A cool mist humidifier can benefit you and your home during cold weather months. The additional moisture cool mist humidifiers add to winter air can relieve your dry skin, nose and throat -- as well as reduce static electricity and prevent wooden furniture from drying and cracking.

Humidifiers help restore moisture to dry indoor air, but without proper care and maintenance they can pose a potentially serious risk to health.

The stomach flu, also known as gastroenteritis, is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines caused by a virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, the stomach flu is not caused by an influenza strain.

A persistent dry cough can be irritating and at times, even painful. It occurs from inflammation of the throat and airways, and does not produce any phlegm or mucus. There are, however, a number of key things you can do that will loosen congestion and provide relief.

Nasal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis, have symptoms including runny nose, itching, nasal stuffiness or congestion and sneezing. Though oral medications may be effective for some patients, they may cause undesirable side effects. Many patients experience greater relief with nasal sprays for allergies.

Coldness and fatigue are not conditions — they are symptoms attributable to multiple causes. Fatigue alone is often associated with lifestyle causes, physical or psychological causes, or a combination of all three.

Kids pick up a number of viruses during their childhood and cough through many of the coldest months of the year. Coughing is a normal way in which your child responds to an itchy throat or clears chest congestion.

Millions of Americans contract the flu each year. In most cases, according to Dr. Raphael Dolin in “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine,” acute illness resolves within two to five days, although respiratory symptoms, such as cough and sore throat, may persist for up to two weeks.

Coughing is nature's way of removing unwanted particles from the airway. Often, a cough produces mucus, which aids in eliminating the intruder. When the cough is dry and non-productive, it can be due to irritation in the upper respiratory system.

Humidifiers offer definite benefits if you suffer from the effects of dry indoor air, but those benefits can come at a price. You’ll pay, literally, for the cost of operating the humidifier--warm-mist humidifiers are more expensive to run than cool-mist humidifiers, because you’re paying to heat the water involved.

Human viruses cause a variety of maladies, depending on the virus type and the tissues infected. All humans contract multiple viruses throughout the course of life. The severity of viral illnesses ranges from mild to lethal.

The stomach flu, medically known as viral gastroenteritis, is an infection of the intestines. Although most people catch the stomach flu by ingesting contaminated food or water, you also can pick up this infection by coming into contact with an infected person.