Is it a cold or the flu? Here’s how to tell
(ARA) – “My body aches and my head is throbbing. Do I have the flu or is it just because I’m stressed or tired? Do I need a flu shot? Do I need the H1N1 vaccine, too?”
Millions of Americans, including the elderly, will be asking themselves these and more questions this fall and winter as news reports and health care providers continue to warn about seasonal influenza and novel H1N1 influenza, otherwise known as swine flu.
The flu symptoms self-assessment tool on MayoClinic.com can help you assess whether you or your loved ones have some form of flu, or just a cold. If you possibly or likely have the flu, you’ll also learn whether antiviral medication is an option. And you can check a concise list of high-risk groups who should seek medical attention for the flu.
Flu – influenza – is caused by a virus that attacks your respiratory system. Health experts agree that if you’re generally in good health, the flu – either seasonal or H1N1 – will likely do no more than make you feel rotten for a few days. You probably won’t develop complications or need to go to the hospital. If, however, you have an already weakened immune system or are among those considered high risk – such as infants, young children, pregnant women or the elderly – the flu can be a serious and even fatal illness.
Common symptoms of both the seasonal and swine flu include:
* Sudden onset. Colds usually develop over a few days and are only a nuisance. Flu hits you quickly and hard.
* Chills, sweats, headache and body aches, especially in the back, arms and legs.
* Fever higher than 101 F in adults and up to 103 or 105 in children.
* Nasal congestion but a dry cough.
* Overall weakness and fatigue.
* No appetite in adults and children, and diarrhea and vomiting in children.
* Worsening of chronic ailments like asthma, diabetes and heart disease.
Most healthy adults will only need to treat the symptoms and let the illness run its course. Infants, young children or adults at risk of complications, however, should see the doctor right away. Antiviral drugs, taken in the first 48 hours that symptoms develop, may trim the length of the illness and help prevent the development of serious complications like pneumonia.
Ultimately, getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from contracting the flu. Talk to your health care provider about getting vaccinated. Visit www.MayoClinic.com for more information on managing your health.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
Visit us at www.eldercareathome.org if you need help for a senior loved one in the area.
This is an outstanding article which really does paint an accurate picture of what we often see happening with families this time of the year. For more information or assistance, please visit us at www.eldercareathome.org.
By WARREN WOLFE
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Across the nation this holiday season, thousands of families will slam into the reality that life has changed for aging parents — dad is far more frail than relatives thought, mom forgot to prepare the holiday feast, the house is filthy, the refrigerator is bare, or a stack of bills has gone unpaid.
This is known territory for many of the 46 million Americans who help frail, aging relatives and friends. But for some, it comes as a shock, and they often have little notion of what help is available, or even what is needed.
Services for caregivers know that their phones will light up as worried adult children begin sorting out disturbing discoveries and seeking advice and help.
“Sometimes they just want basic information, but sometimes people are very worried about a parent’s driving, or falls, or ability to keep living on their own,” said Annette Peterson, help-line coordinator at the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota chapter in Bloomington, Minn.
It’s common for families to disagree about what they’re seeing, Peterson said. Those arguments sometimes are sharpened on old family disputes, and neutral care advisers can help mediate disagreements and figure out what is needed. Good advice is don’t panic. If you try to address your dad’s driving and he slams the door in your face, that’s not a failure, that’s the start of a conversation.
Getting help is critical for most caregivers “because we always think we ought to be able to handle this stuff on our own, and we can’t,” said Beth Gale, who works full time and has a husband and three sons at home.
In 2007, she flew to Arizona for Christmas with her mother and found her filthy, confused and with infected scratches from her dog. She took her mom to the hospital, then to a nursing home, then to live with her family. That lasted only a couple of days before her mother fell, broke her pelvis and ended up in a nursing home with a troubled history.
“If I’d known how to get some help, I could have avoided some big mistakes,”Gale said. Her mom — who had Alzheimer’s disease, heart problems and other illnesses — is living in a small and much better assisted-living facility “and she’s happier than I’ve seen her for years.”
“My advice is, get help right away,”Gale said. “When you’re up to your neck in a crisis, you don’t know what to do, you don’t know what’s most important and you don’t know the system or the jargon. Find somebody who does.”
For just such assistance, or additional information, you can visit us at www.eldercareathome.org.
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