Angina is one of the mostcommon diseases. But, despite such a widespread prevalence, the treatment of angina, as well as the reasons for its occurrence, for many people is still not completely clear. But in order to alleviate the condition of a sick person, and subsequently prevent a relapse, this knowledge is simply necessary. And this is what will be discussed below. Let's first try to figure out what angina is. This disease got its name from the Latin word "angere", which means "squeezing, squeezing". And in fact, many sick people complain that they experience a very unpleasant feeling of squeezing in the throat. Angina is an acute infectious disease that affects the pharynx, and mainly the tonsils. There are quite a large number of pathogens that provoke the development of angina - fungi, bacteria and viruses. However, as numerous observations of doctors show, most often the disease is provoked by streptococci, which penetrate the throat through everyday life - for example, from dirty hands or dirty dishes. And sometimes a sore throat occurs because the microbes that are always in the human throat cavity are suddenly activated under the influence of various unfavorable factors. Such factors can be a sharp fluctuation in ambient temperature, hypothermia, weakened immunity, concomitant diseases. Such cases account for up to 30% of all diseases. Such cases of the disease occur especially often if a person's normal functioning of the immune system is significantly impaired. Such people encounter a sore throat quite often - it is enough for them to swim in a river or sea, eat ice cream or just get caught in the rain. In addition, the development of a sore throat can be provoked by the influence of various irritants that regularly get into the throat and respiratory tract. Such substances can be alcoholic beverages, smoke, dust of various origins. And the presence of adenoids, which greatly complicate normal nasal breathing, also often becomes the culprit of a sore throat. One should also not lose sight of chronic sources of infection present in the human body. Such sources can be destroyed carious teeth, or inflammatory processes in the nasal cavity and sinuses - sinusitis. That is why doctors strongly recommend carefully monitoring your health. In no case should you forget that angina is an infectious, and therefore highly contagious disease. Of course, if a person has angina, treatment is necessary. But also remember that it is advisable to isolate a sick person as soon as possible, especially from children and the elderly, whose immune system is most vulnerable. In addition, it is necessary to remember that a sick person should have separate dishes that no one else should use - this measure will also prevent possible infection of family members of the sick person.
Symptoms of the disease
Like any other disease, angina has its own distinctive symptoms, by which it is possible to determine what exactly the patient is facing. These symptoms include:
- The increase in body temperature, sometimes very significant - up to 39 - 40 degrees.
- Deterioration of general health - weakness, dizziness, uncomfortable sensations in the joints.
- Increased size of lymph nodes, especially submandibular nodes.
- Acute pain in the throat, greatly increased when swallowed.
- Bright - red color of tonsils, palatine arches and tongue.
- In some cases, the tonsils can be affected by either white coating or ulcers.
At first glance, it may seem that the symptomssore throats are very similar to the symptoms of a cold or acute viral disease. However, sore throats are more severe, and a person feels much worse. And the pain in the throat with sore throat is much stronger than with a common cold - it is quite difficult to confuse them. And the sooner the disease is diagnosed and treatment is started, the faster a person will feel better. Without treatment, sore throats can last up to three weeks.
Varieties of sore throat
However, it is not enough to simply diagnosetonsillitis. There are several different types of the disease, and each of them requires its own specific treatment, although the general scheme is, of course, common to all cases. So, the types of tonsillitis:
- Primary angina.Primary tonsillitis is also called simple. Only the lymphadenoid ring is involved in the inflammatory process. Clinical damage is visualized on it. This type of disease is the most common compared to all other types of tonsillitis.
- Secondary angina.Secondary tonsillitis is also called symptomatic. As a rule, tonsil damage in this case occurs as a result of infectious diseases such as diphtheria, infectious mononucleosis, scarlet fever. In addition, in some cases, tonsil damage occurs due to the presence of systemic blood diseases such as acute and chronic leukemia, agranulocytosis.
- Specific angina.This type of angina occurs much less frequently than all other varieties. In this case, the causative agent of the disease is one or another specific infection, for example, fungal. Only a doctor can diagnose this type of angina after conducting the necessary studies and tests.
In addition, angina can be catarrhal,follicular, lacunar and necrotic, depending on the nature and depth of the lesion of the tonsils and palate. As a rule, the catarrhal form of angina is the mildest, and the necrotic form of the disease is the most severe. All forms of the disease have approximately the same incubation period - from 12 to 48 hours. In any case, unlike colds, angina begins acutely. First, the patient's body temperature rises and chills are noted, and only after that the lymph nodes enlarge. The last thing to make itself known is pain during swallowing, and in special cases, just like that. Further development of the disease depends on what type of angina has affected the patient:
- Catarrhal angina
In this case, the tonsils are affected exclusivelysuperficial, body temperature rises slightly - no more than 38 degrees, and the severity of intoxication symptoms is very insignificant. Laboratory test results do not reveal any serious changes in the blood. Sore throat is not particularly intense, and the general condition of the person and his well-being do not suffer particularly much. During the examination of the tonsils, the doctor notes severe redness of the tonsils, which can also spread to the soft and hard palate. The tonsils themselves are swollen and enlarged, but not particularly much. As a rule, the acute stage of this process lasts about two days, after which it gradually subsides. Or another form of angina may develop - lacunar or follicular.
- Lacunar angina
Lacunar tonsillitis, like follicular tonsillitis, hasmuch more pronounced symptoms. The body temperature rises to very high values, pronounced symptoms of general intoxication of the body appear - headache, weakness, pain in the joints and muscles. With lacunar tonsillitis, more severe damage to the tonsils is noted, and the purulent plaque spreads to the entire surface of the tonsils. During examination, the doctor finds more severe swelling of the tonsils, the lacunae are enlarged. As the disease progresses, the contents of the lacunae form a film of loose plaque on the tonsils. However, this plaque does not spread beyond the tonsils and is easily removed from their surface.
- Follicular sore throat
With this type of angina, the follicular is affectedapparatus of the tonsils. They become quite edematous, hypertrophied. When examined, purulent follicles are clearly visible under the epithelial cover. After they open, the tonsils are covered with a dense purulent coating. Laboratory blood tests reveal quite serious changes, including a significant increase in ESR - up to 50 mm / h. In some cases, changes can also be found in the urine analysis - protein and erythrocytes are detected during the study.
How to treat angina?
In the event that a person becomes ill, treatmentsore throats should be started before the doctor arrives – by the way, don’t forget to call him. The first thing you need to do is start gargling. And please note – until the sick person has been examined by a doctor, it is better not to use any medications. The best remedy for gargling is a weak salt solution, to which you can also add a few drops of iodine solution. Iodine, by the way, speeds up the treatment of sore throats many times over. In principle, you can gargle with this solution throughout the entire treatment period, but most often doctors prefer to prescribe the sick person gargling with various antibacterial drugs, for example, a furacilin solution. In addition, the doctor will most likely prescribe additional treatment of the throat with special aerosols. Of course, these aerosols have a very positive effect – they lead to the death of pathogenic microorganisms and significantly reduce the intensity of pain. However, aerosols cannot completely replace rinsing, because during rinsing, both pus and waste products of microbes, as well as the microbes themselves, are removed from the body during rinsing. It has already been said above that almost all types of angina are accompanied by a fairly pronounced intoxication of the body. In order to avoid this, or at least reduce the degree of intensity, the sick person should drink as much as possible before the doctor arrives. However, please note that excessive fluid intake is extremely harmful for people suffering from hypertension and renal failure. A rare case can be avoided without the use of antibacterial therapy. Treatment of angina without antibiotics is also rare. As a rule, the doctor prescribes them either in the form of tablets or injections - depending on the type of angina and the severity of its course. And the use of antibiotics in this case is justified - they very quickly suppress the growth and activity of microorganisms. Also, when treating angina, very often use such analgesics as paracetamol, aspirin and analgin. They have a complex effect on the body - effectively relieve pain in the throat, headache and muscle pain. In addition, if the patient has a fever, the above-mentioned drugs reduce body temperature. However, in each specific case, how the treatment of angina will be carried out is determined by the doctor. He will help to choose the treatment that is right for you. And if angina is in children, treatment is often carried out in a hospital.
