Posted on 02/02/2022 8:10:30 AM PST by ConservativeMind
As flu season progresses, so does the advice to drink plenty of fluids and take fever-reducing medications, like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin.
These recommendations, well-intentioned, offer comfort to those sidelined with fever, flu or vaccine side effects. But you may be surprised to learn the science supporting these recommendations is speculative at best, harmful at worst and comes with caveats.
I am an exercise physiologist who specializes in studying how the body regulates fluids and temperature. And based on a wide body of evidence, I can tell you that increased fluid intake and taking fever reducers, whether aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen, may not always help in your recovery. In fact, in some cases, it could be harmful.
…In one double-blind, placebo-controlled study, healthy people infected with a cold virus who took aspirin or acetaminophen for a week had a reduced immune response and an increase in viral shedding—meaning producing and expelling virus particles from the nose. Another study showed that taking aspirin effectively reduced fever symptoms but increased shedding.
…Overhydration can cause nausea and vomiting, headaches and cramps; in severe cases, excessive fluid intake can cause seizures or coma.
Here's why this happens. To stop dangerous escalations in fever, the body releases antidiuretic hormones. Urination is diminished, so the body retains water through the actions of the kidneys. So if someone with a fever drinks more water than necessary, water intoxication—or hyponatremia, a potentially fatal medical condition in which a patient's blood sodium levels are too low—could follow.
One study found that nearly a quarter of patients who came to the hospital with COVID-19 had hyponatremia upon admission. In that study, hyponatremia increased the need for breathing support in the form of ventilation. And another study showed that the condition can lead to poorer outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Make sure you get enough sodium each day—I never used salt, and going keto also forces more sodium out of you. I now consciously add salt to everything I can. My blood pressure would be on the lower side of normal (healthy, right?) and now it’s more around the normal range.
Studies have shown that, unless you are truly “salt-sensitive” or already have blood pressure problems, the death rate curve for sodium intake is lowest between around 2,800 mg/day through over 6,000 mg/day. My wife and I were getting 300 to a rare 1,200 mg/day. Chronic intake of 500 mg a day or less will kill you (I did not know this, previously).
Buy and eat lightly salted nuts.
This hit me when I started eating healthy, reducing salt and exercising daily.
My bloodwork was vastly improved, but I was extremely low on electrolytes.
Add moderate salt or drink healthy energy drinks. I’m diabetic so get the zero calories with electrolytes.
> Buy and eat lightly salted nuts.
Sorry, but that sounds gay.
It always struck me as kind of backwards that a fever is the body’s way of fighting a virus and the common recommendation is to take a pill to reduce the fever.
Agreed I let the fever work unless I am sleepless and miserable.
Only if you are a childish homo.
A neighbor of mine (50 yr old man) nearly died recently from low sodium.
He had lost his appetite over a few days, and his sodium got so low that he passed out and he did not have the strength to get up when he awoke. It was hours before he managed to crawl to his cell phone and call 911. Spent like 5 days in the ICU.
Back in the Pacific in WWII, salt was considered an essential provision. Servicemen were issued salt tablets daily, like a food supplement, or prescription.
Apparently, studies show that hot/cold treatments to self-activate interferon production correlates with low COVID-19 deaths in countries that are culturally predisposed to hot bath or sauna treatments (Japan, Finland, Scandinavian/Nordic).
The conclusion is that fevers are the body's way of activating interferon, which is the initial reaction of the innate immune system. Suppressing the fever reduces the activation of interferon, and delays the immune system from acting.
-PJ
Yeah I worked in a factory in Ohio back in the 60s, in summer when it was hot they had dispensers of salt tablets.
When working in steel fabrication shops we used to keep a shirt pocket full of salted sunflower seeds.
The company also had salt tablets available.
yep, salt is essential.
Salt via chicken noodle soup is ALWAYS a good option!
I think I will continue to listen to my degreed doctor, I’m pretty sure they know more about medicine than a glorified personal trainer. Of course YMMV.
Nah, it does sound gay.
I did know about this. Especially about the fever reducing meds. Which is why it concerns me that still the first advice given to those who have tested positive for COVID is to take such meds. Early response by the immune system is very important so suppressing that response may very well have adverse consequences. It also prevents people from assessing just how ill they are and needed medical treatment ends up being delayed.
And eggs are bad.
No good!
No bad...
Get a jab!
No, wait!
A part of the brain called the hypothalamus acts as a thermostat for your body. Most of the time, it keeps body temperatures around 98.6 degrees. When you get sick, though, the hypothalamus raises the temperature to make it hard for germs to live and multiply in the body.
It’s great when a fever fights against the germs in your body. But it’s not so great when the fever gets so high that it could harm you
https://www.verywellhealth.com/when-is-a-fever-too-high-770347
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