Recovery time
Hasn't there been a lot of ill health around over the Christmas and New Year period? Almost everyone I've spoken to has either been ill themselves, or known someone who's been unwell. And the bugs haven't just been the usual colds or coughs - they've been really unpleasant, long-lasting illnesses that have taken ages to recover from.
I was listening to an interesting item on the radio recently when two doctors were talking about the current use (and over-use) of antibiotics. You know, that tendency for some people to go to the doctor with every cold or cough and expect to be prescribed antibiotics to 'cure' their illness. Apparently, people who walk away with antibiotics are more than twice as likely as others to go back next time they feel poorly, and again expect antibiotics. Yet the doctors were saying that not only can this be unhelpful - the antibiotics become less effective through repeated use, and they can also bring some unpleasant side-effects, never mind the cost to the patient and the NHS.
Often, too, the illness would have run its natural course in the time it took to complete the antibiotic course - so it's not clear whether the antibiotics contributed to recovery at all.
The doctors went on to describe typical recovery times for common illnesses. Apparently we often vastly underestimate the time it takes for an illness to run its natural course. They felt that if the public were made more aware of this, we perhaps wouldn't be in such haste to ask for antibiotics or expect ourselves to be 'firing on all cylinders' again.
I forget the actual time spans given for each illness, but they were along the lines of around 3 weeks for a normal cough or cold and around 6 weeks for a bout of 'flu. In other words, it can take some considerable time to endure the illness and then get back to feeling fully fit again - and often much longer than we expect.
Not much comfort, I know, if you're currently trying to shake off a nasty bug! If that's the case, I hope you soon feel heaps better.
Yet, maybe you'll think twice before rushing to the doctor or downing antibiotics - and perhaps just be a bit kinder to yourself, allowing your wonderful body to recover in its own time?
I was listening to an interesting item on the radio recently when two doctors were talking about the current use (and over-use) of antibiotics. You know, that tendency for some people to go to the doctor with every cold or cough and expect to be prescribed antibiotics to 'cure' their illness. Apparently, people who walk away with antibiotics are more than twice as likely as others to go back next time they feel poorly, and again expect antibiotics. Yet the doctors were saying that not only can this be unhelpful - the antibiotics become less effective through repeated use, and they can also bring some unpleasant side-effects, never mind the cost to the patient and the NHS.
Often, too, the illness would have run its natural course in the time it took to complete the antibiotic course - so it's not clear whether the antibiotics contributed to recovery at all.
The doctors went on to describe typical recovery times for common illnesses. Apparently we often vastly underestimate the time it takes for an illness to run its natural course. They felt that if the public were made more aware of this, we perhaps wouldn't be in such haste to ask for antibiotics or expect ourselves to be 'firing on all cylinders' again.
I forget the actual time spans given for each illness, but they were along the lines of around 3 weeks for a normal cough or cold and around 6 weeks for a bout of 'flu. In other words, it can take some considerable time to endure the illness and then get back to feeling fully fit again - and often much longer than we expect.
Not much comfort, I know, if you're currently trying to shake off a nasty bug! If that's the case, I hope you soon feel heaps better.
Yet, maybe you'll think twice before rushing to the doctor or downing antibiotics - and perhaps just be a bit kinder to yourself, allowing your wonderful body to recover in its own time?
posted by Elizabeth Juffs at 10:54 AM
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