Russians warned against drinking alcohol for colds, SARS and COVID-19

With a cold, SARS and coronavirus infection COVID-19, drinking alcohol can be dangerous because it will cause additional stress on the heart, intoxication and incompatibility with drugs, and rubbing it is useless. Evgeny Bryun, chief narcologist of the Moscow Health Department, warned about this in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to him, “it is absolutely impossible to drink any alcohol during a cold, flu or coronavirus.” “Firstly, because of the disease, the load on the heart is too high, so you should not aggravate the situation with alcohol. Secondly, any viral diseases, including COVID-19, are intoxication, and if we add alcohol intoxication, then the whole biochemical harmonious picture of the body breaks down. Thirdly, any medicine is incompatible with alcohol, because, first of all, alcohol has a toxic effect on the body and therefore weakens the immune system, ”said Brune.

He stressed that being treated with vodka is like being treated with poison, as the body will weaken and become even more susceptible to viruses.

The doctor also debunked the popular myth that at high temperatures you can rub the body with vodka. “In no case. What for? All specialists swear at all these rubbing, this has no proven effectiveness and has not been confirmed anywhere. Alcohol evaporates very quickly, so alcohol will not have any effect, ”the expert believes.

At the same time, the narcologist said that it is better not to use another folk method – treating the throat with warm beer. “Any warm drink that relieves sore throat helps. And there is not much difference between warm milk with honey or warm beer in effect, since these drinks are warm. But beer contains alcohol, which, as already mentioned, reduces immunity and so on. The same applies to tinctures. It is better to replenish the lost fluid with ginger tea than warm beer, for the same reason, ”Brun explained.

He also noted that at the first signs of acute respiratory viral infections, you can start symptomatic treatment with a home first aid kit: at a temperature above 38 degrees, take an antipyretic, with a runny nose and nasal congestion, rinse it with a solution of sea salt and drip vasoconstrictor drops, with cough and sore throat, use rinsing , local antiseptics, and you can also drink antiviral drugs.

“In addition, at the first sign of illness, you can remotely receive an audio consultation from a doctor who will issue an electronic prescription for medicines and automatically open a sick leave for ARVI for 7 days. Either come to the doctor on duty at any nearest clinic without an appointment and a call, or make an appointment for a specific appointment time at your clinic. Now there are no queues in Moscow polyclinics, residents receive medical care on the same day – the average waiting time for an appointment does not exceed 30 minutes. If you have limited mobility or you have a severe course of the disease, in this case, you can call a doctor at home by calling the 122 line, ”the doctor added.