訪談錄 2011-01-03&01-05 專家教你如何度過寒冬
It’s the season for coughs, colds, fevers, flues. And the average person can get as many as eight to ten colds a year, so this morning we’ve got you prescription for staying healthy this winter. Dr. Keith Roach is here, he is an associate professor of clinical medicine and an internist at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Centre. Doctor, thank you for being here.
Thank you.
How do you know the difference between a cold and flu?
Well, sometimes, it’s not always perfectly easy to tell the difference. But a cold generally starts off slower. It will start off a bit of scratchy throat, then get a runny nose, a little bit of headache after a couple of days, you know what you’ll have it. You may get 8, 10 colds a year. So we all know cold pretty well. Flu on the other hand is much more severe. It starts off much more suddenly, my friend Dr. Pelsmen says people get hit by the flu truck. Sometimes they even call us up and say I’m too sick to come in. I’m lying on the bed here, terrible body aches, temperature of 102, 103, 104, just feeling miserable.
Is that when you know you should go and see a doctor?
The thing about the flu is we have specific treatment for the flu. There is medication, and anti-viral medicine, oseltamivir goes by the brand name of Tamiflu. If you can start it within 24 hours of getting flu symptoms, then you can reduce how long you’re sick by a day or two.
And so. Ok you know if you have the fever, and things like that, the antibiotics you’re talking about?
High fever is much more consistent with the flu, that’s sudden on sad nose and terrible body aches.
OK, and the antibiotics to help to fight it off.
That’s right.
All right. So we have that going on. Then is...you hear so many things and you see so many ads about some medicine that you can take to prevent getting the cold or flu. Are they really on the up and up?
Afraid not.
No. Sorry about that, guy, sorry. Try , try it.
They can make you feel better once you get it, but there’s really nothing that’s going to cure things, and there’s really nothing that’s going to prevent it. I heard Christ say he’s getting more sleep now, getting some more sleep can help ward things off a little bit, but the best way of preventing getting a cold is to not get exposed to it in the first place.
How about the flu shot? Is it too late to get it?
It’s absolutely not too late to get the flu shot. I just looked at the CVC’s information last night. We haven’t heated up pandemic level, but we’re on the upswing so it takes about two weeks for the flu shot to become fully effective, see if you want to get it as soon as possible, there’s no shortages this year, so you want to go and get that right away.
Which age group, seniors, babies, I know there is…because, could we go back and forth with this, Doctor, who should really get the flu shot?
Now we’re saying pretty much everybody should get the flu shot, if you don’t wanna get the flu, get the flu shot.
All right. And then those tips we always hear about, and beginning with wash your hands. I know it sounds very simple, but it’s really effective, isn’t it?
It’s extraordinarily effective. I wash my hands when I’m seeing patients, somewhere the order 50 times a day, before I had kids, and they gave me their little gifts at home, I hardly ever got sick for keeping my hands so clean. But we can’t say that often enough, if you keep your hands clean, you are much less likely to get sick.
Any other suggestions?
If you have to sneeze, we always teach ourselves to sneeze into the elbow. If you’re going to be sick, and you have to be sick, then stay at home the fall, if it all possible. Try not to come into work, that’s not always possible for everyone to be have to come in. Keep your hands clean, keep your dealings with other people to a minimum.
And we see the cold weather that we have here and much of the country, and just try to bundle up as best as you can and try and ward it off as best you can.
Keeping warm probably doesn’t make too much a difference. No, it’s keeping away from people who have cold is going to be preventive.
You just bear a great news this morning, aren’t you? Dr. Roach.
Sorry.
Thank you very much. I appreciate that a great deal.
Pleasure, be honest.
Especially at this time of the year. Thank you.
