Cough and Cold – Not only Climate But Also Doctors Making Cough and Cold Even Worse!

Cough and Cold – As dry cold climate approaches so does dust, smog and other pollutants along with subjecting organism to unusual insults of polluted atmosphere especially in urban areas where vehicles construction activity,  crackers of festive season pollute the air so much so that majority of the population who breathes here is suffering from respiratory allergy and things become worse for Asthma patients.

In India, winter is season of fruits where many hybrid fruits come to market to which the sellers further chemically  ripen, inject sweetners, artificially colour and glisten to make it attractive and easily saleable, also many fruits like grapes have lots of pesticides and insecticides sprinkled on it.

Its seen that people have increased appetite during winter days, they feel hungry too often, so processed and packaged food like chips, choclates, soft drinks, packaged farsan, biscuits and other bakery products ,etc. comes handy. Its seen that there is huge surge in sales of all these products during cold climate of monsoon and winter, now not to forget its full of artificial colours, artificial flavours, chemical preservatives, artificial dough conditioners, artificial leavening agents, baking powders and what not, eating such thing makes the health scenerio in winter even more worse with cases of respiratory allergies shooting up even further.

It starts with mild damages to mucosa of respiratory system where the superficial mucosal epithelial lining is subjected to pollutants and the epithelial cells gets damaged and the immune system comes into role to fight out the foreign particles but because of excess quantity of allergens and excess toxicity of few of these allergens the immune system is unable to cope up which the basic primary innate immunity, so it startes to call in for more work force and immunoglobulins which makes our body a battle field causing damage even further till it fights allergen off and im this process patient has symptoms of cold, cough, malaise headache. bodyache, fever etc. In most of the cases where the dose of allergen or infectious agent is not high and immunity is strong enough or in patient, who are taking proper primary first aid care and avoiding triggering and maintaining factor of the condition, should not have complications and the bodyfight it out. Also body will form new memory against many new antigens in this process, improving one’s immunity.

But in some case where the outside organism are more virulent or the allergens are more toxic then the damage is greater. Now this damages tissue and damaged tissue becomes fertile ground for microbes like bacteria, virus, fungus etc to grow and they are ample not only in environment but also within our own body. Now with such an opportunity they start growing and making case even more difficult and severe. In cases with pre-existing allergic conditions and atopy, things get even worse causing chest congestion, breathlessness.

Patient suffers from sleepless nights due to cough, sneezing blocked nose,  irritating nose and throat malaise bodyaches and lack of energy. This causes patient to apprehend and anticipate grave condition like swine flu bird flu or Tuberculosis(TB) or severe bronchitis or asthma which drives patient to the allopathic doctor for instant relief.

Now unlike in India and other developing countries, the developed countries like USA UK and other European nations, dispensing of medicines like anti-tussives, anti-allergics, cough syrups with mix of all, antibiotics, broncho-dilators, cortico-steriods for case of uncomplicated cough and cold is strictly discouraged and the medical doctors are strictly guided not to give any of these medicines for such uncomplicated cases.As its usually a self-limiting condition and regresses on its own, medicines only weakens subject’s immunity even further, causing recurrent spells of such cough and cold every few weeks making condition persistent. But in India where almost all the doctor promotes and dispenses mix of these 4-5 harmful medicines at a time from their clinic in all cough and cold patients, regardless of wether patient’s condition requires such medicines or not, ant that is just to give symptomatic relief to patient at cost of his health. When asked to such doctors, they simply answer – “If I will not give quick relief to the patient, with help of such harmful medicines, then the doctor practicing next to me will give relief to the patient with those harmful medicines, then why shouldnt I give and retain my patient!”  . Now its role of health authorities to keep check on dispensing of such harmful cough syrup preparations and corticosteroids. So that every doctor doesnt use it in every case like what the scenerio is right now!

Knowing the well established fact that cough and cold are body’s response to fight out Antigens (foreign particles living or non living) and other external insults on body. Now suppressing it only interferes normal body functioning and weakens immunity even further and such medicines also damages other systems of body and permanently damaging one’s constitution for ever.

Medicines dispensed by allopathic doctors for cough and cold also have antihistaminics, immunosupressants. Now histamin ,we can say,  is the basic reception point of our immune system, supressing it causes less of the molecular expression signals corresponding to the antigen being sent to immune system and the organism as a whole. The result is no proper immune response being established, so patient will have no symptoms (no cough no cold pt feels good) and feel good but also no new immune memory allocation for that particular antigenis being properly developed due to supression as I explained above, so next time again when the same antigen enters our body again we will suffer from same condition. and the recurrency of cold and cold will persist almost every few weeks as we have to stay in same environment.

Most of the viral respiratory infections recover on its own and there are no medicines specific for viruses that cause cough and cold in allopathy so its not advisable to take multiple heavy allopathic medicines untill there are complications due to it.

Signs of complications:

• Fever persisting for more than 2-3 days secondary bacterial or in immunocompromised fungal infection may be present and specific treatment is required for infection and underlying condition.
• Pain in ear along with Cough and Cold or fever indicates that there is congestion of eustachian tube due to eustachian catarrah and may damage ear and hearing ;also infection due to this in middle ear is an unwanted complication as it may not only damage ear permanantly but can also progress retrograde into cranium and infect brain to cause meningitis which is a fatal condition.
• Cough Cold lasting for more than 15-20days not always  but few cases turns out to be because of tuberculosis and specific TB treatment is required and not cough and cold medication
• Blood in sputum due to violent coughing or sneezing minor capillary rupture may have occurred; now that may provide microbes an entry point for infection
• Pain in Chest may be due to muscular fatigue due to coughing which is not a major complication but if the pain in chest is due to some other reasons like infective or inflamatory focus in the lung etc then immediate medical attention and specific treatment for tht reason is required
• Efforts in Breathing if patient has make an effort on breathing like heaviness in breathing suffocative feeling short breaths ; in small children it is noticed by short small fast breath fan like motion of alea of nose unusual excessive movement of abdomen while breathing along with abnormal sound vibrations from chest.
• Abnormal sounds from chest while breathing like crepitation and wheezing heard on auscultation  ; in children it is easily felt by keeping hand on chest or can be heard by keeping ear on chest.
• Headache severe persisting after violent coughing may be due to increased intracranial pressure that may have caused damaged and may need immefiate attention
• Any other chronic disease in in individual
• Other coexisting infection
• Immunocompromised Individual

So what to do, so as to get yourself a proper medical observation and yet to be sure that you will not be medicated unnecessarily, for that first of all your doctor should be experienced enough that he doesnt panic unnecessarily on listening to complaints and  should know how to treat patient without help of any unnecessary medication also he should be competent enough to estimate,  evaluate and treat condition and its complications with minimal medication, also  you need to speak to your doctor first that you are not willing to take any heavy medication and you  are ready to bear with the condition till it recovers and you have visited him just to be under proper medical observation so that no complication arise and if at all, it can be addressed and tackled soon. Now that should give your doctor comfort, confidence free hand in treating you successfully with minimal medication and that too only if required making your body less prone to side effects and also boosting your immunity.

In Homoeopathy, unlike Allopathy, we try to boost immune system by enhancing the immune response and helping organism further to develop permenant immunity, so pt initially may have mild aggravations, we call it homoeopathic aggravations, which are favourable for the case and holds good prognsosis.

There are many homoeopathic medicines that can cure the respiratory allergies and viral respiratory infections, not by suppressing, but by enhancing immune expression and developing permanant immunity against it. Homoeopathy works even faster than allopathy in such acute conditions.

Few of the good homoeopathic medicines that can be used in viral respiratory tract infection or other acute or chronic respiratory tract allergies are:

1. Spigelia constant bland discharge from posterior nares dropping into nasopharynx and anterior portion of nose always remains dry, severe boring pain in orbits as if eyes weee pushed in, severe paraorbital sinusitis.
2. Allium Cepa have you ever chopped onion?? Then recollect how it feels in your nose and eyes and if you have similar symptoms in cold this medicine is for you,  copious acrid nasal discharge and bland lachrymation(discharge from eyes) with photo phobia with much burning and smarting in eyes with conjunctival hyperaemia causing red suffused looks of eyes , also mild redness of eyelids,much photophobia,  nasal discharge excoriates nose and upper lip, sore raw sensation at bifurcation of trachea, frontal headache due to cold, patient feels better in open air and cold climate and his complaints becomes worse in closed room and warm climate.
3. Euphrasia Officinalis Copious Bland nasal discharge and acrid lachrymation better in open room, much mucosal discharge from throat need to bring up too frequently which smells too offensive. Patient suffers from bursting headache due to coryza. Copious thick sticky yellowish discharg from eyes causing eye lids to agglutinate in morning ,eye discharge acrid in nature causing excoriation of surface it touches causing redness and ulceration on inner canthus of eyes , eyelids and cheeks, Blisters in eyes and ulceration in cornea with much photophobia. Good remedy for autoimmune or allergic or infective conjunctivitis accompanying cough and cold.
4. Arsenicum Iodatum acrid fetid profuse thin watery discharge with much sneezing and redness of all mucous membranes, nasal polyps , eustachian catarrah, hypertrophy of eustachian tube causin g hearing problems and deafness, chronic nassal catarrah
5. Ammonium Carbonicum Morning sneezing, this medicine works well in patient complaining severe violent bouts of sneezing early in the morning soon after waking up of touching feet to ground or soon after morning bath. typically suited to stout women with tendency to catch cold easily. Can’t tolerate cold climate or  cold food and drink , thirstless and doesnt like water much aversion, lympohmegaly (enlarged lymphnodes), sharp burning watery discharge that continues whale day and stops with nose block at night. slow stertorous opressed breathing. burning in throat and chest , Pneumonia , emphysema, ulcerative tonsilitis, purulent, supurative and gangreneous condition of tonsils,
6. Spongia Tosta constant tickling and irritation in throat pt has to clear throat too frequently, stitching stinging burning pain in chest, dryness of nasal mucosa alternates with thin fluent watery discharge.
7. Senega burning and scrapping sensation as if mucosa has abrassions bursting cough, copious thich tough tenacious mucous difficult to bring up, hacking cough, thorax feels as if shrunk and is too narrow, hoarseness of voice.
8. Occimum Sanctum generaly used in lower potencies for hay fever , otitis media with throbbing pain due to eustachian catarrah, epistaxis with much running nose and violent sneezing, too restless cant lie in bed sits with hands on head and elbow on knee this position gives him some relief , warm drink relieves complaints.
9. Sabadilla lachrymation with hyperaemic congestion of conjunctiva with much burning, thick tough mucous adhered within throat giving sensation as if skin is hanging within, urging patient to swallow constantly, empty swallowing pains a lot, tongue has sensation as if its burnt.
10. Rumex Crispus mucous membranes too sensitive causing tickling sensation in pharynx going down deep to bronchus which triggers cough, pain below clavicle , cold starts with copious thin watery nasal discharg soon followed by thick stringy discharge so is with mucous discharge from throat. Urticaria accompanies with or alternates cough and cold with intense itching, early morning diarrhoea accompanies cough.

Also read for associated complaints and their medicines:

Best HOMOEOPATHIC Medicines indicated in ASTHMA

ASTHMA

Best HEADACHE Medicines in Homoeopathy

SUN STROKE HEAT STROKE

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