Does drinking alcohol cure a cold?

Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
Updated on November 30, 2024
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Drinking alcohol definitely cannot cure a cold, and everyone should be aware of this. Moreover, contrary to that, drinking alcohol can potentially make the symptoms of a cold worse. During a cold, the body's resistance is already weakened, and drinking alcohol at this time might irritate the stomach lining and affect various organs in the body. Therefore, it is best not to drink alcohol when you have a cold, especially not as a treatment for it. It is advised that everyone take care to avoid this misconception. Also, when you have a cold, keep warm, eat light foods, and avoid drinks like carbonated beverages, alcoholic drinks, strong tea, and coffee. Additionally, it is important to maintain a relaxed mood and avoid excessive stress. During the period when taking cold medicine, you should be careful not to drink alcohol to prevent any toxic reactions, which are very harmful to health.

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Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
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What is good to eat when you have a cold?

For dietary considerations during a cold, it is generally advisable to eat light, consume more fruits and vegetables, and avoid spicy, greasy, raw, or cold natured foods. If the cold is severe, some cold medicines may be necessary to combat the virus. It's important to rest regularly and avoid excessive fatigue. Consuming foods like millet porridge, Eight-Treasure porridge, egg soup, and thin noodles can be beneficial as these foods are nutritious and do not burden the gastrointestinal tract, aiding in the recovery from a cold. When the body's immune function is compromised, viral infections may occur, necessitating antiviral medications for treatment.

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Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
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How to reduce fever when having a cold?

For treating fever from a cold, clinical practices include several physical cooling methods to alleviate fever symptoms. The simplest method involves using a cool towel or ice pack to compress the forehead. Other methods include wiping the palms, soles of the feet, chest, inner thighs, and inner arms with warm water or alcohol. Soaking feet in Sichuan peppercorn water or drinking more ginger sugar water can also help in physically reducing fever. Additionally, using fever-reducing patches and increasing water intake can promote metabolism.

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Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
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Which cold medicine is good?

Cold medicines cannot be compared as to which one is better or worse, as the therapeutic effect of each medicine varies from person to person due to individual differences. This means that even with the same cold and the same symptoms, if two people take the same medicine at the same time, one might find it very effective while the other might not notice significant results. Specific situations should consider the patient's constitution and specific symptoms, and choose medications under the guidance of a doctor. The principle of treating colds with medication is to treat the symptoms appropriately, and it can also be combined with antiviral drugs to kill the virus in the body, along with drinking plenty of water and resting.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Gastrointestinal cold and fever, how many degrees?

Gastrointestinal cold is a very common type of cold clinically, mainly caused by viruses invading the respiratory tract, leading to patients experiencing fever, with generally high body temperature during fever. For patients with fever, since the severity of viral infection varies from person to person, the clinical symptoms of fever and the degree of fever also vary. The specific degree of fever in Celsius depends on the detailed condition of each patient. Typically, the fever in a gastrointestinal cold is above 39°C, and the patient may also experience nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, nasal congestion, and a runny nose, among other clinical symptoms.

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Written by Wu Xiao Sheng
Pulmonology
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How to distinguish between viral cold and bacterial cold

The majority of colds are caused by viral infections, with only a very small portion caused by bacterial infections, or accompanied by bacterial infections. The distinction between viral and bacterial colds is primarily made from the following two aspects: First, in terms of clinical symptoms, those caused by viral colds are mostly short-lived, usually healing quickly within about a week, while the clinical symptoms caused by bacterial colds tend to persist longer, often exceeding a week. Secondly, in terms of blood work, viral colds mostly show normal results, or a lower white blood cell count; whereas bacterial colds often exhibit an increased white blood cell count, or an increased proportion of neutrophils.