Influenza can be defined as a viral disease that once contracted can last from between three to five days. Influenza is normally accompanied by aching joints and muscles, cough, headaches and fever, and sufferers normally go through a period of two to three weeks feeling fatigued. The disease can become serious, leading to such conditions as pneumonia, brain and nerve damage and sometimes even death, but occurrences of these serious conditions are rare.

Other symptoms can occur with influenza and these can include chest pain, loss of appetite, restless sleep, chills, indigestion, and vomiting. Individuals that catch influenza should drink as much fluid as they can due to the fever, rest while trying to get lots of sleep, and avoid smoking or drinking alcohol. A person should contact their doctor should the symptoms still be present after a week, or if they are feeling worse than they were.

Influenza

Influenza is spread from individual to individual through the air, infecting the throat, nose or lungs once contracted. As it can spread very quickly, epidemics often occur with affected areas in the grip of the virus from four to six weeks.

The elderly are particularly at risk from the disease, while individuals with lung or heart disease can develop complications if struck by flu. The people who are most at risk are advised to seek yearly vaccinations.

Hay fever can be described as an allergy caused by pollen. Pollen is the very fine powdery substance created by plants for the use in pollination, or fertilization. In its most common guise, hay fever is the allergy caused by grass or hay pollens and usually occurs from late spring until early summer.

Usual symptoms of the condition include a runny nose, sneezing, and streaming, itchy eyes. The symptoms are caused due to the body’s immune system reacting to the pollen. Cells which line the nose and eyes tend to release chemicals such as histamines when they come into contact with the pollen, and this causes the inflammation in the eyes and nose which produce the symptoms.

Hay Fever

Hay fever is a very common allergy and affects almost two in every ten people in western society. It usually develops in children of school age and teenage years and the symptoms reappear year after year. Eventually, the symptoms start to decrease over the course of many years, until the condition either disappears totally, or improves vastly. The condition usually runs in families and an individual is more likely to develop asthma or eczema if they already suffer from hay fever.

Although it’s impossible to avoid pollen totally, symptoms are less severe if exposure is reduced. Nowadays pollen counts are freely available for all regions via TV, radio and the internet. Sufferers of the condition are normally treated with antihistamine tablets, antihistamine nose sprays, steroidal nose sprays and eye drops.

Restless legs can affect movement and sleep.  A person with restless legs has an uncontrollable urge to move their legs; the condition is more common in women and it is also known to affect people more as they age.

The severity of symptoms can vary from person to person.  Symptoms can be quite mild or very debilitating although it is not life threatening. These can include an urge to move the legs, disturbed sleep or trouble getting to sleep, uncontrolled jerking of the legs or unpleasant feelings deep in the legs.

Symptoms usually occur at night when the body is at rest.  People have described feelings like prickling itching or tingling which can be relieved momentarily by movement.

The two types of restless legs syndrome are primary restless syndrome and secondary restless leg syndrome.  Primary restless legs syndrome can begin at any age but usually occurs in early adulthood.  It occurs naturally and is usually mild to begin with but symptoms can increase and become more severe in later life.

Secondary restless legs syndrome is normally a result of another condition such as kidney failure, alcoholism, pregnancy or iron deficiency anemia.  Antidepressants and antipsychotics have also been known to worsen the symptoms.

Restless Legs

Lifestyle changes can help with mild cases of restless legs syndrome but for more severe cases this can be treated with a mixture of lifestyle changes and medication. Lifestyle changes can include avoiding caffeine, tobacco and alcohol, increasing exercise early in the day, creating a regular sleeping pattern and avoiding any medication which can increase symptoms. Taking a hot bath in the evening can also help to relieve symptoms as can stretching the limbs.