One of the bad things about the flu, including the H1N1 version, is it is a virus. That means that it does not respond to antibiotics, which only work on bacterial infections. A dose of amoxicillin or other common antibiotics may fend off secondary bacterial infections but will do nothing about the flu itself. So don’t go to the doctor and ask for antibiotics, for they won’t help. If you’re in a country that let you buy antibiotics over the counter, save them for something it might be helpful for. There are antiviral drugs, but their side effects tend to be higher than those in antibiotics and are usual reserved for very bad infections; if someone is sick enough to be in the hospital, antivirals like Tamiflu will be prescribed, but otherwise healthy adults won’t generally be prescribed antivirals. However, children under the age of two, the elderly and folks ...

Sometimes the feeling of anxiety is getting so acute that an immediate medical attention is required. Two cases come to mind; The difficulty in identifying anxiety is due to the fact that most of the symptoms of anxiety can present themselves in other cases as well. There are times when patients arrive to the emergency room with chest pain and the doctor has to decide whether it is caused by anxiety or an heart attack. Chest pains, cold sweat, shortness of breath will present themselves in cases of cardiovascular problems. If the pain feels different than what you experienced before or it is much stronger and lasts longer, do not avoid getting immediate help by thinking it is only an anxiety attack. It is very important to stress that sometimes doctors make mistakes in the diagnosis, especially under emergency situations. Frank and truthful conversation with the doctor will help him avoid ...