Does fixing cold symptoms make a cold last longer?!
Question: When I get a cold/flu, I get the runny nose, sore throat, fever, aches, etc. A single acetaminophen does wonders to improve my symptoms. But why do these symptoms exist in the first place - are they side effects of the body's immune system at work, or of the destructive power of the cold? If a fever is intended to bake away biological invaders (is it?), does fixing the fever make my cold last longer?
Answers: When I get a cold/flu, I get the runny nose, sore throat, fever, aches, etc. A single acetaminophen does wonders to improve my symptoms. But why do these symptoms exist in the first place - are they side effects of the body's immune system at work, or of the destructive power of the cold? If a fever is intended to bake away biological invaders (is it?), does fixing the fever make my cold last longer?
the symtoms are your bodie's natural response to fix the problem. bacteria need a certain type of enviroment to grow and multiply, the extra mucus helps to flush them out, the increased temperature also disrupts their enviroment(not bake. some organisms can only tolerate certain temps), getting rid of these conditions make you feel better but it takes your body longer to fight the infection because the bacteria and viruses can multiply while your bodies immune system tries to destroy them
A cold or flu is caused by a virus. The moment a virus gets into your body, the body immediately starts trying to get rid of it. It tries every possible way. It raises its temperature (to kill the virus) that's why you get a fever! It also sends special blood cells to certain places in your body called lymph nodes (your troat has a lymph node) that's why you get a sore throat! Your nose will get runny because the cold/flu virus attacks the lungs and the sinus membranes which are connected to the lungs start to drain out the virus! I guess you see that if all these sysmptoms didn't happen you would'nt get better. Pain killer just make you forget that you have symptoms! but they're there....hehe. Your suppressing something that wants to run it's course. But nowadays nobody allows that. Hey take a theraflu if you feel like crap!
a virus lasts 3-21 days. your only recourse is to treat the symptoms.