Eli5 : how does cold medicine work? It alleviates symptoms so well and quickly, but doesn’t “cure” and I don’t understand how or why.
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A virus is taking over cells in your sinuses and throat to replicate. Your body is doing tons of stuff, like creating extra mucus, to combat it. We don’t have reliable medicines to kill the virus, but your body will take care of that eventually. The goal of cold medicine is to stop your body from doing all that stuff it’s doing to fight the virus that sucks for you like generating tons of mucus.
For example, many cold medicines act as a vasoconstrictor (meaning they cause your blood vessels to contract). Since swelling and mucus production relies on your blood vessels expanding, a vasoconstrictor can help control these symptoms. Again, it’s not killing the virus. It’s just making life suck a bit less while your body kills it.
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