If we use alcohol as disinfectant, why drinking it doesnt solve throat infection / sore throat?
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for the same reason that pouring disinfectant over your chest won’t cure pneumonia, or pouring it over your leg wouldn’t cure an infected injury.
and because of concentration too.
it’s easy to think of your mouth as “inside your body” but it’s really not. mucus membranes are more permeable than surface skin, but they’re still part of your body’s barrier, the bacteria aren’t sitting around on the outside hanging out, if they were there wouldn’t be an infection. they’re inside the tissues, sometimes inside the very cells.
also, alcohol is a disinfectant, but for significant effectiveness it needs to be at least 60% concentration in contact with the surface for 30 or more seconds.
first no one drinks in a way the alcohol is coating your throat for 30 seconds. but secondly, 60% is 120 proof, plus that’s the minimum and your saliva will dilute the alcohol somewhat, so unless you’re drinking 130 proof or more liquor straight with no ice or mixer, you’re not actually drinking a sanitizer
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