Stop Flu and Colds with Chinese Herbal Medicine

It's that time of the year again. Summer is gone, and I look forward to the cool, brisk, and colorful days, that autumn so graciously bestows upon Southeastern Pennsylvania. Football season has started and soon we will be looking forward to making plans for the upcoming holiday season. But as the weather gets colder, the cold and flu season will soon start and that is not something anyone looks forward to.

Cold and Flu are highly contagious viruses that attack the upper respiratory system and spread through infected droplets in the air; expelled when someone who has the virus talks, coughs, sneezes, or comes in direct contact with infected secretions by kissing or using shared items such as drinking glasses or silverware. Probably the most frequent method of transferring cold an flu germs is by touching common smooth surfaces like telephones, computer keyboards, doorknobs, or refrigerator handles. Then when your hands touch your eyes, nose or mouth , the virus is absorbed through these membranes and enters your system.

Although cold and flu are spread the same way, they are not the same virus. There are more than 200 viruses that cause a common cold, but the most likely offender is the rhinovirus. Symptoms for a cold usually start with a sore throat that last for one or two days, followed by an annoying runny nose, congestion and irritating cough. Children are more likely to have a fever with a cold. Adults may get a fever, but usually don't.