Thanks to the wonders of medicine I'm on the mend this morning, having an arsenal of decongestent pills, sprays, fever reducers, pain medicine and antibiotics working for me.
As with many drugs there are a variety of side effects. I noticed my ears were ringing and found my blood pressure had gone to 130/100 yesterday. That's one of the side effects of antihistamines and nasal decongestants according to this Mayo Clinic brochure.
We stop taking drugs when the side effects begin to outweigh the benefits.
As good old Ben Franklin said, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I'm thinking a good preventative strategy would be to live in an area less conducive to the growth of mold and mildew. Somewhere in the high desert would be good. Anyplace drier than this would probably help. Since I'm not in a position to pack up my yurt and move right now I'll have to think of plan b.
I'm going to try some alternative medicine. A friend recommended I try some propolis, also called "bee glue". This NIH summary says of propolis -
"Propolis is a multifunctional material used by bees in the construction and maintenance of their hives. Use of propolis by humans has a long history, predated only by the discovery of honey. Use of products containing propolis have resulted in extensive dermal contact and it is now increasingly being used a dietary supplement. Unlike many 'natural' remedies, there is a substantive database on the biological activity and toxicity of propolis indicating it may have many antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral and antitumour properties, among other attributes. Although reports of allergic reactions are not uncommon, propolis is relatively non-toxic, with a no-effect level (NOEL) in a 90-mouse study of 1400 mg/kg body weight/day."
I've been interested in alternatives to traditional Western medicine since watching Bill Moyer's Healing and the Mind
on PBS and reading the companion book.Have you ever wondered why it is that when you visit a Doctor you feel better just by showing up? This has happened to me over the years, I feel bad, but by the time I get to the Doctor's office, I've already started to recover.
It's an example of your mind effecting your body. Your brain associates doctors with healing and the process of setting up the appointment, sitting in the waiting room and then the examination room (smelling the alcohol and other unique scents) causes your immune system to begin ramping up and you start to feel better.
The University of Rochester Review talks about the mind/body connection work done by neourobiologists David Felten and Robert Ader.
One of Robert Ader's breakthrough discoveries came through a study of rats response to Cytoxan, a drug that suppresses the immune system and causes belly aches. Ader's experiment was to give rats Cytoxan mixed with sugar water for a period of time, then remove the Cytoxan and give them pure sugar water to see how long they associated sweet water with belly aches.
Diversion -
Not sure how the researchers determined a rat knew he or she was going to get a belly ache from drinking sweet water. I can picture a rat thinking...
"Oh boy I know I shouldn't be drinking this sugar water but it tastes so good."
or maybe talking to the researchers -
"Hey you! The guy in the white lab coat, yeah you - get me some Pepto Bismol wil ya?"
Back to the story...
An interesting and unexpected side effect was that the rats began to die after the Cytoxan had been replaced by sugar water. Their minds/nervous system associated Cytoxan with immune system suppression and caused the suppression after the drug had been removed. They were exhibiting a Pavlovian response...same as we do. This University of Rochester Review article describes how this research with rats led to an application for a human being.
In this case a young girl had a hyperactive immune system that was attacking her body. Because of the adverse side effects, the doctors didn't want to give her Cytoxan long term so they created a strong correlation between her sense of smell and taste and administration of the drug intravenously.
This was done by giving her rose perfume to sniff and a bit of icky tasting cod liver oil to sip during the administration of the Cytoxan.
As the article states,
"Once a month, accordingly, she received Cytoxan intravenously, sipped (ugh!) the cod liver oil, and sniffed the perfume, all the while calling up in her mind the image of a rose. In the fourth month, she drank the oil, sniffed the perfume, and conjured up the rose, without the Cytoxan. By the end of the year, she had received only half the total dosage she would ordinarily have been given, with the same results as from a full drug regimen.
Surviving the disease and subsequently in college, whenever she was in need of an immune suppressant, she imagined a rose."
