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Article: Is "drink plenty of fluids" good advice?(Biomedicine)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- March 27, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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People tend to take for granted that they should drink more fluids than usual during respiratory infections. But that conventional wisdom has never been rigorously tested, say Australian researchers. Definitive studies are needed because excess fluid intake could cause harm in people with some respiratory ills, the scientists argue in the Feb. 28 British Medical Journal.
Staying well hydrated during colds and infections of the upper respiratory tract presumably makes mucus runny--the better for removing pathogens--and replaces body water that evaporates faster than usual because of fever. But when Chris B. Del Mar of the University of Queensland in Herston, ...