Do you catch a cold when the season changes? Be alert if you have these 5 symptoms

The weather has turned cold recently. In addition to the spread of the new coronavirus, more and more people have caught a cold. This not only affects the mood at work, but also makes daily communication with people more tense due to physical discomfort. As a result, catching a cold has become a "hurdle" for people when they change seasons from autumn to winter.

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If you still think that a cold is just a matter of taking some medicine, then the cold may stay with you for a longer time. Only by truly understanding the cold and preventing it from spreading in the body in time can you prevent the cold from "doing whatever it wants".

If you experience these symptoms, be alert!

In the busy work and life rhythm, we sometimes ignore some cold symptoms and do not take these mild symptoms seriously, thinking that they are just caused by work fatigue or poor condition. But once these symptoms are not taken seriously, everything may become more serious. However, in the early stage of a cold , there will be some cold symptoms different from coughing up phlegm, fever, nasal mucosal congestion, etc. When you have the following symptoms, you may need to care about your body.

1. Early symptoms

Nasal inflammation :

Nasal inflammation such as sneezing, nasal congestion, and watery nasal discharge occurs. But this does not happen frequently. For example, people usually sneeze suddenly when they feel a sore nose during normal work or life. In this case, people often rub their noses and pretend that nothing has happened.

Throat discomfort :

Dry weather can easily cause discomfort or dryness in the throat, itching or burning sensation, which we call "dry throat" in our daily life.

2. Initial symptoms

Sore throat, Eustachian tube inflammation :

When people have early nasal inflammation and throat discomfort, they will have symptoms of throat pain or hoarseness 2 to 3 days later. At this time, we will find that food no longer enjoys the appetite, breathing is not smooth, and we may even have a slight headache. Sometimes, due to Eustachian tube inflammation, there will be symptoms of hearing loss.

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Fatigue and drowsiness :

Sometimes people fall into a deep sleep and are difficult to wake up. When they wake up, they feel tired and weak, as if they did not get enough sleep.

Shortness of breath :

Such as nasal congestion, snoring while sleeping, and some people may even wake up suddenly due to difficulty breathing during sleep.

Therefore, once you have the above symptoms and they persist for two to three days, please take them seriously. This is your body reminding you that a cold is coming.

Why do colds always surround me?

Why do some people catch a cold once every two months, while others never catch a cold in a year? Let's first understand the factors that cause colds:

① Various factors that reduce the systemic or local defense function of the respiratory tract can cause upper respiratory tract infection , including rain, cold, excessive fatigue, anemia, and lack of vitamin A or vitamin D;

② The elderly, the weak, and young children have low immune function ;

③Chronic respiratory diseases , etc.;

④In addition, crowded environments, sedentary lifestyles, air pollution, malnutrition, insomnia , etc. are also risk factors for upper respiratory tract infections.

When the virus meets weak immunity and these triggers, the cold begins to invade our healthy body.

If the external environment we face is similar, strengthening our own immunity becomes a "weapon" to resist colds. If we want to make good use of it, we should understand it.

1. What is the “immunity” that everyone is talking about ?

Speaking of immunity , in a standard sense, it is the immune system in our body . The immune system is an important system for the body to perform immune responses and immune functions. It can promptly identify and eliminate foreign invading antigens, protecting the human body from attacks by viruses, bacteria, pollutants and diseases. For example, it can identify and eliminate mutated tumor cells, senescent cells, dead cells or other harmful components in the body. The internal environment of the immune system is kept stable through autoimmune tolerance and immune regulation. Although a healthy immune system is irreplaceable, it may still fail in the future.

2. How is immunity destroyed in daily life ?

Eating habits :

Foods high in oil and salt can damage the immune system and weaken antibacterial responses. Excessive consumption of sweets can also reduce the bactericidal ability of white blood cells. In addition, drinking plenty of water is also crucial. Drinking water can promote the body's metabolism and help people excrete toxins from the body, thereby enhancing their own immunity.

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Lack of sleep :

Most of the body's immune factors are formed during sleep, and enhancing immunity is one of the important functions of sleep. Staying up late for a long time will cause fatigue, lack of energy, colds, allergies and other symptoms. Studies have shown that the level of reactive protein in people with insomnia is significantly increased, indicating a high level of systemic inflammation and reduced immune system function, while people with higher sleep efficiency have lower levels of interleukin-6, which means that good sleep helps improve immune function and reduce inflammation levels in the body.

Bad Mood :

Persistent bad mood can reduce a person's immune function, while happy mood can keep the body's immune system and biological systems in a balanced state.

3.How to enhance our immunity ?

Ensure daily nutrition :

Eat four major types of food every day, including cereals and potatoes, vegetables and fruits, high-quality protein, and fats.

① Cereals and potatoes can provide the human body with rich carbohydrates and B vitamins, helping the human immune system to function normally, such as purple sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats, buckwheat, etc.

② Fresh vegetables and fruits, such as pumpkin, carrot, apple, lemon, banana, etc. Vitamins are involved in various metabolic processes of the human body and are important catalysts for many reaction processes in the body. Fresh vegetables and fruits can help maintain normal levels of vitamins in the human body, thereby improving metabolism.

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③ Eat foods containing high-quality protein, such as lean meat, eggs, milk, mushrooms, soy products, seafood, etc. High-quality protein can enhance the body's disease resistance to a certain extent. Lactoferrin in dairy products combined with iron can help inhibit the growth and reproduction of typhoid Salmonella and pathogenic Escherichia coli.

④ Control the intake of oily foods to reduce garbage and sediment in blood vessels. In order to maintain the vitality of immune cells, it is best not to consume more than 50 grams of oil and 50 grams of sugar per day.

Ensure sleep quality :

This seems to be difficult for modern young people. Many people will resist sleepiness in front of the light of their mobile phones at night and keep checking their phones. But we all know that using mobile phones after midnight will affect the production of melatonin and serotonin, leading to sleep rhythm disorders. So in order to resist colds, from the perspective of sleep, we first need to control our hands from staying up late to play with mobile phones. Before going to bed, you can also do soothing and healing activities such as foot soaking and bathing.

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Keep a happy mood :

When the environment changes, we should accept doing things within our capabilities and leave room for improvement. We should use leisure and entertainment in life to adjust our stress, divert our attention, try to stabilize our emotions, and pay attention to our physical health.

The colder the weather, the more likely people are to catch a cold. We must first take effective precautions and be sensitive to changes in our bodies. Once we catch a cold, we should start with supplementing the outside and strengthening the inside to help ourselves recover our health and get back to a busy life and enjoy happiness.

Author: Xu Lang

Review | Ding Heyuan, deputy chief physician, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University

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