When your limbs ache and your throat scratches: being sick is always inconvenient. Image: dpa
Thanks to the Internet, people have access to all information – but hardly know what to do if they get sick. Family doctor Petra Hummel talks in an interview about hasty visits to the doctor and a lack of personal responsibility.
Ms. Hummel, respiratory diseases are rampant, many people currently have Covid-19, and it’s cold season anyway. Do people still know how to help themselves with home remedies?
Unfortunately no. Many people come to the practice with a simple cold and are unsure: “Do I need an antibiotic?” No, because it doesn’t work against viruses. Or they say: “I read on the Internet that I can get myocarditis from a cold, so what do I do now?” People are sometimes quite helpless. They have often lost access to home remedies and traditional knowledge because their mother can no longer say: “This is normal, lie in bed, drink some tea and sweat it out.”