Boiling soybeans in water, boiling scallions in water, making cola and ginger soup... Are these folk remedies for reducing fever caused by COVID-19 reliable?

Recently, many people have developed fever due to COVID-19 infection. Fever is often accompanied by drowsiness, decreased physical strength and other problems, which makes people very uncomfortable. The first thing many people think of is to reduce the fever. Everyone started to show their magical powers and tried all kinds of methods. In addition to taking antipyretic drugs, folk remedies such as drinking water boiled with scallions, boiled water with soybeans, cola ginger soup, etc. came in handy.

Are these methods really useful? What should I do if I have a fever?

01

If you have a fever, do you need to reduce it urgently?

Fever itself is not a disease, but a symptom of a disease . There are many diseases that have fever as a symptom, such as common colds, which can cause fever, and serious diseases such as leukemia can also cause fever.

Many people think that if you have a fever, you should find a way to reduce it immediately, and the sooner your body temperature returns to normal, the better. In fact, this is not always the case, and there is no need to rush to reduce a fever.

In fact, fever is not necessarily a bad thing. Fever is an important self-protection mechanism of the human immune system, which can inhibit the rapid reproduction of bacteria or viruses, thereby controlling the deterioration of the disease and restoring the body to normal. In layman's terms, fever is the body's way of healing itself .

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Take the COVID-19 virus as an example. When the virus enters the human body, it will multiply and make us sick. But at the same time, our immune system will mobilize to fight the virus. In this process, the body's temperature regulation center will increase the body temperature. The high body temperature can inhibit the reproduction of the virus on the one hand, and help immune cells move quickly to the infected area on the other.

Therefore, fever is a defense mechanism of the human body against infection, which is good for recovery. If you blindly use antipyretics at this time, it will be detrimental to your body's recovery .

Whether or not to reduce the fever should be determined by the doctor based on the patient's condition, if conditions permit. However, considering the actual situation, it is often possible to operate based on experience. For example, if the patient feels particularly uncomfortable and has a persistent high fever, reducing the fever should also be considered .

So, what methods are suitable for reducing fever, and are the common folk remedies useful?

02

Soybean water, scallion water, cola ginger soup

Is it useful?

When you first start to have a fever and have no other discomfort symptoms, drinking more warm water will help you sweat. Sweating can help to expel heat from the body and relieve the discomfort of the fever.

Whether it is boiling water with soybeans, boiling water with scallions, or making cola ginger soup, or even chicken soup... the essence is to let everyone drink more warm water . These practices are all helpful in relieving the discomfort caused by fever.

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However, everyone must understand that fever is a symptom, not a disease in itself, so it is not the object of treatment. All these things just make people feel comfortable, but they cannot "cure" fever. They do not have the effect of reducing fever, nor can they treat COVID-19 .

In fact, taking antipyretics only helps us lower our body temperature, control the symptom of fever, and make you feel more comfortable. The culprit of fever still needs our own immunity to eliminate it. The fever has gone down, but it does not mean that the new coronavirus has been eliminated. This is why many people still do not turn negative after the fever has gone down.

03

I have a fever, what should I do?

When the fever first starts , there will usually be symptoms such as headache, muscle aches, sore throat, loss of appetite, etc. At this time, we need to focus on rest and drink plenty of water to promote the body's metabolism .

If the body temperature continues to rise, for example, it exceeds 39°C, and the body is obviously very uncomfortable and the mental state is very bad, then don't just believe in folk remedies at this time, because if the body temperature is too high, or the temperature rises quickly and there is severe discomfort, it often means that the condition is more serious. If the temperature cannot be reduced in time, it will also affect our body's physiological functions and even harm our health. If the fever continues to be high and very uncomfortable, you should follow the doctor's advice or take antipyretics according to the instructions, such as commonly used acetaminophen and ibuprofen .

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Finally, a special reminder is needed. As mentioned earlier, various folk remedies, including "boil soybeans in water", if regarded as specific means of "drinking more warm water", can often relieve the discomfort caused by fever to a certain extent and make people feel comfortable - at first glance, they seem to be "harmless to humans and animals".

However, these folk remedies do not reduce fever by themselves. Do not ignore the correct use of antipyretic drugs when necessary just because you use these folk remedies , which may have serious consequences.

Author: Ruan Guangfeng, Director of the Science and Technology Department of the Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center

Reviewer: Jin Dong, Associate Researcher, Institute of Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

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