Common cold

As the saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”. The core belief of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) lies in prevention. What better way to prevent yourself from falling sick than to build a strong immunity to keep yourself healthy?The ongoing pandemic situation has been accompanied by a rising interest in immunity boosting foods and products. In our recent Ask My Physician webinar on “Boosting your Immunity – the TCM Perspective”, TCM Physician Tay Jia Yin from Raffles Chinese Medicine shared with us how TCM looks at immunity and how we can use TCM to protect us from illnesses such as the common cold and allergies.TCM and QiFrom the perspective of TCM, the amount and quality of “Qi (气)” or “life force” determines how healthy and full of vitality a person is. This Qi needs to be balanced in order to maintain good health. A person with strong Qi is full of energy and does not fall sick easily. Even when they do, the illness tends to be mild. On the other hand, a person with weak Qi gets tired easily and frequently falls ill.What are some ways to strengthen your Qi for better immunity? Here are 5 tips from Physician Tay.1. Eat healthyThere…

Explanatory SectionDr. Zhang Wei, Chief Physician of the Pulmonary Diseases Department at the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine:Influenza A differs from common colds in terms of causative virus type, clinical symptoms, and contagiousness; mild cases can recover on their own, while severe ones require special attention.What is influenza A? Influenza A, also known as Type A flu, is caused by influenza viruses. There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C, and D. Among these, Type A (mainly subtypes H1N1 and H3N2) and Type B (Yamagata and Victoria lineages) are more widespread in human populations. The incubation period for H1N1 influenza is generally longer than that of regular influenza and avian influenza, typically ranging from 1 to 7 days.How does it spread? The primary transmission route for influenza A is via respiratory droplets. It can also spread through direct or indirect contact with respiratory secretions, bodily fluids, and objects contaminated with the virus. Children are the main infected population, with no significant gender difference. They acquire immunity to the same strain within a short time after infection but are prone to recurrent episodes.How is it diagnosed? After being infected with influenza A, patients may experience…