Untreatable TB

[rik_uk3]

Thanks for the concern Pingu, COPD is nasty, no more winter hill walking for me, in fact hiking is pretty much out too. If supplies of Serevent and Ventolin stopped I'd be in trouble. Some pharmacies in Spain will sell them over the counter so I'll buy at least a years supply when I'm over there next month if I can.

[redskies]

Rik, there are a few viable herbal alternatives that might help if it came to it. Some of which you can find in your cupboards - things like sage and rosemary. Pine oil is also excellent for any respiratory issues.

I'd also suggest you look at your diet. Whilst mucus production won't be all of the issue for you, excess won't help, and there's foods you can eat/avoid eating to help with that.

Have a poke about. And if I have time after my trip, and you remind me, I'll try to do likewise

[rik_uk3]

Cheers Redskies but I have absolutely no faith in 99.99% of herbal remedies. Must be the nurse in me but I prefer proven medicine. I've nurse people who relied on herbal remedies and left it too late before seeking help.

I'd try them as an absolute last resort.

[redskies]

If you check my posting history, you'll see that I advocate not just pitching in there full speed ahead - and I always tell folk to consult medical professionals.

However, I feel there's room for both in the world and, on occasion, using a herbal remedy, which is, after all, where a great deal of proprietry medicine is synthesised from, can be as, if not more, effective than something from the doctor, not least because it can be made milder in effect. In some cases, with proprietry medicine, it's like using a nuke where a hand grenade would do the job just as well!

There's also another good reason; if you can't get the meds you need, then having viable alternativs is always a good idea.

[rik_uk3]

If you check my posting history, you'll see that I advocate not just pitching in there full speed ahead - and I always tell folk to consult medical professionals.

However, I feel there's room for both in the world and, on occasion, using a herbal remedy, which is, after all, where a great deal of propriety medicine is synthesised from, can be as, if not more, effective than something from the doctor, not least because it can be made milder in effect. In some cases, with proprietary medicine, it's like using a nuke where a hand grenade would do the job just as well!

There's also another good reason; if you can't get the meds you need, then having viable alternatives is always a good idea.

I agree but sadly most herbal remedies give little more than a placebo effect I've looked at herbal remedies and have a few books to hand I'd no doubt use if the proven meds dried up.

Good to see you telling people to use the professionals.

[redskies]

I think you may be getting a wee bit mixed up with herbal and homeopathic?

A huge amount of the medicines prescribed by doctors, or even available over the counter, have active ingredients synthesised from plants. They are very effective. In some cases, lethally effective, particularly if prepared by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. In most cases, used correctly, they can be even more effective than prescribed medicine. For example, rather than risk the skin thinning side effects of steroid creams, there are a number of plants and essential oils that will help a sufferer manage eczema. Garlic is an excellent antibacterial agent. So is honey; indeed, the healing effects of manuka honey are well documented, and research is showing that heather honey is very similar. Silver and seaweed compounds, easily prepared at home, are used in prescribed packing to treat wounds. And there's folks walking around today with limbs they otherwise wouldn't have due to the healing effects of that old standby honey and maggots. Not to mention those whose lopped off digits have survived reattachment thanks to leeches.

And that's before you even get started on things like agnus castus or aloe. And no, it's not 'old wives tales'. Proper, peer reviewed research has been done on a great number of herbal remedies and is continuing. Indeed, there have been a number of very interesting studies done on things like echinacea (which I've used to great effect to help heal infections) and even cannabis oil. It's also been proven that may chang essential oil can halt the growth of four different kinds of lung cancer.

I would highly recommend, as a good addition to your bookshelves, Edible and Medicinal Plants of Britain and Northern Europe by Edmund Launert. Don't pay silly prices for it; you can get it for about a fiver if you look round, the small paperback edition. It's a constant companion for me, and lists all the active ingredients, which is not only interesting but useful.

[BookishCrow]

Junmist, I'm curious what your mother's ideas were for coping and preventing TB back in the day? I have a rare genetic disorder, as such, I live with and recognize that my body is fragile and my immune system can be very defunct. This also makes me very cautious, I want to be prepared for possible inevitability and no ideas are bad ideas until they're proven to be bad ideas. I've always favored listening to the advice of my elders, if they made it through tough times, they must have been doing something right... So yuppers, if you wouldn't mind I'd love to hear the advice that you follow, especially since I've a low immune system and I'm allergic to all antibiotics but the most off brand and non-antibiotic-like. Penicillin, Moxicillian, and especially Ciprocillian....all have tried to kill me. >_< I wish I didn't have to put so much of my faith in alternatives, but when traditional methods aren't effective, sometimes you have to really pay attention to any alternatives.

(And yes, I realize I'm a bit more physically ill than most prepers ideally would be, but you live with what you got and soldier on.)

Blessed Be,

Crow

[rik_uk3]

I think you may be getting a wee bit mixed up with herbal and homeopathic?

A huge amount of the medicines prescribed by doctors, or even available over the counter, have active ingredients synthesised from plants. They are very effective. In some cases, lethally effective, particularly if prepared by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. In most cases, used correctly, they can be even more effective than prescribed medicine. For example, rather than risk the skin thinning side effects of steroid creams, there are a number of plants and essential oils that will help a sufferer manage eczema. Garlic is an excellent antibacterial agent. So is honey; indeed, the healing effects of manuka honey are well documented, and research is showing that heather honey is very similar. Silver and seaweed compounds, easily prepared at home, are used in prescribed packing to treat wounds. And there's folks walking around today with limbs they otherwise wouldn't have due to the healing effects of that old standby honey and maggots. Not to mention those whose lopped off digits have survived reattachment thanks to leeches.

And that's before you even get started on things like agnus castus or aloe. And no, it's not 'old wives tales'. Proper, peer reviewed research has been done on a great number of herbal remedies and is continuing. Indeed, there have been a number of very interesting studies done on things like echinacea (which I've used to great effect to help heal infections) and even cannabis oil. It's also been proven that may chang essential oil can halt the growth of four different kinds of lung cancer.

I would highly recommend, as a good addition to your bookshelves, Edible and Medicinal Plants of Britain and Northern Europe by Edmund Launert. Don't pay silly prices for it; you can get it for about a fiver if you look round, the small paperback edition. It's a constant companion for me, and lists all the active ingredients, which is not only interesting but useful.

Indeed there are but 'real' medicines are researched, tested, peer reviewed, proven and set at appropriate doses, herbal stuff is a bit like a cup of tea, same ingredients but the taste can vary. Honey/sugar paste works, used it myself on duty at a hospital as I have used maggots but again in a controlled environment and using appropriate proven protocols. When I worked as a paliative care nurse we allowed the use of Reiki (the trust paid for that) and crystal therapy and some patient enjoyed the experience, of course they still died. I'm sorry, but until I see research and fact based evidence to back up alternative claims then its just quackery and dangerous at times. Please don't tell me you believe in 'water memory' lol.

Enjoy your hobby but promote real medicine before advocating unproven nonsense. I don't think either of us have anything else to say on the subject do we.

[Hamradioop]

Enjoy your hobby but promote real medicine before advocating unproven nonsense. I don't think either of us have anything else to say on the subject do we.

Nothing like keeping an open mind

[Quercus-robur]

Indeed there are but 'real' medicines are researched, tested, peer reviewed, proven and set at appropriate doses, herbal stuff is a bit like a cup of tea, same ingredients but the taste can vary.

You Sir, are an idiot! You clearly have become confused as to the difference between Herbal and Homeopathy. You're implying that Herbal Remedies are a Hocus Pocus pseudoscience. Homeopathy, rightly so, is a pseudoscience. Herbalism, however, predates written human history. People have been using herbal remedies for thousands of years using trial and error and empirical evidence to learn the effects of the plants around them. There is also a written record to show that plants were being actively studied thousands of years ago. You imply Herbalism isn't real, researched or peer reviewed. Is the use and study throughout human history not sufficient research for you? And I can't think of better peer reviews than the passing on of knowledge through successive generations.

I'm sorry, but until I see research and fact based evidence to back up alternative claims then its just quackery and dangerous at times.

Either you have heard of Ethnobotany in which case you need to defend why you think it 'quackery' or you have not heard of Ethnobotany in which case you're arguing from ignorance. If it's the latter, don't do that.

Enjoy your hobby but promote real medicine before advocating unproven nonsense. I don't think either of us have anything else to say on the subject do we.

Herbalism is not unproven nonsense as history can attest. By deriding herbalism to little more than a fanciful 'hobby' you come across as not only arrogant but rather childish too.

Qr