What is wind-heat cold?

Written by Guo Xiao Yun
Pulmonology
Updated on January 14, 2025
00:00
00:00

Wind-heat cold is a term used in traditional Chinese medicine, referring to a type of cold caused by the invasion of heat into the body. Clinically, it mainly presents with symptoms such as coughing, coughing up purulent sputum, thick and abundant sputum that is difficult to expel, as well as high fever with chills. The body temperature can reach above 39°C within a few hours, and there may also be headaches, dizziness, sore limbs, fatigue, and sore, swollen throat. Therefore, patients with wind-heat cold should drink plenty of water and take some heat-clearing and detoxifying Chinese patent medicines orally. For patients with a body temperature higher than 38.5°C, antipyretic medication such as ibuprofen should be taken orally to reduce the temperature back to normal. In daily life, it is important to focus on a light diet and avoid spicy and irritating foods.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Jiao Yan
Neonatology
59sec home-news-image

Symptoms of a cold in a baby over 40 days old

The symptoms of a cold in a baby over 40 days old are definitely different from those in adults. Parents should observe whether the baby's behavior has changed. For example, if the baby becomes noticeably fussy or irritable, especially while sleeping, or if the baby has nasal congestion, a runny nose, or sneezing, these could be signs. Also, if the baby drools bubbles at the corners of the mouth while sleeping quietly, breathes noticeably faster, vomits milk after feeding more frequently than usual, or if there is an increase in the frequency and looseness of stools and bloating, these may indicate a cold. If cold symptoms appear, please seek medical attention promptly, as babies have weaker immune systems and their conditions can progress quickly. Without timely intervention, it is easy for the condition to develop into pneumonia.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
43sec home-news-image

Can you catch a cold during pregnancy?

Pregnancy is a normal physiological state for women to nurture a fetus. During pregnancy, factors such as a decrease in immunity, catching a cold, or malnutrition can lead to viral infections, causing symptoms of a cold. Whether a pregnant woman catches a cold mainly depends on her physical constitution, that is, her immune and resistance capacities. Pregnant women with a cold should avoid the indiscriminate and excessive use of medications, especially antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and hormonal products. It is important to drink plenty of water, rest adequately, and if medication is necessary, it should be chosen under the guidance of a doctor. (Medication should be used under the guidance of a doctor.)

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
56sec home-news-image

Is a cold with fever easy to get over?

Heat cold is also just a type of cold, and it is also quite common in clinical settings. Typically, such patients often occur in the summer, and a slight chill or getting caught in the rain can trigger the symptoms of a cold. The general clinical symptoms of a heat cold include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and often yellow nasal discharge. Patients may also have varying degrees of fever, and during a fever, they might feel chills throughout the body, headaches, dizziness, etc. Most heat colds are caused by viral infections. Therefore, appropriate antiviral drugs and heat-clearing and detoxifying medications are given to treat the symptoms. Heat colds generally get better within about a week, especially in young people, some of whom may recover from heat cold symptoms even without medication.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
1min 4sec home-news-image

Do you still need to take cold medicine for a cough in the later stages of a cold?

Patients with colds are generally caused by viral infections and are often self-limiting diseases, usually recovering completely within about a week. In a minority of patients, different degrees of cough may occur later on. For such cases, where there is throat itchiness and varying degrees of dryness in the throat, or even cough symptoms, it is generally not necessary to continue with cold medicine. Instead, antiviral medications and throat-clearing drugs can be used for symptomatic treatment to relieve the cough that appears later. As for the later cough, if it is a dry cough, use some cough suppressants. If there is phlegm with the cough, appropriate cough suppressants should also be used, along with antibiotics for symptomatic treatment, to provide relief. However, the use of cold medicines that relieve nasal congestion and runny nose is generally not advised at this stage.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
38sec home-news-image

How does a cold spread?

The common cold is a very common clinical disease, caused by a viral infection that is somewhat contagious. So, how is the common cold transmitted? On one hand, it can spread through the respiratory tract; for example, cold sufferers through sneezing, coughing, and other methods can produce droplets containing the cold virus. When these droplets are inhaled by healthy individuals, they can become infected. Additionally, if everyday items are contaminated by the cold virus, other people can come into contact with the virus by touching these items. If they do not wash their hands afterwards, they can also become infected with the cold virus through contact.