Common cold

How to reduce nasal congestion during common cold?

Nasal congestion is the blockage of the nasal passages. This congestion is usually due to membranes lining the nose becoming swollen from inflamed blood vessels.

- Nasal congestion can range from a mild annoyance to a life-threatening condition.
- Nasal congestion in an infant can interfere with breastfeeding in the first few months of life.
- It can cause life-threatening respiratory distress.
- Nasal congestion in older children and adolescents can cause other difficulties.
- Nasal congestion can interfere with the ears, hearing, and speech development.
- Significant congestion may interfere with sleep and cause snoring.
- This can be associated with sleep apnea.
- In children, nasal congestion from enlarged adenoids.
- This can cause chronic sleep apnea with insufficient oxygen levels and hypoxia.
- This might as well cause right-sided heart failure.
- The problem usually resolves after surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils.
- Nasal congestion can also cause mild facial and head pain

It is also known as:
- nasal blockage
- nasal obstruction
- blocked nose
- stuffy nose
- stuffed up nose

Causes of Nasal Congestion:
- Allergic reaction.
- Common cold or influenza.
- Deviated septum.
- Hay fever, allergic reaction to pollen or grass.
- Reaction to medication (e.g. Flomax).
- Rhinitis medicamentosa a condition of rebound nasal congestion due to extended use of topical decongestants (e.g.,oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, xylometazoline, and naphazoline nasal sprays).
- Sinusitis or sinus infection.
- If the body is in an upside down position, the blood vessels in the nasal passage may inflame.
- Many women suffer from nasal congestion during pregnancy which is due to the increased amount of blood flowing through the body.

Symptoms of Nasal Congestion:
- Difficulty breathing through your nose
- A runny nose
- Sneezing
- Trouble in sleeping
- Speaking
- Hearing
- Experience bothersome snoring

Treatment of Nasal congestion:
- Drugs such as acetaminophen (paracetamol).
- ibuprofen.
- Antihistamines.
- Decongestants.
- Topical decongestants.
- A nasal aspirator may be useful to remove the mucus.

Alternative medicine:
- The use of nasal irrigation may help reduce nasal congestion.
- It involves rinsing the nasal cavity with saline to clear out allergy-causing microscopic particles.

Home Remedies for Nasal Congestion
- Foods
Many spicy foods such as curries, Chinese soups, and Mexican dishes contain peppers and spices that can help relieve congestion.
- Vapor Rub
Vapor rub contains menthol, which helps to temporarily open the nasal passages.
- Hot Drinks
1.Drinking hot drinks such as green tea can help to reduce nasal congestion.
2.The steam from the drink opens up the nasal passages
3.Tea or chicken soup is old cure for colds.

- Elevate Your Head
Elevating your head with extra pillows at night can help the nose to drain better.

- Hot Compresses
Placing a hot, moist towel under your eyes encourages sinus drainage.

- Steam
The best relief is taking a hot shower.

- Tomato Tea
Tomato tea works to open the sinuses and give the body a much-needed boost of vitamin C to help improve the immune system.

- Oil of Oregano
Add 2 or 3 drops of oil of oregano to your favorite juice and drink it 3 or 4 times a day to treat nasal congestion.

- Nasal Sprays
Nasal sprays are a great way to relieve the pressure.

- Over-the-Counter Sprays
1. Nasal sprays such as Afrin offer decongestant properties and work to quickly relieve the nose of congestion.
2. Zicam and Vicks offer a more natural nasal spray.

- Prescription Sprays
Products such as Nasonex and Omnaris offer relief from allergies and allergy-caused nasal congestion.

Side effects of these medications include:
- Increased heart rate
- Dizziness
- Bitter taste
- Diarrhea
- Anxiety

Other remedies
- Saline
- Tea Tree Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Decongestant Pills

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What are benefits of Vitamin C during cold or viral?

What is vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an important vitamin and antioxidant that the body uses to keep you strong and healthy. Vitamin C is used in
- the maintenance of bones,
- muscle,
- blood vessels.
- the formation of collagen
- helps the body absorb iron

Vitamin C is found naturally in:
- vegetables
- oranges
- other citrus fruits.

This key vitamin is also available as a natural dietary supplement in the form of vitamin C pills and vitamin C chew able tablets.

Vitamin C and Common Cold
- The common cold is caused by several strains of viruses which includes the rhinovirus and the coronavirus.
- However, vitamin C does not prevent the common cold or decrease the severity of symptoms.
- In the 1970s, Linus Pauling argued that vitamin C could significantly decrease the incidence of the common cold.
- Vitamin C for the common cold is such a widely accepted treatment.
- We seek it in fortified juices, cough drops, and tea.
- Vitamin C was first touted for the common cold in the 1970s.

Other facts found are
- The average adult who suffers with a cold for 12 days a year would still suffer for 11 days a year if that person took a high dose of vitamin C every day during that year.
- For the average child who suffers about 28 days of cold illness a year, taking daily high-dose vitamin C would still mean 24 days of cold illness.
- When vitamin C was tested for treatment of colds in 7 separate studies, vitamin C was no more effective than placebo at shortening the duration of cold symptoms.

A prospective, controlled study focuses on:
- 715 students in a technical training facility found that vitamin C in mega doses administered before or after the appearance of cold and flu symptoms relieved and prevented the symptoms in the test population compared with the control group.
- More than 30 clinical trials with over 10,000 participants have examined the effects of taking daily vitamin C in doses up to 2 g/day.
- A review of Cochrane, PubMed, Natural Standard, and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine databases found that regular vitamin C intake may reduce the duration of cold symptoms in both adults and children.
- It does not decrease the severity of cold symptoms.
- However, in a subgroup of marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers training in the Arctic doses ranging from 250 mg/day to 1 g/day decreased the incidence of colds by 50%.
- Researchers concluded that vitamin C does not prevent or treat the common cold.
- It is better to consume natural foods such as red peppers, oranges, strawberries and grapefruit.
- It is acceptable to consume vitamin C from a supplement and still maintain adequate intake levels.

Daily Dosage
- The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C in the United States is 75 mg per day for women and 90 mg per day for men
- Taking doses above the RDA may have healthful benefits.
- Typically 70-90% of vitamin C is absorbed in the body but when taken in doses higher than 1 g, absorption decreases to 75%
- Further, it decreases to merely 16% after a 12 g dose.
- Popular vitamin C supplementation products, such as Airborne or Emergen-C, contain much higher doses of vitamins than necessary.

Overdose of vitamin C
- Taking vitamin C supplements in the recommended amounts is safe.
- The RDA or recommended daily allowance is 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women.
- High doses of vitamin C (greater than 2000 milligrams per day for adults) may cause kidney stones, nausea and diarrhea.