cold

There’s a joke, probably only funny to someone from the great frozen tundra where I live, that goes something like this . . .

Q: How does a person from Minnesota say “Hello”?

A: (sniffles) . . . . “Hello.”

Get it? It does seem like everybody around here has a runny nose and they’re all sneezing and coughing and talking with a scratchy throat. In other words, a typical Minnesota fall. Otherwise known as “cold and flu” season. Not to be confused with “winter” which doesn’t start for another day or two. Also not to be confused with the season of “road construction” which lingers on indefinitely or until the first foot of snow falls . . . .

So in keeping with the season, our Healthy Matters radio broadcast this past week had lots of buzz about colds and flu. Perhaps the most common question I get: How can you tell if it is a cold or the flu?

Glad you asked. Real bread and butter medical stuff.

For starters, I can’t count how many times people insist to me that they have the flu – not a cold – because their symptoms are so much worse than everybody else’s. And the fact is that influenza (the “flu”) causes more severe symptoms than does a cold. But most of us, even those who feel pretty darn crummy, actually have a cold, not the flu.

To listen to the podcast of our most recent “Open Lines” Healthy Matters radio broadcast (without commercials!), click the logo here.

Look for Healthy Matters show #458, October 15, 2017. You can listen while you read this post!