2008 Woodie Awards
How to Survive the Sick Season
Rhoda Fukushima
Issue date: 11/17/04 Section: News
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ST. PAUL, Minn.- Recently, pharmacist John Hoeschen felt a cold coming on. He wasn't surprised, since his four kids were feeling under the weather. He immediately started drinking extra fluids and taking echinacea.
Four days later, he was symptom-free: no coughing, no congestion. Hoeschen's strategy to combat a cold is simple: Hit it hard, hit it early.
"It can take a normal, nasty cold down to minimal symptoms," says Hoeschen, of St. Paul. "But by the time many people start thinking about a cold, they have a head full of snot."
Cold and flu season will be here soon enough. And so will the season for over-the-counter (OTC) medications. But just because these medicines are available without a prescription doesn't mean everyone should reach for them.
A cold virus replicates in the cells in your nose or throat, either destroying or damaging them. That's why you get a sore throat.
"Most of the time, it's going to run its course, and then people will be fine," says Dr. Robert Stroebel, assistant professor of medicine at Mayo College of Medicine. "And they'll save the co-pay visiting the doctor."
Typically, symptoms last four to five days. OTC medicines essentially relieve symptoms; they don't cure the cold. The most common OTC medications are decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants and expectorants.
"If you start taking something, you think it's working, but it's likely because your cold is getting better," says Dr. Don Uden, professor of pharmaceutical care and health systems at the University of Minnesota and a former member of the FDA's nonprescription drug advisory committee.
We asked medical professionals for their advice in using OTC medications. Here are their suggestions:
- Keep it simple. If you take several multisymptom products at once, you may be overdoing it, says Hoeschen, who owns St. Paul Corner Drug. "With viral colds, take fluids, decongestant, expectorant," he says. "That's about all you need."
Four days later, he was symptom-free: no coughing, no congestion. Hoeschen's strategy to combat a cold is simple: Hit it hard, hit it early.
"It can take a normal, nasty cold down to minimal symptoms," says Hoeschen, of St. Paul. "But by the time many people start thinking about a cold, they have a head full of snot."
Cold and flu season will be here soon enough. And so will the season for over-the-counter (OTC) medications. But just because these medicines are available without a prescription doesn't mean everyone should reach for them.
A cold virus replicates in the cells in your nose or throat, either destroying or damaging them. That's why you get a sore throat.
"Most of the time, it's going to run its course, and then people will be fine," says Dr. Robert Stroebel, assistant professor of medicine at Mayo College of Medicine. "And they'll save the co-pay visiting the doctor."
Typically, symptoms last four to five days. OTC medicines essentially relieve symptoms; they don't cure the cold. The most common OTC medications are decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants and expectorants.
"If you start taking something, you think it's working, but it's likely because your cold is getting better," says Dr. Don Uden, professor of pharmaceutical care and health systems at the University of Minnesota and a former member of the FDA's nonprescription drug advisory committee.
We asked medical professionals for their advice in using OTC medications. Here are their suggestions:
- Keep it simple. If you take several multisymptom products at once, you may be overdoing it, says Hoeschen, who owns St. Paul Corner Drug. "With viral colds, take fluids, decongestant, expectorant," he says. "That's about all you need."