Keeping your body warm, drinking warm water, exercising, and getting enough sleep helps improve your health and reduce the risk of respiratory diseases when the temperature drops suddenly.
The North is in the transition from winter to spring. The cold, humid weather is favorable for the development of viruses, bacteria, and molds that cause disease. They easily penetrate the body through the respiratory tract when breathing.
Doctor Tran Duy Hung, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi, said that the high demand for trade, tourism, and festivals near Tet increases the risk of spreading flu, measles, rubella, Covid-19... Children, the elderly, people with underlying diseases or immunodeficiency (HIV/AIDS, long-term use of corticosteroids), weak resistance, are susceptible to disease.
People with chronic diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), flu, colds, rhinopharyngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia... are prone to acute relapses and severe progression.
Doctor Hung suggests ways to prevent respiratory infections when temperatures drop.
Keep your body warm
Cold weather causes blood vessels under the skin to constrict, limiting blood circulation, and the mucous layer that protects the respiratory tract lining dries out, reducing resistance. This is an opportunity for viruses, bacteria, and fungi to easily enter the nose and mouth and cause disease.
Everyone should keep their nose, neck, and chest warm by wearing a turtleneck or scarf. Do not wear too little when it is cold, even when indoors. Wear many layers of thin clothing instead of too thick clothing to reduce discomfort and avoid wind from entering the body. Parents should pay attention to wiping sweat from children to limit it from seeping back into the body. Equip a heater or fireplace to warm the air in the house. Absolutely do not burn wood or heat coal in a closed space to prevent suffocation.
Keep your feet warm by wearing socks, thick-soled shoes and insoles. Soak your feet in warm water mixed with herbs such as ginger, cajeput oil, mint... or a little salt for about 10-15 minutes before going to bed to dilate blood vessels in the legs, promote blood circulation, warm the body, and sleep better.
Water temperature should be around 40-50 degrees Celsius, do not use water that is too hot. Avoid soaking your feet within 30 minutes after a meal to help your body focus on digesting food effectively. Women during menstruation and people with cardiovascular disease should not soak their feet.
Drink warm water
Dehydration causes the mucous membrane that protects the respiratory tract to dry out, affecting the airways. Drinking enough water helps blood circulate well, reduces irritation, dry throat, and thins phlegm. Drinking warm water and inhaling warm steam can clear the airways. On the contrary, using cold water can easily cause the respiratory tract mucosa to contract or swell, causing congestion, making it easier for viruses and bacteria to attack and cause disease.
Dr. Hung recommends that adults should drink about 2-3 liters of water per day, divided into several times. Prioritize filtered water, fruit juice, vegetable soup or herbal teas such as ginger tea, honey, lemongrass. Minimize beer, alcohol and coffee.
Drinking warm water and inhaling warm steam is good for the respiratory system when the weather turns cold. Photo: Freepik
Do exercise
Exercising for about 20-30 minutes every day helps the body stay flexible, circulates blood, and strengthens the immune system. Exercise helps maintain a reasonable weight, reduces the risk of obesity, sleep apnea syndrome...
Some outdoor activities that are good for your health include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, soccer, badminton... If the weather is cold and you can't go out, you can replace it with yoga, gym, or table tennis.
Increase green vegetables
A healthy, balanced diet helps improve physical condition and reduce the risk of disease. The year-end menu is diverse, but not all foods have high nutritional value and are good for health.
Prioritize eating fresh fruits and green vegetables rich in vitamin C to help protect the body against the harmful effects of free radicals, toxic chemicals, pollutants, and reduce the risk of respiratory infections. Some fruits and vegetables that can be referenced are peppers, kale, broccoli, guava, citrus fruits, kiwi.
Vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin A such as sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, papaya... support the regeneration of respiratory epithelium, reducing the risk of infection. Cereals, seafood, eggs, and beans rich in protein contribute to strengthening the body's defenses.
To ensure overall health, people should limit eating too many sweets such as candies, jams, processed foods or fried foods with lots of oil and animal organs.
Get enough sleep
Lack of sleep causes a decline in immunity, increasing inflammation in the body. A study by the University of California, USA, and several units, published in the PubMed Medical Library in 2015, on 164 healthy men and women (aged 18 to 55) showed that people who slept less than 5 hours per night had a 4.5 times higher risk of catching a cold than those who slept more than 7 hours. People who slept 5-6 hours per night had a 4.2 times higher risk. For the immune system to function best, adults need 7 hours or more of sleep per night.
Keep clean
According to Dr. Hung, at the time of the winter-spring transition, in the northern provinces, the days are short and the nights are long, and the number of hours of sunlight per day is low, reducing the chance of ultraviolet rays destroying harmful microorganisms in the environment. Cold weather makes people tend to stay indoors more, closing doors to prevent cold air from entering. Poor air circulation in the house is a favorable factor for allergens to stay for a long time, increasing the chance of penetrating the body and causing disease.
To avoid getting sick during Tet, everyone needs to maintain personal hygiene and a clean living space. Clean and vacuum the house; regularly change bed sheets, pillowcases, and wash curtains. Clean common surfaces such as doorknobs, stair handrails, and TV remotes with an alcohol-based disinfectant solution.
Maintain personal hygiene, wear a mask when going out, especially in crowded places or when in close contact with people showing signs of cough, fever, runny nose... Wash your hands with soap or antiseptic solution after returning from public places, before and after eating and drinking, after going to the toilet, coughing or blowing your nose, touching animals.
Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing to avoid spreading viruses and bacteria into the air. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Gargle with saline or a specialized mouthwash solution daily.
Stay away from smoke
Smoking or passive smoking can cause the alveoli to lose elasticity, reduce lung capacity, paralyze the cilia, and cause mucus and toxins to accumulate in the lungs. Long-term exposure to cigarette smoke causes difficulty breathing, persistent cough, and increases the risk of bronchitis and pneumonia.
Vaccination
Vaccination is an active method of preventing respiratory infections. People who are vaccinated will develop specific immunity, helping the body create antibodies against pathogens from the environment such as rhinovirus (causing sore throat, cold), Influenza virus (causing flu), chickenpox virus, measles, rubella.
Trinh Mai
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