Common Respiratory illnesses And Symptoms To Watch Out For in Winter
Respiratory Illnesses Are Common In Colder Months
Respiratory illnesses are more common in winter season possibly because people spend more time indoors, allowing germs to pass more easily from one person to another. Moreover, cold weather may weaken the immune defence, making you sick. a team of scientists from Yale University announced their discovery that lower temperatures weaken the nose’s first line of immune defenses. In 2015, a study by scientists from Yale University found that lower temperatures weaken the nose’s first line of immune defenses, which explains why people experience nose-running, throat-burning, sniffles more often in cold weather. Drop in temperature may also worsen joint pain. A popular theory puts the blame on drops in barometric pressure, which make tendons, muscles, joints, or scar tissue swell, leading to pain, especially in arthritis patients. Both cold and flu can cause coughing, but a cough could also indicate something more serious. Below are five common respiratory illnesses and their symptoms you should watch out for in winters.
Common Cold
If you catch common cold, you might be sneezing and coughing, having a runny nose, scratchy throat, low-grade fever, fatigue, chills and aches.
Flu
Fever, body aches, sneezing and coughing, sore throat, exhausted, headache, excessive fatigue are symptoms of flu. One may also vomit or have diarrhea.
Bronchitis
It is the inflammation of bronchi, the big tubes that bring air to the lungs, resulting in overproduction of mucus. It can cause frequent coughing that produces mucus, aches and pains, chills, headache, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath, watery eyes and wheezing.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia occurs when your lungs are infected, causing air sacs to fill with pus and other liquids. Common symptoms include confusion, fever, a mucus-producing cough, heavy sweating, shaking chills, lack of appetite, rapid breathing and pulse, shortness of breath, stabbing pain in the chest that’s worse when you breathe deeply or cough.
Pertussis Or Whooping Cough
This is a very contagious bacterial infection that mainly affects infants and young children. It starts like a common cold with symptoms such as runny nose, watery eyes, sore throat, and a slightly raised temperature. But as the disease progresses, one may get coughing bouts that end with a whooping sound as you gulp for air, vomiting during or after coughing fits, exhaustion after coughing fits.