What treatments for colds and bronchitis? Today is the opportunity to talk about seasonal infections and their treatment.
Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Daily, returns today to the announcement from the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM). She strongly advises against taking certain nasal vasoconstrictor medications, used to treat colds, such as Dolirhume or Actifed, due to rare but serious side effects.
franceinfo: Why should we advise against taking these medications widely used by the French?
Martin Ducret: Because they contain a substance, pseudo-ephedrine, which helps reduce the diameter of the vessels in the nose, and which aims to unclog it in the event of a cold. The first problem is that this substance is not very effective in unblocking the nose, and above all that it can cause, in rare cases, serious side effects, such as stroke or myocardial infarction. Better to avoid taking it.
So what medicine can you take for a cold?
Well, you should already know that the common cold is what we call in medicine nasopharyngitis. It is a virus infection of the nose and throat, which results in a little fatigue, chills, runny nose, and moderate pain in the throat and head.
This infection is viral, so no antibiotics are needed. It heals naturally, with rest, in 3 to 7 days, on average. For a blocked nose, no Actifed, nor Humex, nor Dolirhume, you should favor washing your nose with salt water, it’s natural and without risk. And for pain and chills, paracetamol can be effective. Also remember that you should avoid taking anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen for example, as this can lead to secondary infections.
What should you do when a cold “falls into the bronchi”?
You just used a popular expression which means that one has acute bronchitis, in the days following the cold, it is very common. Acute bronchitis is also an infection by a virus, responsible for moderate pain in the chest, and a cough, first dry then oily, with purulent secretions.
In healthy people, bronchitis heals naturally within ten days, so there is no need for antibiotics. Sometimes, the cough can persist for up to 3 weeks after the start of the infection, and it is the symptom that bothers patients the most. In my practice, I rarely prescribe cough syrups. I rather recommend to my patients a spoonful of honey in a herbal tea, a much more natural treatment and above all without side effects.
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Nasopharyngitis
Acute bronchitis