When Flu Comes, Do We Need Antibiotics ?

written by: Fendie Syailawan


All of a sudden after getting up, we catch a common cold or flu. Such things happen very often in Jakarta, in which we live in bad air pollution.

What should we do next ? Take over the counter drugs which are easy to get at the nearest pharmacy or just get some more rest, drink plenty of water as much as we can, and take multivitamine as well.

Studies show that most of the flu symptoms such as fever, runny nose, headache, muscle ache, etc are caused by virus that can not be wiped out with antibiotics which is merely used to treat bacterial diseases. But how could we know whether it is virus or bacteria ? A blood culture test takes at least 2 days to determine which bacteria cause the symptoms, whereas detecting virus is not as easy as that of bacterium. It might be checked with PCR or other examinations which are very costly. Blood cell count examination or inflammatory marker can not tell us exactly what we have in our body.

So what is the simplest way to know it ?
We can simply just look into the symptom characteristics we have been experiencing. For instance, fever between 37-38 grade celcius that emerges suddenly and lasts not longer than 10 days is mostly caused by virus. Hence we do not need antibiotics but rather just taking some more rest, drinking a lot of water, and taking some vitamine pills. Because most viral diseases have self limited characteristics than means they can be cured by our own immune system. Several studies show that flu symptoms in tropical region are mostly caused by virus. Moreover, antivirus that ever produced is proved not really useful in treating such a disease.

On the contrary, what if it lasts more than 10 days with higher fever ? When we have cough with green or yellow-like phlegm or runny nose with green or yellow-like color, it might be bacteria playing role as the culprit. Hence we need antibiotics. But antibiotics must be prescibed by a doctor that already undertook necessary blood or phlegm examination. Otherwise bacteria attacking us will commonly become antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the future. This fact has been reported from many hospitals in Jakarta. Therefore, as a clinician i am suggesting not buying antibiotics without doctor's prescription. Most penicillin-group antibiotics have also been reported being resistant in Indonesia. That's all, thank you.


 I'll be back again with other interesting topics.

Wanna know why we should have an adequate sleep at night with light off ?

Hi, I am back again with an interesting topic that could amaze you. As we know, sleeping for at least 7-9 hours daily may give us health benefits. It is crystal clear, we all need sleep. But why should it be at night with no light ? The answer is likely not as simple as we imagine. Have you heard about cortisol and melatonin hormone ?  These two substances in our body have really a significant role in maintaining good sleep and its benefits.

We start with melatonin. This one known as a sleep hormone. It usually begins to be produced around 9-10 pm in the dark environment, or in other words is environment without light. What happens when our sleep is not in the evening, but rather in the day because we are night owls, having insomnia phases, or working the night shift ? The answer is it will not be produced by our body.  Melatonin may help protect against heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, alzheimer's, migraine, weight control, strengthen our immune system, and most importantly is in cancer prevention especially against breast cancer and prostate cancer. 

Cortisol is widely known because its essential functions in our body. It affects our endocrine, that means affecting almost all our body processes such as blood sugar, sex hormones, metabolism, digestion, immune system, mood, focus, sleep and mental clarity. It known also as stress hormones because its elevated level when we are stressed. This hormone may be in high level in the day and decrease gradually before bed time. When we do not sleep due to stressed condition, that means because of elevated cortisol, our body starts going into imbalance state. This may be dangerous for our body because we may start to experience digestive issues, hormone imbalances, mood changes, and so on. 

So, at the end, i suggest, we may have to begin to sleep adequately at night without light, so that we could always stay fit during the daytime. 

Be Careful of Trans Fatty Acid

Have we heard about a 30-40 year-old person who has stroke, cancer and heart attack ? One of the most causes of heart attack and stroke is eating more fatty foods. Cancer growth is also usually triggered by fatty acid. The baddest form of fatty acid we should know about is actually trans fatty acid. 

Every single food or snack that made or proceeded from vegetable oil or margarin may contain this one. Palm oil that usually used at the kitchen should be considered as one of the sources of trans fatty acid, if this is used more than one time. Margarin and butter are also regarded as common source of trans fatty acid. These facts are very terrible if i should admit. What is this really ?

This kind of fact I heard, have made me looking more into that, whether it is true or not. First i heard about it at a nutrition symposium in Jakarta 5 years ago, i was shocked at that time. Then i searched more and more then come up with a conclusion that it is really true. 

Trans fatty acid or tans-unsaturated fatty acid is a type of unsaturated fats that became commonly produced industrially from vegetable fats for use in margarine, snack food, packages baked goods and frying fast food. It also can be found in cow milk and every kind of meat as natural sources. Many studies say that cow milk and meat are not really as bad as unnatural trans fatty acid, but the process before we consume them is also a big question mark. I believe we should be careful too with these two kind of foods. 

Almost every food that we eat everyday may contain trans fatty acid. So is it possible to avoid it ? My answer is quite impossible. Then what should we do ? Try not to consume much margarin-made product, dairy product, any chocolate, cakes, pie, donat, cookies, snack, chip, pizza, french fries, certainly meat product and so on. Some studies conducted in Europe countries say sport does not make many changes in reducing trans fatty acid or cholesterol in blood while we everyday consume it. This fact must be a bad news for every sport maniac.

What makes this fact so terrible is also the fact that trans fatty acid can transform into bad cholesterol that always be scared  by everyone in the world. We should be careful choosing our meal especially read carefully any information given with the food label. American Heart Association allows only consumption of trans fatty acid not more than 2 gram daily. Medicines that can control blood fat actually are not the main solution for this problem, but rather than eating habit. As long as we can control what we consume everyday, it already contributes in reducing the risks of getting such horrible diseases. 

Cholesterol as we know coming only from animal products. This one become huge discussion among physician and nutritionist since long time. Everyone seems to be afraid of it. Next time we will discuss about cholesterol. I guess it'd be an interesting topic.