Home Flu Cures: Bad Medicine?

• NOVEMBER 3, 2009

By MELINDA BECK

Heard the one about the raw onion?

With concerns over the H1N1 flu rising and supplies of vaccine running scarce, it's no surprise that alternative remedies are circulating on the Web.

During the flu epidemic of 1918 that killed 40 million people, one widely circulated email relates, a doctor visiting a farmhouse where everyone stayed healthy observed that the family kept an unpeeled onion in each room. He examined one under a microscope and saw that the onion had indeed absorbed flu virus.

Alan Witschonke

Folk remedies for the flu abound on the Web. They range from placing a raw onion in the room or garlic in the pocket to washing the ear out with hydrogen peroxide to drinking hot liquids with all kinds of additives, including honey and vinegar.

The same email mentions a modern-day hairdresser whose employees stopped getting the flu after she placed onions around the shop, and a pneumonia sufferer who put a raw onion in a jar by the bed and woke up feeling much better, though the onion was a rotting mess.

This and other folk remedies are sparking a volley of discussion on blogs and bulletin boards. Some posters are adding their own twists, such as chopping or boiling the onion and inhaling it with a towel over the head. "You sir are a saviour," wrote one on the Web site abovetopsecret.com. "Me and my 13 month old daughter have been sick for a week. Boiled some onions and left them on the coffee table for an hour, she is now walking around and I feel so much better. Thanks."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the officially sanctioned vaccine is the only proven way to prevent the H1N1 virus, and the antiviral drugs oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are among the few proven ways to shorten its duration. "There is no scientific evidence that any herbal, homeopathic or other folk remedies have any benefit against influenza," the CDC says.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has adopted a "no tolerance" policy on bogus H1N1 claims, has sent 75 warning letters to marketers of products that claim to fight the virus, from air filters purporting to neutralize sneezes to counterfeit Tamiflu. "We feel these products pose a serious threat to the public health, not only because people can get a false sense of protection and not seek appropriate care, but because some may do actual harm," says Gary Coody, the FDA's national health fraud coordinator.

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INFORMATION EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW........................

INFORMATION EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW........................ B lood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue I will continue to forward this every time it comes around! STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R. My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read: STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this... A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally . He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S * Ask the individual to SMILE. T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out today.) R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved. I have done my part. Will you?

Points To Ponder

Points to ponder!!!!!!!!!!!

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard? Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat? Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough? Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet? Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'? What is the speed of darkness? Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours? Are there specially reserved parking spaces for 'normal' people at the Special Olympics? If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be? Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer? How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage? Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground? Did you ever stop and wonder...... Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?' Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's bum.' Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat? Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer? Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is? Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway? Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs! If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests? If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from? If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons? Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? Stop singing and read on....... Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup? Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window? Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster? Do you ever wonder why you gave me your e-mail address in the first place?

When Old Flames Beckon Online

• OCTOBER 6, 2009

By ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN

Is it really a good idea to "friend" our old flames and crushes online?

Ask Joy Moore, who recently went searching for her first love on the Internet. In 1974, he was captain of the high-school football team—tall, handsome, with mutton-chop sideburns that Ms. Moore says were "all the rage at the time." He took her to church events and taught her how to kiss. Then he moved away.

Flash ahead 30-odd years. When Ms. Moore saw her old love's name on Facebook, she says she felt "that little flutter" in her chest.

Until she saw his picture. "He had a beard down to his belly and looked just like one of the members of ZZ Top," says Ms. Moore, 49 years old, an executive coach in Albuquerque, N.M. "His accomplishment for the year was being the local darts champ."

Think about it. We went years without reconnecting, and everything was fine. But now, thanks to social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, our old lovers are essentially popping up in our own homes. It's like having a secret stash of ice cream in the freezer. Even if it's a little stale, it can be hard to resist.

After all, we're talking about the first person we had a crush on, or kissed, or cried over, or had sex with, or took home to Mom, or maybe even married. No wonder we're curious.

Perhaps we want to ponder the road not taken. Or maybe we're searching for forgiveness—or vindication. If we are single, or unhappy in a current relationship, we might be looking for someone who was attracted to us at one time because, so the theory goes, they could be attracted to us again.

Or we may be looking for closure. "My ex-husband found me on Facebook, and I said sure, what the heck, and friended him," says Lisa Bakken, a 45-year-old business manager in Grand Lake, Colo., who was married for five years. "When the wall posted 'Lisa and Oddvar are now friends,' I thought it was hysterical. It's about time!"

Many of us are simply nostalgic. Contacting an old flame allows you to "look back fondly on that innocent time in your life when you didn't have any significant responsibilities," says Georgi Chase, 45, of Novato, Calif., who works at a consulting firm and looked up an old boyfriend through a networking site. "You can go back and rediscover your 19-year-old self and wonder what she would think of the 45-year-old you."

That's all fine and dandy. But I warn you: You are playing with fire.>>>

Save the Light Bulb!

• AUGUST 30, 2009, 7:19 P.M. ET

By HOWARD M. BRANDSTON

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will effectively phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2012-2014 in favor of compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs. Other countries around the world have passed similar legislation to ban most incandescents.

Will some energy be saved? Probably. The problem is this benefit will be more than offset by rampant dissatisfaction with lighting. We are not talking about giving up a small luxury for the greater good. We are talking about compromising light. Light is fundamental. And light is obviously for people, not buildings. The primary objective in the design of any space is to make it comfortable and habitable. This is most critical in homes, where this law will impact our lives the most. And yet while energy conservation, a worthy cause, has strong advocacy in public policy, good lighting has very little.

Even without taking into account people's preferences, CFLs, which can be an excellent choice for some applications, are simply not an equivalent technology to incandescents in all applications. For example, if you have dimmers used for home theater or general ambience, you must buy a compatible dimmable CFL, which costs more, and even then it may not work as desired on your dimmers. How environmental will it be for frustrated homeowners to remove and dispose of thousands of dimmers? What's more, CFLs work best in light fixtures designed for CFLs, and may not fit, provide desired service life, or distribute light in the same pleasing pattern as incandescents. How environmental will it be for homeowners to tear out and install new light fixtures?

None of these and other considerations appear to have been included in the technical justification for this law. Instead, the decision appears to have been made entirely based on a perception of efficiency gains. Light-source efficacy, expressed as lumens of light output per watt of electrical input, has been used as a comparative metric justifying encouragement of CFLs. But this metric is flawed for one simple reason: It is a laboratory measurement and a guide, not a truth, in the field; actual energy performance will depend on numerous application characteristics and product quality.

If energy conservation were to be the sole goal of energy policy, and efficacy were to be the sole technical consideration, then why CFLs? If we really want to save energy, we would advocate high-pressure sodium lamps—those large bulbs that produce bright orangish light in many streetlights. Their efficacy is more than double what CFLs can offer. Of course this would not be tolerated by the public. This choice shows that we are willing to advocate bad lighting—but not horrible lighting.

Not yet, at least. Energy regulations pending>>>

Gut Reaction: 'Good' Microbes Under Attack

• AUGUST 18, 2009, 5:23 A.M. ET

By BARBARA MARTINEZ

Add this to the list of reasons why you should be cautious about taking antibiotics: Some of these drugs may permanently wipe out the "good" bugs in your gut that fight off the "bad" ones.

In tests on mice, Vincent Young at the University of Michigan Medical School found that a certain antibiotic permanently decreased the diversity of the animals' "microbiota"—the trillions of microscopic bugs that inhabit the gut and which may be very beneficial.

The study was published in June in the journal Infection and Immunity.

"We may be doing long-term damage to our close friends," said Dr. Young, 46 years old, referring to the good bugs.

Dr. Young, who is an assistant professor in the school's departments of internal medicine and microbiology and immunology, has spent the past several years studying communities of microbes found in the gut—the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the mouth, the stomach and the intestines.

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Zakir Naik - Questions and Answers (Urdu) (5/26)