Colds and Flu

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Natural Cures for Colds and Flu

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Both the common cold and the flu are among the most prevalent health complaints. Each year, approximately half of all Americans experience at least one cold, and 40 percent develop the flu, also known as influenza. Both health conditions exhibit the same symptoms, with the primary difference being that flu symptoms are usually more severe, last longer, and can be potentially fatal.

While conventional, drug-based medicine places emphasis on suppressing cold and flu symptoms with both prescription and over-the-counter medications, practitioners of natural medicine seek to address and correct the underlying reasons people become susceptible to colds and flu, especially focusing on stimulating the immune system. These natural cure approaches also have the additional advantage of being free of harmful side effects, unlike medicinal drugs, including many popular over-the-counter medications that contain the common ingredient phenylpropanolamine (PPA), which has resulted in a number of fatal strokes. In addition, the widespread use of antibiotics to treat colds and flu are not only worthless—since antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, and both colds and flu are caused by viruses—they can also cause secondary infections and impair bowel function, leaving you weaker and more susceptible to other more serious diseases.

Typically, each year at the start of “flu season,” flu warnings appear in the media, along with recommendations that people receive an annual flu vaccine. The value of such vaccines is questionable, however, and many people who receive it come down with the flu anyway. Moreover, there is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests that the ingredients in flu vaccines may actually be harmful, and capable of causing serious damage to the immune system. For these reasons, practitioners of natural, alternative healing methods advocate a health regimen that can significantly improve your ability to resist colds and flu or, if you do develop them, quickly recover from them.

There are a variety of colds and flu, but all of them are due to respiratory viruses, primarily a class of virus known as rhinoviruses. Colds fall into two main categories, head colds and chest colds. Either class of cold, if left untreated, can lead to more serious respiratory conditions, such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

There are literally hundreds of different flu strains. Unlike colds, which can strike at any time of year, flu outbreaks are generally seasonal in nature, usually occurring in late autumn and during the winter. For this reason, the time in which flu epidemics occur is often referred to as “flu season.” The flu can also result in bronchitis or pneumonia, as well as other serious diseases, such as croup, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), and Reye’s syndrome, a disease that primarily strikes children and which affects the brain and liver.

There are natural cures for Colds and Flu that do not involve the use of pharmaceutical drugs. They involve restoring the biochemical balance of the body, and making dietary and lifestyle changes designed to improve one's general health.