the larynx and produces a harsh, hoarse voice. 

PULSATILLA: Yellow or greenish mucus, nasal congestion, mouth breathing are some symptoms where this is used. It is very commonly used in newborn babies if the discharge colour is green or yellow. Associated symptoms include moodiness, easy crying, craving for attention, easily hurt and sensitive. 
 

Homeopathy does 'cure' the cough and cold in patients, in the true sense of the word.  That provides palliative care and holistic treatment of the condition too.

Whooping Cough (another name for Pertussis) can be termed as an infection to the respiratory system caused by the bacterium Bordetella Pertussis (B. pertussis). It generally affects infants (below one year of age) and who have not yet been immunized; also kids between 11 to 18 years of age whose immunity graphs are on a downward spiral.

What are the Signs and Symptoms?
Initially, whooping cough produces signs and symptoms that may just seem to overlap with those exhibited during the average cough and cold; mild coughing, sneezing, runny nose, low fever, etc. These persist for about a week or two and then slowly, there is the onset of the dry, irritating cough which again turns to prolonged coughing spells. The child’s face may seem flushed with a purple hue. The child may also vomit or make the distinctive whooping sound at the end of one such spell. Breathing difficulty can be another issue.

What is the Diagnosis?
The doctor performs an initial check-up followed by tests of mucus sample from the nose or throat. The mucus is checked for the presence of the Bordetella pertussis bacteria. To make a more thorough diagnosis, a blood test is also advisable.

What is the Treatment?
Hospitalisation might be required in case of acute distress. Respiratory support may also be provided if required. If there is intense dehydration, intravenous (IV) fluids may also be administered. As this disease is on account of a bacterial infection, antibiotics will be needed. But these will just treat the immediate effects and the cough cannot be completely done away with.

What can be Possible Complications?

Possible immediate complications include:

1. Brain Damage
2. Pneumonia
3. Convulsion
4. Haemorrhaging in the brain

What can be the Prevention?
Vaccination is needed in order to prevent whooping cough. The vaccines are advised to be administered at the age of two months, four months and six months respectively. The 1st booster dose is to be given at 16 to 18 months age and a 2nd booster dose is given on 5-year completion of the age. An optional booster may be given at 10 year age.