What’s the difference? is a new editorial product that explains the similarities and differences between commonly confused health and medical terms, and why they matter.

It’s the time of the year for coughs, colds and sore throats. So you might have heard people talk about having a “strep throat”.

But what is that? Is it just a bad sore throat that goes away by itself in a day or two? Should you be worried?

Here’s what we know about the similarities and differences between strep throat and a sore throat, and why they matter.

How are they similar?

It’s difficult to tell the difference between a sore throat and strep throat as they look and feel similar.

People usually have a fever, a bright red throat and sometimes painful lumps in the neck (swollen lymph nodes). A throat swab can help diagnose strep throat, but the results can take a few days.

Thankfully, both types of sore throat usually get better by themselves.

How are they different?

Most sore throats are caused by viruses such as common cold viruses, the flu (influenza virus), or the virus that causes glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus).

These viral sore throats can occur at any age. Antibiotics don’t work against viruses so if you have a viral sore throat, you won’t get better faster if you take antibiotics. You might even have some unwanted antibiotic side-effects.

But strep throat is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, also known as strep A. Strep throat is most common in school-aged children, but can affect other age groups. In some cases, you may need antibiotics to avoid some rare but serious complications.

In fact, the potential for complications is one key difference between a viral sore throat and strep throat.

Generally, a viral sore throat is very unlikely to cause complications (one exception is those caused by Epstein-Barr virus which has been associated with illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and certain cancers).

But strep A can cause invasive disease, a rare but serious complication. This is when bacteria living somewhere on the body (usually the skin or throat) get into another part of the body where there shouldn’t be bacteria, such as the bloodstream. This can make people extremely sick.

Invasive strep A infections and deaths have been rising in recent years around the world, especially in young children and older adults. This may be due to a number of factors such as increased social mixing at this stage of the COVID pandemic and an increase in circulating common cold viruses. But overall the reasons behind the increase in invasive strep A infections are not clear.

Another rare but serious side effect of strep A is autoimmune disease. This is when the body’s immune system makes antibodies that react against its own cells.

The most common example is rheumatic heart disease. This is when the body’s immune system damages the heart valves a few weeks or months after a strep throat or skin infection.

Around the world more than 40 million people live with rheumatic heart disease and more than 300,000 die from its complications every year, mostly in developing countries.

However, parts of Australia have some of the highest rates of rheumatic heart disease in the world. More than 5,300 Indigenous Australians live with it.

Why do some people get sicker than others?

We know strep A infections and rheumatic heart disease are more common in low socioeconomic communities where poverty and overcrowding lead to increased strep A transmission and disease.

However, we don’t fully understand why some people only get a mild infection with strep throat while others get very sick with invasive disease.

We also don’t understand why some people get rheumatic heart disease after strep A infections when most others don’t. Our research team is trying to find out.

How about a vaccine for strep A?

There is no strep A vaccine but many groups in Australia, New Zealand and worldwide are working towards one.

For instance, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Telethon Kids Institute have formed the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative to develop strep A vaccines. There’s also a global consortium working towards the same goal.

Companies such as Vaxcyte and GlaxoSmithKline have also been developing strep A vaccines.

What if I have a sore throat?

Most sore throats will get better by themselves. But if yours doesn’t get better in a few days or you have ongoing fever, see your GP.

Your GP can examine you, consider running some tests and help you decide if you need antibiotics.

Kim Davis, General paediatrician and paediatric infectious diseases specialist, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Alma Fulurija, Immunologist and the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative project lead, Telethon Kids Institute, and Myra Hardy, Postdoctoral Researcher, Infection, Immunity and Global Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Many of us try to eat more fruits and vegetables and less ultra-processed food. But why is sticking to your goals so hard?

High-fat, sugar-rich and salty foods are simply so enjoyable to eat. And it’s not just you – we’ve evolved that way. These foods activate the brain’s reward system because in the past they were rare.

Now, they’re all around us. In wealthy modern societies we are bombarded by advertising which intentionally reminds us about the sight, smell and taste of calorie-dense foods. And in response to these powerful cues, our brains respond just as they’re designed to, triggering an intense urge to eat them.

Here’s how food cravings work and what you can do if you find yourself hunting for sweet or salty foods.

What causes cravings?

A food craving is an intense desire or urge to eat something, often focused on a particular food.

We are programmed to learn how good a food tastes and smells and where we can find it again, especially if it’s high in fat, sugar or salt.

Something that reminds us of enjoying a certain food, such as an eye-catching ad or delicious smell, can cause us to crave it.

The cue triggers a physical response, increasing saliva production and gastric activity. These responses are relatively automatic and difficult to control.

What else influences our choices?

While the effect of cues on our physical response is relatively automatic, what we do next is influenced by complex factors.
Whether or not you eat the food might depend on things like cost, whether it’s easily available, and if eating it would align with your health goals.

But it’s usually hard to keep healthy eating in mind. This is because we tend to prioritise a more immediate reward, like the pleasure of eating, over one that’s delayed or abstract – including health goals that will make us feel good in the long term.

Stress can also make us eat more. When hungry, we choose larger portions, underestimate calories and find eating more rewarding.

Looking for something salty or sweet

So what if a cue prompts us to look for a certain food, but it’s not available?

Previous research suggested you would then look for anything that makes you feel good. So if you saw someone eating a doughnut but there were none around, you might eat chips or even drink alcohol.

But our new research has confirmed something you probably knew: it’s more specific than that.

If an ad for chips makes you look for food, it’s likely a slice of cake won’t cut it – you’ll be looking for something salty. Cues in our environment don’t just make us crave food generally, they prompt us to look for certain food “categories”, such as salty, sweet or creamy.

Food cues and mindless eating

Your eating history and genetics can also make it harder to suppress food cravings. But don’t beat yourself up – relying on willpower alone is hard for almost everyone.

Food cues are so powerful they can prompt us to seek out a certain food, even if we’re not overcome by a particularly strong urge to eat it. The effect is more intense if the food is easily available.

This helps explain why we can eat an entire large bag of chips that’s in front of us, even though our pleasure decreases as we eat. Sometimes we use finishing the packet as the signal to stop eating rather than hunger or desire.

Is there anything I can do to resist cravings?

We largely don’t have control over cues in our environment and the cravings they trigger. But there are some ways you can try and control the situations you make food choices in.

• Acknowledge your craving and think about a healthier way to satisfy it. For example, if you’re craving chips, could you have lightly-salted nuts instead? If you want something sweet, you could try fruit.
• Avoid shopping when you’re hungry, and make a list beforehand. Making the most of supermarket “click and collect” or delivery options can also help avoid ads and impulse buys in the aisle.
• At home, have fruit and vegetables easily available – and easy to see. Also have other nutrient dense, fibre-rich and unprocessed foods on hand such as nuts or plain yoghurt. If you can, remove high-fat, sugar-rich and salty foods from your environment.
• Make sure your goals for eating are SMART. This means they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
• Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if you eat something that doesn’t meet your health goals. Just keep on trying.

Gabrielle Weidemann, Associate Professor in Psychological Science, Western Sydney University and Justin Mahlberg, Research Fellow, Pyschology, Monash University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.