Common cold, treatment

Brompheniramine VaZol also is indicated for the temporary relief of runny nose and sneezing caused by the common cold treatment of allergic and nonallergic pruritic symptoms temporary relief of mild, uncomplicated urticaria and angioedema amelioration of allergic reactions to blood or plasma adjunctive therapy in anaphylactic reactions. 

Blake KD. Dangers of common cold treatments in children. Lancet 1993 341 640. 

Treatment of common cold/influenza-like syndromes Prevention of common cold/influenza-like syndromes Early treatment of common cold Treatment of other respiratory tract infections Other indications... 

The intensity of the daily chronic maintenance regimen varies based on patient age, baseline lung function, other organ system involvement, and social factors such as time available for therapy and patient-selected care choices. Generally, with more severe lung disease and multi-organ system involvement, therapies become more complicated and time intensive. Additionally, therapy is intensified when pulmonary symptoms are increased with acute exacerbations or even mild viral upper respiratory illness such as the common cold. The approach to treatment is best described by the organ system affected. 

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is probably the most known vitamin in the world. Its legendary fame is based on the two events its exceptionally important role in the treatment of scurvy and Linus Pauling s proposal to use the huge doses of ascorbic acid for the prevention of common cold. The latter proposal, based obviously on the antioxidant properties of ascorbic acid, generated numerous studies and was frequently disputed, but many people (me including) successfully apply ascorbic acid for the treatment of starting stage of common cold. 

For example, let us consider the common cold, often thought of as a disease entity of great economic importance because so many people are afflicted. Medical science has been searching for decades, and for the most part in vain, for a treatment for this affliction. Many, many measures have been enthusiastically embraced, one after another, and have then been discarded because they do not work, generally speaking. 

Let s conclude this discussion of life with a short consideration of viruses. Viruses cause all sorts of problems for living organisms. The problems are the consequence of their ability to infect, and ultimately kiU, many types of cells— bacterial, animal, and plant—though each virus is quite specific in terms of the type of cell that it infects. There are many types of viruses. In people, they cause measles, mumps, influenza, AIDS, polio, potentially fatal diarrhea in infants and very young children, herpes, chicken pox, shingles, the common cold, and many other diseases, that may be fatal, serious, and not so serious. In other animals, viruses also cause any number of diseases, as they do in plants. Much effort has been, and continues to be, devoted to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of viral diseases. 

As has been the case for centuries, many people continue to rely on natural products for the treatment of a host of physical and mental problems ranging from the common cold and rashes to cancer and loss of memory. Scientific evidence for the efficacy of many of these products is weak, hut users accept cultural, historical, religious, quasi-medical, and other justifications for their use. The sale of dietary supplements in the United States alone nearly doubled in less than a decade, growing from 8.8 billion in 1994 to an estimated 15.7 billion in 2000. Clearly, whatever disadvantages they may have in terms of efficacy and safety, natural products will continue to constitute a major portion of the drug market in the United States and other countries around the world. 

Therapeutic measures. First attempts of a causal treatment consist of zanamavir, an inhibitor of viral neuraminidase, an enzyme necessary for virus adsorption and infection of cells. However, since symptoms of common cold abate spontaneously, there is no compelling need to use drugs. Conventional remedies are intended for symptomatic relief. 

If precipitating factors can be identified these should obviously be eliminated as far as possible before drug treatment is used. Examples are tension, stress, lack of sleep, alcohol, smoking, large intake of coffee and tea, irregular meals, bad work posture and problems with eyesight. Hormonal ilucmations and common colds also often cause headache. 

Arroll B. Non-antibiotic treatments for upper-respiratory tract infections (common cold). Respir Med 2005 99(12) 1477-84. 

The spectrum of respiratory tract infections (RTI) can vary from the common cold to acute or chronic bronchitis to community-acquired pneumonia to nosocomial pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia to ventilator-associated pneumonia to chronic pneumonia (in cystic fibrosis, histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, etc.). Important complications are lung abscess and pleural empyema that will often need drainage and prolonged antimicrobial treatment (>6 weeks). 

In conclusion, although it is difficult to quantify discomfort, the adverse effects of antipsychotics most often experienced are less severe than symptoms associated with the common cold. Serious adverse events are much less common. There is a risk to every treatment, but it is erroneous to suggest that because a serious event may occur, it is likely to occur. One of the most dangerous activities we engage in, for example, is driving or riding in an automobile, yet that does not mean that every time we drive to work there is a high probability that we will experience a serious injury or death. 

Solanine hydrochloride has been used as a commercial pesticide. It has sedative and anticonvulsant properties, and has sometimes been used for the treatment of asthma, as well as for cough and common cold. However, gastrointestinal and neurological disorders result from solanine poisoning. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps, burning of the throat, headaches and dizziness. Other adverse reactions, in more severe cases, include hallucinations, loss of sensation, paralysis, fever, jaundice, dilated pupils and hypothermia. Solanine overdose can be fatal. 

Echinacea is a widely available over-the-counter botanical remedy used for the treatment of the common cold, coughs, bronchitis, flu, and inflammation of the mouth and pharynx (141-144). It is one of the more popular botanical remedies with a sales ranking of 5 and sales of US 70 million (4). About 10% to 20% of the adult and child botanical users consume echinacea routinely (145-149). Three species of echinacea Echinacea purpurea, E. angustinfolia, and E. pallida) have been used medicinally (141). However, only the aboveground parts of E. purpura and the root of E. pallida have been approved for oral administration by the German E Commission (7). 

One of the goals of synthetic medicinal chemistry is to design potent inilibitors of clinically important proteases. Elastase inhibitors may be useful for treatment of emphysema, pancreatitis, and arthritis,a/b while inhibitors of the angiotensinogen-converting enzyme or of renin (Box 22-D) can help control blood pressure. Inhibition of thrombin, factor Xa, or other blood clotting factors (Fig. 12-17) may prevent blood clots and inhibition of the cytosolic tryptase may provide a new treatment for asthma. Inhibition of the cysteine protease cathepsin K may help combat osteoporosis and inhibition of cysteine proteases of corona viruses may fight the common cold. Cysteine proteases of schistosomes are also targets for protease inhibitors.c... 

Why do treatments for the symptoms of the common cold make us drowsy How does coffee work This chapter touches briefly on neurotransmitters whose actions in the brain affect our sleep—wake cycle and on a few well-known... 

Eccles R, Jawad MS, Jawad SS, et al. Efficacy and safety of single and multiple doses of pseudoephedrine in the treatment of nasal congestion associated with common cold. Am J Rhinol. 2005 19 25-31. 

A virus is one of the smallest microorganisms, consisting of only a nucleic acid core that is surrounded by a protein shell.18 Several types of viruses commonly infect human cells and are responsible for a diverse range of pathologies. Viral infections extend from relatively mild disorders such as the common cold to serious, life-threatening conditions such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Viruses are somewhat unique in that they must rely totally on the metabolic processes of the host (human) cell to function.62 Hence, the pharmacologic treatment of viral infections is complex, because it is often difficult to selectively destroy the virus without also destroying human cells. 

Feverfew is commonly used in the treatment of menstrual pain, asthma, arthritis, psoriasis, threatened miscarriage, toothache, opium abuse, vertigo, tinnitus, anemia, common cold, and gastrointes-... 

The long-standing interest in the properties of L-ascorbic acid is manifested by the fact that 1146 references related to vitamin C are listed for year 2000 in the PUB MED index in the Internet. The most popular use of L-ascorbic acid is for prevention and treatment of the common cold, but this role remains controversial. In a recent review, the authors conclude that the long-term daily supplementation with large doses of vitamin C does not appear to prevent colds, but there is a modest therapeutic effect on the duration of cold symptoms.369... 

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