Eating golden rod herbs, garlic bulbs, feverworts, willows, dogwoods, catnips and cayenne peppers, raising the amount of fluids you drink, keeping an eye out on your blood pressure, treating infections right away, and having healthy levels of oxygen are things you can do at home to battle yellow fever.
But what is yellow fever? It’s a very deadly disease that’s contagious. It was controlled in the past hundreds of years, but has made a comeback in the 1980s. It is defined as an acute viral hemorrhagic illness. It’s transmitted through mosquitoes, and it is also found in monkeys. Humans can also transmit this illness. Normal phase yellow fever can be over in a few days. Fifteen percent though of normal phase cases turn into toxic phase cases. Liver damage and jaundice are results of it. About a fifth of the cases end in death, which means around three percent of all cases end in death.
It comes out during epidemics and can go through a population quite fast. The deaths can come quickly, and often the death rate is fifty percent. The discovery of a vaccine dramatically reduced the number of cases globally. In the 1980s because of unstable politics in Africa, vaccines have become scarce and yellow fever cases have begun to increase since then.
It is important to know the symptoms and to seek medical treatment since it is quite dangerous. But you can also find remedies at home to provide relief from the symptoms. It is important to note though that these remedies are not cures.
Before looking into the home treatment, let’s first review the symptoms to make the illness easier to detect.
Yellow Fever Symptoms
Here are common symptoms of normal phase cases.
1. Fever
2. Chills, back pain and headache
3. No appetite
4. Feeling nauseous and tendency to vomit
Here are common symptoms of toxic phase cases.
1. Fever (recurring)
2. Jaundice
3. Pain in the ab area
4. Bleeding in the mouth, eyes and digestive tract
5. Vomiting blood
Remedies you can find at home
Cayenne Pepper
Capsicum, found in cayenne peppers can help in the reduction of yellow fever symptoms. It can make fevers easier to manage. Since fevers can take away the energy of a person, if you take that out of the equation, the body can remain strong enough to battle yellow fever.
Catnip
Catnip can aid in the reduction of headaches, fever and gastrointestinal problems, even if it isn’t known to fight yellow fever directly. It’s recommended to take catnip along with other treatments.
Feverwort
People have used the feverwort herb for quite some time to fight symptoms and decrease the severity of yellow fever. Some cultures even make tea of it in order to provide relief for high fevers.
Willow
This is very much like feverwort in the sense that you can make it a tea. But willow raises body temperature which makes a person perspire, and break the fever. This facilitates the immune system’s job. Bathing in willow is also useful.
Fenugreek Seed
Many people believe this to be the best treatment for yellow fever. Chew it or brew a cup of tea, either way can provide relief from the symptoms. It can help with the fever, gastrointestinal problems, and even clear up the bronchial tracts.
Garlic Bulb
It can make people hungry which fights against the loss of appetite. It can also lower the blood pressure which happens during yellow fever. It’s great against diarrhea and fortifies the immune system. Overall, it can help keep the body in the normal phase of yellow fever, and prevent it from going into the toxic phase.
Dogwood
The bark of dogwood can be brewed to make tea. Drinking this tea on a regular basis can be good to help keep the symptoms at bay.
Golden Rod Herb
Golden rod herbs can break fevers by making you perspire. It can also cure gas and fortify immunity.
Steady Fluid Balance
Having lots of fluids in the body is good for lots of reasons. It helps the kidneys and liver do their jobs. It can also make you perspire and break a fever. All these are good against yellow fever.
Blood Pressure
When you have yellow fever, your blood pressure goes up, which is hard for your cardiovascular system. Lower it by consuming potassium. Lowerblood pressure means lower chances of reaching the toxic level of yellow fever.
Oxygen
With high blood pressure comes, constricted blood vessels and reduction of the oxygen flow to important parts of the body. Consume more iron to increase the amount of red blood cells in your body. This will lead to stable levels of oxygen.
An Important Thing to Remember Yellow fever does not have a cure, only treatments. Vaccination is the only thing that can ensure your safety. Always get a vaccination if you’re planning a trip to places like Africa or South America, where there are known cases of yellow fever.
