Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a highly contagious viral infection that primarily affects the upper respiratory system, including the nose, throat, and lungs. Unlike the stomach flu, which causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, influenza leads to fever, chills, body aches, and respiratory symptoms such as coughing and congestion. While most people recover within a week, complications can arise, particularly in vulnerable groups.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributes this sudden increase to reduced exposure to the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to lower immunity among the population. Data from the CDC revealed that by the end of November, only 40% of adults in the United States had been vaccinated, thus exposing most of them to dangerous infections and complications. The flu season this year has been especially virulent for several reasons: people's immunity levels have not reached their peaks, circulation of viruses has been more frequent and the percentage of vaccination rates is relatively low.

How the Flu Spreads?

The flu is transmitted through tiny droplets expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. These droplets can land directly on another person's mouth or nose, leading to infection. Additionally, the virus can survive on surfaces like doorknobs, remote controls and keyboards for several hours. When a healthy individual touches these contaminated surfaces and then touches their face, they risk contracting the virus. Given its ease of transmission, the flu can spread rapidly in crowded environments such as schools, offices, and public transportation.

How Long Does the Flu Last?

Symptoms of flu persist for different times in different persons, depending upon their health and whether they had been vaccinated or not. However, the typical duration is within one to four days of contact and five to seven days later. Some will have a slightly milder reaction and illness when vaccinated. While others will get better sooner; others may remain ill for weeks. After disappearance of symptoms, there may also be fatigue which lasts for another few days.

Certain individuals are at a higher risk of developing severe flu-related complications, including pneumonia. These high-risk groups include:

• Infants and young children
• Adults aged 65 and older
• Pregnant individuals
• People with chronic medical conditions (e.g., asthma, diabetes, heart disease or HIV)
• Those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher

For these populations, the flu can escalate into life-threatening conditions making early intervention and prevention crucial.

How Long Is the Flu Contagious?

One of the most concerning aspects of influenza is its contagious period. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals with the flu are most contagious during the first 3 days of their illness. However, the contagious period begins a day before symptoms appear and can extend up to seven days or more, depending on the severity of the illness.

An infected person can pass the flu a day before they even begin to feel symptoms.

The highest risk of transmitting the virus occurs between days two and four when symptoms are at their worst.

Even after symptoms have subsided, people may still be able to spread the flu for up to a week.

For instance, for those who have weakened immune systems or severe forms of the flu this contagious period can be significantly longer explaining why caution is needed when there is contact with other people.

Flu Prevention

Because flu is contagious, its prevention is one way of handling a reduction in infections. From simple to effective measures, the risk of infection can greatly be reduced:

1. Vaccination

The annual flu shot is the most effective way to protect against influenza. While it doesn’t guarantee complete immunity, it significantly reduces the risk of infection and severity of symptoms.

2. Stay Home When Sick

If you develop flu symptoms, staying home is the best way to prevent spreading the virus to others. Avoid close contact with household members, especially those at high risk for complications.

3. Practice Good Hygiene

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Use hand sanitizer when soap is unavailable.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of your elbow.
• Avoid touching your face, especially your mouth, nose and eyes.

4. Disinfect Surfaces

Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched objects, including phones, countertops and doorknobs, to minimize the risk of contamination.

5. Wear Masks in Public Spaces

Wearing a mask, especially in crowded indoor environments can help reduce the spread of flu viruses, particularly during peak flu season.

When to See a Doctor

While most people recover from the flu without medical intervention, there are instances when professional care is necessary. Individuals at high risk for complications should consult a doctor at the first signs of illness. Antiviral medications like Tamiflu may be prescribed to shorten the duration and severity of symptoms.

Seek emergency medical care if you or a loved one experiences:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Chest pain or pressure
• Dizziness, confusion or difficulty waking up
• Bluish lips or face
• Severe muscle weakness
• Symptoms that worsen after initial improvement
• High fever (above 104°F)

Sometimes body pain can be quite difficult to figure out. ‘Is it my shoulder muscle, or is it shoulder joint that’s causing me pain?’ We have all had these questions and struggled while answering them at the doctor’s office. This is a common experience that we all go through, and it can make things like finding what medication will help elevate the pain difficult.

So how do doctors figure this out? Explaining this in a video, Dr Pooja Chopra MD, shares a post on Instagram. Posted on 8th September, in the video caption Dr Chopra explained, “As a PM&R and Pain specialist, my first job is to be a detective. Tracing pain back to its precise source is the most critical step, because each source requires a completely different treatment plan.” She further goes on to give a simplified guide to help people understand their pain better. Understanding where the pain comes from can help people feel more at ease as well as figure out how serious the problem could be.

How To Tell Whether Your Muscle Is Causing Pain, Your Joint Or Nerve?

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain, also called myofascial pain, feels like a dull, deep ache. When you press on the sore spot, you'll feel tenderness and might even find what feel like tight knots or bands. This kind of pain gets worse when you use the muscle that's hurt, but it often feels better with simple things like resting, putting a heating pad on it, or doing some gentle stretches. You can usually point with one finger to exactly where it hurts.

Joint Pain

Joint pain, or articular pain, is a deep, internal ache that feels very stiff. It's not on the surface; it feels like it's coming from inside the joint itself. You might feel a sharp pain when you make a specific movement, like reaching high above your head. This type of pain is often at its worst when you first wake up in the morning, but it tends to get better as you start moving around and warm up the joint. Because the pain is deep, it can be hard to say exactly where it is.

Nerve Pain

Nerve pain, also known as neuropathic pain, is the most distinct kind of pain. It feels like sharp, shooting, burning, or "electric" shocks. People often describe it as a tingling sensation, like "pins and needles," or even numbness. A key sign of nerve pain is that it travels along a clear path, for example, from your neck all the way down your arm. This pain can come on unexpectedly, even when you're completely still and not moving the body part.

It's important to remember that these types of pain can be linked. For example, a problem with a joint could make the muscles around it tense up in a protective spasm, which could then pinch a nearby nerve. This is why a proper diagnosis from a specialist is so important. They use advanced tools like diagnostic ultrasound, which lets them see exactly what's happening inside your body, so they can treat the root cause of the pain precisely.

A new study has pointed out that people who have chronic insomnia could be at higher risk of dementia. One of the best things a person can do to recover from a tiring day, whether it is from a stressful day or after a tiring workout. However, it is not easy for everyone, there are many people who suffer with sleep problems like chronic insomnia.

An estimate of 16.2% of people around the globe suffer with insomnia according to 2025 Sleep Medicine Reviews, which is a condition that makes it hard to fall or stay asleep. A big number of these people have what's called chronic insomnia, meaning they've had this problem for at least three months, with poor sleep happening three or more nights a week.

Previous studies have already connected insomnia to serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes. But now, a new study in the medical journal Neurology has found an even more concerning link: people with chronic insomnia might be at a much higher risk for developing dementia and other memory problems. The study suggests that their brains could be aging faster as a result.

How Does Insomnia Cause Dementia?

For this study, researchers followed 2,750 older adults for an average of five and a half years. At the beginning, everyone was mentally healthy. The researchers found that the people who had chronic insomnia had a 40% higher chance of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers explain that this is a huge finding because it means chronic insomnia could be a bigger risk factor for memory loss than having both high blood pressure and diabetes. They also discovered that those who slept less had more of the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains, like amyloid plaques, and other signs of damage to their brain's blood vessels. This shows that poor sleep isn't just about feeling tired—it's linked to real, physical changes in the brain.

Why You Should Prioritize Sleep?

Experts believe that a big part of the problem is that insomnia is often overlooked. Many older adults just assume that bad sleep is a normal part of getting older. However, doctors stress that chronic insomnia is a real medical issue that goes beyond typical age-related changes. They urge doctors to start talking to their patients about their sleep habits during every check-up.

The good news is that chronic insomnia is a treatable condition. The main treatment is a type of talk therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The hope is that by recognizing and treating insomnia, doctors can help protect a person's brain health for years to come.

How Does Insomnia Affect Our Memory

Previous studies have shown that our cognitive abilities are affected by how much we sleep. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, explained that there is a strong connection between a person's sleep and their risk of developing Alzheimer's. We know that sleep is crucial for learning and creating memories. Studies have found that a lack of sleep and conditions like insomnia are not just a symptom of Alzheimer's—they may also play a role in its development.

This means that sleep disorders can have a significant impact on whether someone gets Alzheimer's and how fast the disease progresses. Because of this, it's important for doctors to pay more attention to sleep issues when diagnosing and treating patients. By properly screening for and managing sleep disorders, we might be able to help prevent or slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

A new study from Stanford University suggests that daylight saving time isn't just an inconvenience; it could actually be bad for our health. The research shows that our twice-a-year routine of changing the clocks disrupts our bodies' natural rhythms, which can lead to serious health issues. This is a big deal because it provides the first real scientific evidence that this time-switching practice has a biological cost.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

According to the Sleep Foundation, daylight saving time (DST) has been an official practice in most of the United States since 1966. Only a few places, like Hawaii and parts of Arizona, don't follow it. The routine is simple: on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward by one hour, losing an hour of sleep. Then, on the first Sunday in November, we set them back, gaining that hour of sleep. This is why many people remember it as "Spring Forward, Fall Back."

How Daylights Saving Time Affects Our Health

According to the study, if the U.S. got rid of daylight saving time and stayed on standard time all year, it could prevent thousands of strokes and significantly reduce obesity. The researchers, using mathematical models and data, estimated that this single change could prevent 300,000 strokes and lead to 2.6 million fewer people with obesity every year. This adds to what we already know about the negative effects of the time change, such as a spike in heart attacks and car crashes in the days after we lose an hour of sleep in the spring.

How Does Daylight Saving Time Affect Sleep?

Our body's internal clock is heavily influenced by light. When the clocks change, the amount of natural light we get in the morning and evening shifts. This can throw off our sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to feel alert in the morning and sleepy at night.

The “spring forward” change is particularly hard on us. One study found that on the Monday after the time change, the average person gets 40 minutes less sleep. This lack of sleep can build up over time, affecting our mood and increasing the risk of accidents.

While the "fall back" change in November can give us an extra hour of sleep, some people still struggle to adjust to the new schedule. For most people, the effects fade after a few days, but some studies suggest that others never fully adjust, leading to ongoing health problems.

Why Time Changes Mess With Our Bodies

The core problem lies in our body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Think of it as the conductor of an orchestra, directing all your body's processes. When it's working well, everything is in sync. But when it's thrown off, like by getting light at the wrong time of day, your body's systems can become disorganized.

This can weaken your immune system, mess with your sleep, and increase your risk for diseases like stroke and obesity. The study found that switching between standard and daylight saving time is the worst thing we can do for our body clock, much worse than staying on either time year-round. It's a bit like having the conductor suddenly change the tempo for no reason—the whole orchestra, or in this case, your body, gets thrown off.