Does aspirin help with flu symptoms?

With flu season around the corner, many people are searching for ways to alleviate symptoms and get better as quickly as possible. One remedy that has been mentioned time and time again is aspirin, but does it actually help with flu symptoms? Let’s explore this question in more detail.

What is the Flu?

Before we delve into whether or not aspirin can help with flu symptoms, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what exactly the flu is. Influenza (also known as “the flu”) is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It typically spreads through coughs and sneezes of infected individuals and usually lasts anywhere from a few days to two weeks.

Symptoms of influenza can vary depending on severity but generally include fever, coughing, sore throat, body aches, chills, fatigue,and an intense craving for chicken noodle soup.

How Serious Can The Flu Be?

The severity of the disease varies each year dependent on circulating viral strains; however most at risk groups have morbidity rates ranging up to 10%-pretty darn serious if you ask us!

How Aspirin Works

Aspirin works by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins which cause inflammation and pain throughout your body – Think pimples gone wild disturbing your Saturday night out vibes! This anti-inflammatory property makes it useful for treating various conditions such as headaches, cramps, toothaches and even hangovers(which we know some might argue isn’t a condition!). But does it work for relieving flu-specific symptoms?

Don’t Overdose!

Do note though that excessive intake of aspirin can lead to one carrying out their Sunday morning routine-too early! Inducing hyperventilation resulting in potential intoxication making everyone wonder who slipped something into your drink!

Does Aspirin Help with Flu Symptoms?

The short answer is yes, aspirin can help alleviate some flu symptoms. However, it’s not a cure and does not treat the underlying viral infection-bummer alert!

How Aspirin Can Help

Aspirin can help reduce fever and relieve minor body aches associated with the flu-(thumbs up). However, aspirin should be used with caution in children or teenagers as there have been cases of Reyes syndrome caused by administering aspirin to individuals under age 19 years.

Reyes Syndrome is characterized by severe liver and brain damage due to elevated levels of ammonia in the blood – definitely Not something one would want; Medical SOS!

Alternative Self-Help Methods for Managing Influenza

While taking an occasional dose of aspirin may relieve minor body pain, here are other alternative self-help methods that might just do the trick:

Take Plenty of Rest

When you feel yourself getting sick – slipping into your mom’s chicken noodle soup-for-breakfast routine would probably suffice taking frequent naps allow your immune system time to work on recovering and will usually result in speeding up recovery time.

Drink Plenty Of Fluids

Staying hydrated helps flush out waste materials from our bodies and prevents dehydration(an obvious consequence which we all certainly wouldn’t welcome)

Supplements?

Although controversial how good are these? Zinc supplements at doses less than 40 milligrams per day might lessen cold symptoms faster among adults(Shenoy S et al.,7)

Stocking up on your essential nutrients (lots of vitamins C & D) could provide a boost-and who doesn’t benefit feeling superhuman!

When To Contact A Doctor

If flu-like symptoms persist after several days or become increasingly severe, it’s important to contact your doctor immediately; worrying about Mycobacterium tuberculosis being present when everybody sneezes isn’t really worth it!

Additionally, individuals with chronic illnesses, compromised immunity:(hello cold weather) and young children should seek medical attention sooner rather than later.

Differentiating Between the Flu and a Cold

Also make sure to identify whether it’s actually true what you have(the flu or just your little nephew’s cold) as both showcase different symptoms (not that we’d know, hypothetically). Common versus distinguishing factors could even make all the difference when looking for treatment:

Symptom	Cold	Flu
Fever	Rare	Usual
Aches	Slight	Usual & Often Severe

Conclusion

While aspirin can help manage some of the minor symptoms associated with influenza such as fever, headaches, and body aches, it is important to remember that this remedy does not directly treat or cure viral infections – besides one would seriously stand out downing aspirin in public these days right?!

The best way to recover from the flu is by getting plenty rest-actually still do so-hydrating yourself adequately, supplementing vitamins whenever necessary (if deemed safe), this along with other measures like frequent hand washing will speed up recovery while simultaneously reducing outbreaks

Stay well rested peoples!