, caused by viruses belonging to the family of Orthomyxoviridae.
The symptoms of the flu are mainly: fever, pharyngitis, nasal and sinus congestion, muscle and bone pain, headache and cough.
Sometimes, the flu also induces nausea and vomiting, especially in young people.
Serious complications - such as pneumonia, exacerbation of asthma and worsening of heart failure - are quite rare, affecting mainly the elderly, immune-deficient subjects and those potentially at risk.
and diarrhea, responsible for a tendency to dehydration, anorexia and nutritional malabsorption.to speed up the healing process.
Fever is therefore essential to the fight against the flu; for this reason, it should be reduced with drugs only when it becomes intolerable for the subject.
As anticipated, fever is caused by an increase in temperature by the body itself; since it is an active reaction, fever also has a more or less important energy cost, depending on the entity.
It has been estimated that an increase in body temperature above 37 ° C can increase the basal metabolic rate by up to 13%; however, considering that influenza causes a significant reduction in physical activity, the total calorie requirement does not increase as much as one might expect (for more information, see the Diet and Fever article).
One of the fundamental and unexceptionable aspects of fever is the increase in sweating; this, which is extremely variable between the various cases, determines a significant increase in water and salt requirements.
, which very often results in the effect of involuntary vomiting.Nausea is associated with the reduction of appetite up to anorexia and, if prolonged over time, becomes a very debilitating (undernutrition) and disabling symptom.
, vomiting can occur without any kind of warning.
While nausea has a secondary negative nutritional effect (loss of appetite and anorexia), vomiting is responsible for both a nutritional loss (of the expelled meal) and a loss of fluids (digestive juices of the stomach, small intestine and major glands) .
Among the short-term consequences of vomiting, the most significant are malnutrition and dehydration.
it is a symptom that occurs mainly in young people and that can give rise to more than significant complications.Diarrhea exerts a rather pronounced anti-nutritional effect, drastically limiting intestinal absorption and above all the reabsorption of water, mineral salts and vitamins in the colon. Sometimes it is associated with mucosal flaking and bleeding, with further loss of water and increased nutritional demand .
The most significant effects are once again malnutrition and dehydration.
high, necessary to compensate: sweating, increased hepato-renal function for the disposal of endogenous and pharmacological catabolites, any vomiting and diarrhea.Body water can be maintained by drinking more and eating liquid or well-hydrated foods.
However, if the flu is characterized by significant nausea and vomiting, this can become a serious problem. In that case, increasing liquid food and drink becomes impractical, as the urge to vomit would dramatically increase.
Not everyone knows that the sense of nausea and vomiting are significantly worsened by some factors such as: fasting and hypoglycemia, gastric hyperacidity and excess fluid in the stomach.
Here is explained why, in case of intense nausea and vomiting, it becomes absolutely necessary to eat food:
- Highly pleasant (to counteract nausea, loss of appetite and anorexia), but always within the limits of the indications that will follow
- Dry or in any case not brothy, so that they tend to absorb gastric fluids rather than increase their volume
- Easy to digest, therefore: moderately protein but rich in essential amino acids (few peptides but with high biological value), low in fat and mainly unsaturated (lean foods and poor seasoning, only with raw vegetable oils), and possibly rich in carbohydrates.
In case of diarrhea, it is advisable that the following also result:
- Without mucosal irritating molecules (alcohol, other nerves, spices, etc.)
- Lactose-free
- Without osmotic agents, such as some sweeteners (xylitol etc.)
- Low in fiber.
This very first phase must be continued until the vomiting is reduced but never for too long; it is absolutely crucial to restore the supply of water and essential nutrients as soon as possible and, if necessary, by drinking from a soup spoon.
In patients at risk, dehydration is sometimes counteracted early with the use of IV bags (parenteral route).
