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Cold & Flu Medication Guide

Accord­ing to the Cen­ter for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC), approx­i­mate­ly eight to ten per­cent of the Unit­ed States pop­u­la­tion will become sick with an influen­za (flu) virus each year. Addi­tion­al­ly, the aver­age Amer­i­can will catch between two to three colds per year. A cold and the flu are both caused by viral infec­tions and pro­duce a vari­ety of unpleas­ant symp­toms. Colds often are accom­pa­nied by nasal con­ges­tion and/​or a run­ny nose, sneez­ing, cough­ing and a sore throat. Flu virus­es can cause sim­i­lar symp­toms as well as fatigue, fever, head and body aches, and for some, diar­rhea and vom­it­ing. While there is no cure for either ill­ness, sev­er­al over-the-counter med­ica­tions and home reme­dies may offer symp­tom relief.

What's Causing Your Stomach Pain

Every­one expe­ri­ences stom­ach pain at var­i­ous times through­out their life. Stom­ach pain can occur in a vari­ety of loca­tions – it may be felt in a spe­cif­ic, iso­lat­ed area or may affect your entire abdomen. Stom­ach pain doesn’t always feel the same either. Some­times it can feel like a dull ache, while oth­er times you may expe­ri­ence cramp­ing and/​or sharp gas-like pains. It can devel­op due to a vari­ety rea­sons, and depend­ing on the cause, may require dif­fer­ent treat­ment. All of these vari­ables can make it chal­leng­ing to deter­mine what’s caus­ing your stom­ach pain. To help, gas­troen­terol­o­gist, Nisha Shah, MD, dis­cuss­es sev­er­al com­mon cul­prits and tips to help you tell them apart.