Hey everybody, welcome back to Slimeback on 5, a podcast where we take a question to you always wanted to ask, and talk about them in a way that's easy to understand. We are your hosts, I'm Tim. And I'm Kevin. So Kevin, today we're talking about something very common, which is a sore throat.
Let's see Eli 5, what causes a sore throat? So sore throat can be caused by quite a variety of factors. The most common cause is something called a viral infection, like the common cold or flu. There's also environmental factors like dry air, pollution, or even smoke that can irritate the throat, as can even allergies.
Even some overuse of the throat, like maybe you're shouting too much or singing too much can lead to a sore throat. And finally, bacteria, 6 is the type that causes strep throat, can also be the culprit. So here's a question that has come up in a very logical Eli 5 manner. Why is it that alcohol, which is itself a disinfectant, why doesn't it cure sore throat?
So while it's true that alcohol has disinfectant properties, consuming it won't cure a sore throat. When you have a sore throat, the infection is already inside, within the tissues of your throat. So that issue would not be affected by alcohol that only washes the surface area. It might actually even make it worse, because alcohol can actually irritate the mucus membranes in your throat.
And of course, drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities, can lead to other things like dehydration, which can obviously make the sore nose seem worse. Okay, so alcohol is not a good remedy, that makes sense. What does work is often people talk about honey as a popular remedy for sore throat. How is it that honey helps?
Also, honey has actually a lot of antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, which can really help it fight the infection and overall soothe the throat. It also acts as a hypertonic osmotic. What is a hypertonic osmotic? So tonicity is a fancy way of basically describing something which either draws water out or makes water move into cells.
And honey is hypertonic, which means it quickly soaks up water. And as a result, it can actually draw out fluid from inflamed tissue. So this reduces swelling and discomfort, and this fluid is also required by bacteria to survive. So that's why honey is so good.
Honey has such potent antibacterial properties that can treat even some severe conditions, such as MRSA, which is recognized to be resistant to some more conventional antibiotics. Now, you mentioned strep throat. Why is it recommended to treat strep throat with antibiotics? That's because strep throat is caused by bacteria, and if left untreated, it can lead to serious complications like rheumatic fever or kidney inflammation.
Antibiotics, their job is to effectively kill the bacteria and then reduce your symptoms and obviously prevent all those complications. You know, a while back, we did an episode about bacteria versus viruses, and remember that antibiotics treat bacteria for not good for viruses. Ah, yes, I do remember that episode. Now, there is also a more emotional aspect which comes up with the throat, and I do want to touch on this.
Can you explain the science behind the quote-unquote lump in your throat feeling? Absolutely. The sensation, known as globus sensation, is often related to emotional stress or anxiety. So it's believed to be caused by the autonomic nervous system's response to stress, which can lead to this muscle tension in your throat.
There's actually no actual lump, but the feeling is pretty real. And a lot of people talk about getting a sore throat after being in cold weather. Why is that? That's because the cold air is often pretty dry, which can dehydrate all that mucus membranes in your throat, leading to the irritation and soreness.
And so that's why when you breathe through your mouth in cold weather, it can really exacerbate this kind of sore throat feeling. And can sore throat be prevented? Many sore throat, especially those that cause by viruses, can be difficult to prevent. But however, good hygiene practices like freaking hand washing can reduce your risk.
And obviously staying hydrated, avoiding these irritants in the air, and using a humidifier if you live in a dry environment can also really help. Now, there are some other effective home remedies I've heard for sore throat besides the honey that we talked about earlier. What are some of those? So besides honey, some other great remedies are things like warm teas, garbling with salt water.
You know, salt is also hypertonic like honey, so it also draws out the fluid from the tissue. And humidifiers, right? They also add a lot of moisture back to the dry air. And lozenges can also help keep the throat moist and relieve irritation.
Now, finally, there's a famous case of someone who had a sore throat and actually died. Didn't George Washington die of a sore throat? Oh, so kind of. George Washington died in 1799 when doctors drained like more than half of his blood to try to cure a sore throat.
But really, it was partly the treatment that kind of killed him, you know? I believe he was bled like four times for about five pints of blood. But, you know, to be fair to doctors, he likely has something quite a bit more serious than just a sore throat, so he might have died even if he didn't have his blood drained. Interesting.
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