Travel to Health

Fever—a Protective Mechanism Getting a fever is no fun. You likely get chills, you sweat, and you’re just generally uncomfortable. You get tired easily and need to rest. But, fever isn’t the real problem . It’s a symptom of something else. You must treat whatever that is to relieve the fever. We know scientifically that fever is a protective or defense mechanism . [10] When body temperature reaches 101.3 o F (38.5 o C) , the immune system shifts into a state of alarm . At this temperature, the level of immune chemicals in the bloodstream doubles, and immune defenses throughout the body increase. Within 6 hours, almost every major defense within the immune system doubles its efforts. [9] Heat by itself has an antiviral effect . When a container of human cells and rhinovirus was immersed in a 113 o F hot water bath, the heat suppressed the multiplication of the virus by 90% , but did not kill the human cells . [11] Fever is usually triggered when monocytes meet p...

Vitamin D deficiency is endemic across the Middle East, including in Israel, where nearly four in five people are low on the vitamin, according to one study from 2011 . [3] By taking supplements before infection, though, the researchers in the new Israeli study found that patients could avoid the worst effects of the disease: [4] “We found it remarkable, and striking, to see the difference in the chances of becoming a severe patient when you are lacking in vitamin D compared to when you’re not,” said Dr. Amiel Dror, a Galilee Medical Center physician and Bar Ilan researcher who was part of the team behind the study. He noted that his study was conducted pre-Omicron, but said that the coronavirus doesn’t change fundamentally enough between variants to negate vitamin D effectiveness. “What we’re seeing when vitamin D helps people with COVID infections is a result of its effectiveness in bolstering the immune systems to deal with viral pathogens that attack the respiratory system ,” h...