|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
can never remember if it's "feed a cold and
starve a fever" or the other way around --
but quite frankly, once I'm sick, it doesn't
matter. I'm too tired and achey and
feverish to care.
Now
that flu and cold season is in full swing,
we wanted to give you some great resources
for information on avoiding them, or at least
mitigating them, so you can perhaps come through
the season unscathed.
Is there anything to these home remedies?
What about the old stand-by, chicken soup?
You might be surprised at the answers, so
read on.
One thing you can
do to keep the viruses on the run is to step
up your cleaning regimen. Keep lots
of antibacterial and other wipes around, use
them on everything, and keep your bedding
fresh and clean. Frequent washing or
cleaning is a good idea.
Wishing
you a healthy season!
Ed and Mary Longanecker
Iris City Cleaners and Laundering Company |
|
|
|
Flu
Factoid
- Influenza (flu)
infects more than 90
million Americans each year
(misery loves company!)
- 100,000
people land in the hospital
with flu-related complications each year,
and 20,000 of them die.
- A pandemic
is a severe outbreak of the flu with
many fatalities. The
Spanish Flu of 1918 infected almost half
of the world's population and killed 20
million people -- more than
all of World War I.
- Pandemics
crop up about every 20-30 years.
Our last pandemic was the Hong Kong flu
of 1968, with 30,000 fatalities in the U.S.
|
|
|
|
Down
for the Count Coupon
We wish we could give you
a coupon that would be good for one "pass"
on the flu season, but we can't. Instead,
we're doing the next best thing -- helping
you stay healthy.
With $10 in
regular cleaning, have one item of down
or other bedding cleaned at half
price. (Include
the first page of this e-mail with your order.
Offer expires 1/15/04. Cannot be combined
with other offers.) |
|
|
That
Aching, Feverish, Exhausted,
Head-pounding Feeling.
Yup, it's probably
the flu. Again.
And you'll be down for the count. Influenza
is a very old virus-driven disease, and it
mutates so quickly that you can get sandbagged
by it at the beginning of the season (rendering
you immune to that strain) and yet still get
hit with the mutated version later in the
season as well. Nasty.
Flu is more than
just an inconvenience and irritation.
It regularly kills tens of thousands of people,
both in developing nations and in those steeped
in technology (see
Factoid). It is a great
leveler, striking down rich and poor, young
and old, healthy and unhealthy. Isn't
there anything you can do to avoid it?
First
of all, you need to determine whether you
have the flu or a good old "common cold".
See where you fit in on the chart below:
Flu
Cold
Fever
Sudden, common
Rare
Headache
Usual
Rare
Body Aches
Often severe
Slight
Fatigue Extreme,
2-3 weeks
Mild
Runny Nose
Not often
Common
Sore Throat Not
often
Common
Cough Common Mild
to hacking
Flu calls for a trip
to the doctor to reduce the symptoms and get
you on the road to recovery, since there are
new antiviral drugs that can shorten the duration
of the infection. Antibiotics
don't work against either the flu or a cold,
since both are caused by viruses, not bacteria
(which is what antibiotics fight.)
Though colds are a relatively minor health
problem, they account for more visits to the
doctor than any other ailment.
- Here's
a handy site with info on colds and
flu, and with a "flu or cold" interactive
test to help you determine which you have.
What
are the best things you can do to ward off
the flu (and colds, too)?
- Get
a flu shot. If
you didn't get one already this year, you
may be out of luck now that supplies are
short, but check with your doctor.
Flu shots are made up based on the
last flu strain of the previous season,
since often a strain will crop up mildly
at that time, then come roaring back in
the next season. (If
you are allergic to eggs, don't get one.)
- Avoid
crowds. We get
together in groups more at this time of
year than any other -- holiday parties,
visiting, and cold weather all draw us together
and indoors. Viruses love
that! When someone sneezes
or coughs who has the flu or a cold, small
droplets that include virus cells hang in
the air just waiting for someone to walk
by.
- Increase
hand-washing and overall cleanliness of
your home and bedding.
Cold germs are particularly adept at "contact
spreading". Someone with a cold touches
a door knob, and then you come along and
open the door. Sleeping in
the same room with someone with the flu
can lead to you getting it, so
try to sleep in another room if possible.
- Keep
up your health habits.
Don't slack off just because it's the holidays.
It's harder for a virus to knock you for
a loop if you're healthy and active.
If
you get a cold or the flu, there are things
you can do to keep from spreading it further,
or extending how long you will be ill:
- Go
to bed and stay there.
Don't be a martyr and show up at work for
two or three days before succumbing to the
flu. In that amount of time, you can
effectively wipe out half the office personnel
around you, so they share your flu.
Not nice. Don't do it.
Besides, the longer you try to soldier on,
the longer it will take for you to get well.
- Force
yourself to keep drinking clear fluids
-- water is best -- so that you flush your
system and keep your mucus membranes moist
(allowing them to clear.)
- Chicken
soup IS good for you.
Many old wive's tales don't bear much scrutiny,
but this is one that does. Not only
will the steam be soothing to your nose
and breathing, but there are actually
chemicals in chicken soup that are effective
in fighting off the viruses.
It's also a good source of protein, for
when you don't feel like eating more.
- Over-the-counter
medications can help with aches and other
symptoms. But
be careful, since they can make you feel
better (dry up your runny nose) but may
prolong your down time by thwarting your
body's normal processes.
- Be
cautious of herbal remedies.
There is no regulation of many of the herbal
supplements and other items you may have
heard about for helping with colds and flu,
and many have proven in scientific testing
to be either ineffective or counter-productive.
See links below for more information.
- Avoid
drinking liquids with caffeine or alcohol,
since they can lead to dehydration.
- Avoid smoking.
- Use a
humidifier, which will reduce
the discomfort of your cold; suck on hard
candies or lozenges to ease
your throat and keep it moist; use soft
tissue on your nose and
lubricate it
with K-Y Jelly (Iasts longer
than petroleum jelly); Use a heating
pad on your aching joints,
and soak your
feet in hot water -- somehow,
that helps when you have nasal congestion
or a headache.
- Rest,
rest, rest! This,
too, shall pass.
Links to more information
about flu and cold symptoms, remedies and
strategies:
|
|
|
We
are enormously appreciative of the opportunity
to share our weekly newsletters with you.
We feel that much of the content is valuable
for anyone who purchases fine clothing and
is interested in their preservations and cleaning.
Click on the symbol to the right if your would
like to send this and future newsletters to
a friend.
Thanks a million, Ed and Mary
|
|
Because
the weather and seasons of the year do more
than anything else to influence your apparel
needs and activity, which includes cleaning
and keeping your clothes looking right, staying
healthy, warm, and looking good, we sometimes
altert our readers about some important health
issues like this one.
The Iris
City Cleaners Connection
is a weekly
news letter dedicated to the interest of fine
garment care and restoration,
and conservation.. It is published
in Mt Pleasant, Iowa by Iris City Cleaners
and is an extension of our services described
in www.iriscitycleaners.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At
this important time of the year, the sprit of giving
abounds. Our Share The Warmth Drive will
indeed provide needy families in our area a little
something special this holiday season. Won't you please
make a donation. Our community has been
good to us and this is a little something in return.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
| |
|
|
