So, it's cold and flu season. That sucks. But whenever I feel crappy, I can't tell if

I've got the cold, or the flu -- does it matter? What's the difference?!

When I get a cough, or a headache or whatever for a few days, I always assume it will go

away, or that I just have a cold… but sometimes… it's actually the FLU! Even though the medicine says

its for both the cold and the flu, they're entirely different viruses. The common cold

is caused by over 200 different viruses! Coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, metapneumoviruses, enteroviruses

and parainfluenza viruses all make the short list; but they really are all different.

This is why we can't "cure" the common cold. The flu, on the other hand, is caused by influenza viruses.

These respiratory viruses invade the body and set up shop and cause very similar

symptoms, because the human body only has so many ways to fight.

When your body is invaded by a virus, chances are you'll get the same symptoms every time,

dry or sore throat, coughing and sneezing, mild fever, congestion and maybe a headache.

Pretty standard stuff. If it's REALLY bad, you'll get aches and pains in your muscles and exhaustion too.

This happens because your body is spending resources fighting off that viral infection.

In general, flu is worse than the common cold, the fever is higher, the aches and level of

exhaustion are more pronounced, and the cough can be more intense. While there's almost

no way to tell the difference between the two infections,really? Colds do tend to produce a

fever less than 101 (38C), affects the throat and cause a runny nose. The flu, affects the

lungs and the joints -- so you're likely to feel more achy than leaky.

Telling the difference is one thing, but once you're infected you only have a couple days

to get treatment. After the first 48 hours, the infection has usually stopped multiplying

and is wreaking havoc on the body instead. Regardless, once symptoms start for viral

infections, there's no simple cure. Antibiotics WILL NOT HELP, because they fight BACTERIA

not VIRUSES. Taking an antibacterial drug during a viral infection is pointless.

In fact, a lot of the remedies for colds and the flu aren't really based on… well, science.

Many people take vitamin C like it's going out of style, but a study from the University

of Alberta looked at results and found there's really no evidence that it helps. Results

suggest it MIGHT help with marathon runners who have compromised immune systems due to

exhaustion, but even then it's minor. I like to take zinc when I'm starting to feel

ill, and science DOES support that. Zinc is used by human immune cells as a catalyst,

so when you boost the amount of zinc your immune cells have more to do better,

but too much can actually damage your body -- so don't overmedicate.

In the end, a cold will persist for 10 days, while some flu symptoms will persist for three weeks;

long after the influenza virus has been eradicated, by the way. If you REALLY want to avoid

getting sick, get a flu vaccination. Only 30 percent of surveyed adults get vaccinated

year over year. Flu vaccines are made every year by specialists who use massive datasets

to predict which influenza viruses will dominate this season -- see, there's more than one mutation,

and they vie for power and bodies to infect. The 2014 flu vaccine will protect

against Influenza A H1N1 and H3N2, as well as a couple influenza B viruses. You might

recognize H1N1, we're still seeing that left over from 2009's unexpected flu epidemic!

Pretty crazy right?

So yes, there IS a difference between colds and flu, but if you catch one of the over

200 viruses that cause these crappy feelings the best way to handle it is to drink fluids

and help keep yourself hydrated and rest. If you minimize nutritional strain on your

immune system by enjoying warm chicken soup and let your immune system do it's work, you'll be fine.

Empathy can also help, studies have shown people who have families or even an

empathetic doctor recover faster than those who don't so help out a friend if they're

sick, but don't catch it yourself. If you insist on medication, decongestants and antihistamines

will treat the symptoms of both cold and flu, but again -- don't take antibacterial meds

unless you know it's a bacterial infection because it won't help, viruses don't responses to that -- that's something a doctor can tell you.

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AND you’ll help support our show.Thanks for watching, everybody.What do you guys think?

When was the last time you got a flu?Any home remedies helped out?Let us know down in the comments and make sure you subscribe for more DNews.