[melaniejs (OP)]

Roger has a theory:

As alcohol appears to be one of the substances that can kill the virus, could it be trialled to help cure infected patients?
In order to make the infection less severe?

What does everyone think?

[Bored chemist]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

[RogerG138]

Alcohol was used as a treatment for pulmonary oedema as far back as 1954...y

[Kryptid]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

So the answer is technically yes, but you'd die first. Not a very good treatment.

[Petrochemicals]

Alcohol kills the immune system, so in the event of a ketone Cytokine storm it could be used to extend the lifespan to allow the body to adapt, i should think anyone who has a ketoneCytokine storm could dumb down the immune system a touch.

[Bored chemist]

so in the event of a ketone storm

A what?
Do you mean cytokine storm?

However, while chronic alcohol use certainly knackers the immune system, I'm not aware of any specific interaction that would help in that case. (Being drunk might make you less worried about it, I guess)

I think there are probably better drugs available.

[evan_au]

a ketone storm

That is when fans of the paleo diet empty the meat display at the local supermarket...

[scientizscht]

What is the mechanism that alcohol kills humans?

[Petrochemicals]

a ketone storm

That is when fans of the paleo diet empty the meat display at the local supermarket...

What do you mean ?

[Petrochemicals]

What is the mechanism that alcohol kills humans?

Alcohol is metabolised to poison by the liver, poison kills the body, filtered by the kidneys. Alcoholic decay !

[chris]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

Absolutely brilliant! Quoted this elsewhere several times already!

[evan_au]

Quote from: evan_au on Yesterday at 20:11:22
Quote from: petrochemicals
a ketone storm
That is when fans of the paleo diet empty the meat display at the local supermarket...
What do you mean ?

Sorry. I mixed up my fad diets. I meant a "ketogenic diet".
- This diet encourages people to eat mostly meat, with few carbohydrates
- Most of the energy comes from burning fats, rather than glucose
- This diet aims to achieve a high level of soluble ketones in the blood (ketone bodies)
- The ketones, as a group of organic molecules are characterized by an oxygen molecule double-bonded to a carbon molecule

I don't know about elsewhere, but more people are turning into "preppers", getting ready for the end of the world.
Some goods seem impossible to keep on the supermarket shelves, and freezers/refrigerators have sold out long ago. There was even a fight over toilet paper in one supermarket near here...

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet

[Petrochemicals]

Sorry. I mixed up my fad diets. I meant a "ketogenic diet".
- This diet encourages people to eat mostly meat, with few carbohydrates
- Most of the energy comes from burning fats, rather than glucose
- This diet aims to achieve a high level of soluble ketones in the blood (ketone bodies)
- The ketones, as a group of organic molecules are characterized by an oxygen molecule double-bonded to a carbon molecule

I don't know about elsewhere, but more people are turning into "preppers", getting ready for the end of the world.
Some goods seem impossible to keep on the supermarket shelves, and freezers/refrigerators have sold out long ago. There was even a fight over toilet paper in one supermarket near here...

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet

Sorry, I meant cytokines, spell checked it with google and hey presto something different. Not that well versed in this field !

[evan_au]

Could alcohol (which can kill the virus outside the body) be used to cure Covid?

I heard that some distilleries have switched over to making hand sanitizer.

They need to source a few new ingredients (like hydrogen peroxide and glycerin, plus methanol to discourage the desperate). And the packaging is a bit different.

They get some points for social responsiveness - and maybe hand sanitizer brings in more revenue?
Some of our supermarket chains had placed orders for thousands of liters, so there is plenty of demand!
I expect that government taxes on hand sanitizer are much lower...

[scientizscht]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

Absolutely brilliant! Quoted this elsewhere several times already!

You don't have to drink it, maybe a vaporiser inhaler could work.

[chris]

They usually add pyridine and denatonium to make meths smell and taste bad. The risk from methanol alone is not deterrent enough for some desperate drinkers. I gather that the smell and taste of methanol is not greatly different from that of ethanol?

The spirigel on our doctor's desk in the micro lab at the hospital is 80 percent ethanol. Smells quite nice. Not tasted it to see what else is in there to deter me from consuming it!

I try to avoid these handrubs (and use soap and water instead) because they make my sandwiches taste bad when I pick them up to eat them!

[scientizscht]

Quote from: evan_au on Yesterday at 20:11:22
Quote from: petrochemicals
a ketone storm
That is when fans of the paleo diet empty the meat display at the local supermarket...
What do you mean ?

Sorry. I mixed up my fad diets. I meant a "ketogenic diet".
- This diet encourages people to eat mostly meat, with few carbohydrates
- Most of the energy comes from burning fats, rather than glucose
- This diet aims to achieve a high level of soluble ketones in the blood (ketone bodies)
- The ketones, as a group of organic molecules are characterized by an oxygen molecule double-bonded to a carbon molecule

I don't know about elsewhere, but more people are turning into "preppers", getting ready for the end of the world.
Some goods seem impossible to keep on the supermarket shelves, and freezers/refrigerators have sold out long ago. There was even a fight over toilet paper in one supermarket near here...

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet

Keto diet does not tell you to eat meat. You mostly eat fat.

[Bored chemist]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

Absolutely brilliant! Quoted this elsewhere several times already!

You don't have to drink it, maybe a vaporiser inhaler could work.

The purpose of lungs is to take material from the vapour phase and move it into the bloodstream.
They are very good at their job.
And that's what happens to inhaled alcohol.
There's no way you could get a  significant concentration in the lungs.

That's a  good thing.
Because, if you got an alcohol concentration in the tissues of the lungs that was remotely near that needed to "kill" the virus, it would kill the lungs.

The only reason we can get away with using alcohol to deactivate viruses on the skin is that the outer layer of the skin is already dead.

[Bored chemist]

They need to source a few new ingredients (like hydrogen peroxide

I rather hope they are not adding much peroxide.

[scientizscht]

Alcohol kills the virus at concentrations above 60%.
It kills people at concentrations about 1% (there's some leeway on both figures, but the point stands).

Absolutely brilliant! Quoted this elsewhere several times already!

You don't have to drink it, maybe a vaporiser inhaler could work.

The purpose of lungs is to take material from the vapour phase and move it into the bloodstream.
They are very good at their job.
And that's what happens to inhaled alcohol.
There's no way you could get a  significant concentration in the lungs.

That's a  good thing.
Because, if you got an alcohol concentration in the tissues of the lungs that was remotely near that needed to "kill" the virus, it would kill the lungs.

The only reason we can get away with using alcohol to deactivate viruses on the skin is that the outer layer of the skin is already dead.

Alcohol inhalation - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_inhalation