Collection of Secrets (Treasure Edition)

Author: Wang Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The common cold includes two types of conditions: the common cold (upper respiratory infection) and influenza. Most cases of the common cold are caused by viral infections, while a few are caused by a mixed infection of viruses and bacteria in the nasal and throat, leading to upper respiratory tract inflammation. Influenza, also known as flu, is caused by influenza virus infection. The main symptoms of the common cold include fever, chills, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, headache, sore throat, etc. The common cold is the most common infectious disease with a very high incidence rate, and almost everyone has had a cold. The common cold generally has mild symptoms, a short course, and a good prognosis. Severe cases of the common cold can lead to acute bronchitis, otitis media, myocarditis, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and other conditions. Influenza has a sudden onset, often breaks out in outbreaks, spreads rapidly, and presents with severe symptoms, including high fever (body temperature often reaches 39—40℃), chills, body joint pain, nausea, and vomiting. It can even be life-threatening for children, the elderly, and the weak. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) refers to this condition as "common cold," while some call it "wind cold." Influenza is equivalent to "episodic cold" in TCM. TCM believes that the common cold is caused by exposure to wind pathogens or epidemic viruses, where the pathogen invades the body's surface, attacks the lung defense mechanism, disrupts lung qi, and impairs its ability to disperse, leading to the common cold. TCM generally classifies the common cold into two patterns: wind-cold and wind-heat. The characteristics of wind-cold cold include body pain, no sweating, chills with fever, nasal congestion, clear nasal discharge, coughing with thin, white foamy sputum, clear and long urination, thin white tongue coating, and floating or tight pulse. The characteristics of wind-heat cold include fever, slight aversion to wind, coughing with yellow or white sticky sputum, red and swollen sore throat, dry mouth with thirst, yellow and dark urination, thin yellow tongue coating, and floating rapid pulse. P1