Take paracetamol or not

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Ben B
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Take paracetamol or not

Post by Ben B » Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:53 am

Having an argument with someone who says it's better not to reduce a faver, as it is your bodies "natural" way of fighting an infection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDijpnCOoFc

Thoughts? This Dr is suggesting that an increase in body temperature stimulates your immune system, which sounds ... odd.
I have pointed out that a fever can be deadly.
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Gfamily
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Gfamily » Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:09 am

Ben B wrote:
Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:53 am
Having an argument with someone who says it's better not to reduce a faver, as it is your bodies "natural" way of fighting an infection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDijpnCOoFc

Thoughts? This Dr is suggesting that an increase in body temperature stimulates your immune system, which sounds ... odd.
I have pointed out that a fever can be deadly.
My understanding is that increasing body temperature can help in the body's response to infection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever#Usefulness
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Ben B
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Ben B » Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:31 am

Best analysis I can find says that reducing fever doesn't improve outcomes, but nor does it make them worse. So you might as well reduce the fever for your own comfort.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/well ... pirin.html
and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26436473
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by lpm » Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:42 am

Do NOT overdose paracetamol. Accidental overtaking is probably going to drive quite a few unnecessary hospital visits in the coming months.
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Ben B
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Ben B » Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:09 pm

Yes, that should (I hope) go without saying.

The argument I'm having is whether you should reduce a fever or not, and whether the video is accurate.
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Bird on a Fire
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Bird on a Fire » Fri Mar 20, 2020 4:41 pm

Ben B wrote:
Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:53 am
Having an argument with someone who says it's better not to reduce a faver, as it is your bodies "natural" way of fighting an infection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDijpnCOoFc

Thoughts? This Dr is suggesting that an increase in body temperature stimulates your immune system, which sounds ... odd.
I have pointed out that a fever can be deadly.
It's true that fevers are induced by the brain deliberately as part of the body's response against infection, and includes increased production and mobility of various immune agents (long time since I did A level biology, sorry).

That's a separate issue to whether or not somebody with suspected coronavirus infection should take paracetemol, on which I'm not qualified to comment. Just because fevers lead to statistically superior chances of passing on one's genes over evolutionary time doesn't mean that they're necessary now when we have other medicines if needs be.
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by El Pollo Diablo » Fri Mar 20, 2020 4:51 pm

My approach to a fever is to ride it out without medication. In most cases it's there for a good reason, as indicated in the previous links.
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Blackcountryboy » Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:29 pm

I went shopping yesterday, we started self isolation when I came back; before I went I asked Blackcountrygirl whether she wanted any paracetamol, I had noticed she had been buying it quite frequently. She said she had plenty, she had started stockpiling when it was first mentioned there was a new flu outbreak in China.

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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Gfamily » Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:37 pm

Blackcountryboy wrote:
Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:29 pm
I went shopping yesterday, we started self isolation when I came back; before I went I asked Blackcountrygirl whether she wanted any paracetamol, I had noticed she had been buying it quite frequently. She said she had plenty, she had started stockpiling when it was first mentioned there was a new flu outbreak in China.
We're just using our 'WTO rules' stash. Interestingly, loads of ibuprofen in the Aldi yesterday.
My avatar was a scientific result that was later found to be 'mistaken' - I rarely claim to be 100% correct
ETA 5/8/20: I've been advised that the result was correct, it was the initial interpretation that needed to be withdrawn
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Re: Take paracetamol or not

Post by Herainestold » Sat Mar 21, 2020 6:23 pm

Bird on a Fire wrote:
Fri Mar 20, 2020 4:41 pm

That's a separate issue to whether or not somebody with suspected coronavirus infection should take paracetemol, on which I'm not qualified to comment. Just because fevers lead to statistically superior chances of passing on one's genes over evolutionary time doesn't mean that they're necessary now when we have other medicines if needs be.
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