Skip to main content

It's Like they Want us to Stay Sick

Popping the Umcka Cold Care pills has made me feel a lot better. I'm still coughing, but no longer wondering if I should see someone.

And what if I did see a doctor? According to official websites like the Mayo Clinic, WebMD, and MedlinePlus.gov, you should "wash your hands," "use a humidifier," "wear a face mask," and "stop smoking" if you have bronchitis--which it says is "rarely" caused by infection. Are they writing this for people in Somalia? I already wash my hands and I've never smoked in my life. Use a humidifier? I live in Indiana, where it's so wet that we need dehumidifiers. "Wear a face mask"? Why not put some leaches on, too? I work in an office in the US, not a construction site or the middle of a forest fire.

Of course, the ubiquitous advice is "see your doctor." Which you'll need to do if you try to cure your bronchitis with hand washing and a face mask. "Stop smoking" is good advice, but everybody already knows that. Your doctor can prescribe a bronchodilator, which doesn't sound like cure but a treatment you'll have to go back for. The sites have sections on "living with bronchitis." Cynics might call it "becoming a revenue stream for your doctor."

None of these sites mentions Pelargonium sidoides in their bronchitis sections. One that mentions it elsewhere on their site doesn't exactly give it a ringing endorsement. This, despite clinical trials showing it's effective in treating bronchitis, and that it works because it's antibacterial, antiviral, and cranks up your immune system. In other words, it might cure you.

Sources:
https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2008/03/28/a-cure-for-the-common-cold/
https://familydoctor.org/condition/chronic-bronchitis/?adfree=true
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1135/umckaloabo
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bronchitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355566
https://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-bronchitis-basics#1
Labels:

Comments

Larcana said…
Two things helped me the most with "colds" first a DPT vaccine, second a very low carb diet. Haven't had a cold or 'allergy" attack in 12 years.
Best of luck.
September 08, 2019
Lori Miller said…
Interesting. I had a tetanus shot back in 2012 when I had my bike accident; it hasn't seemed to help.
September 08, 2019
Larcana said…
Tetanus is a nasty infection caused by soil dwelling bacteria and the "shot was probably to assist your immune system to avoid the infection. If you had contracted the infection you would have been given anti-toxin instead.
Pertussis is also, a nasty, intracellular dwelling bacteria and can linger in the throat for years. So, that is why I recommend people get this vaccine. It does help most people.
As a humble doc I cannot insist in these but there is ample evidence they help.
September 10, 2019
Lori Miller said…
Right, I didn't have tetanus, just road rash.

I'm prone to upper respiratory infections; maybe I should get this shot once I'm completely well. I'm still on the mend.
September 10, 2019
Larcana said…
I hope you feel better soon!
September 11, 2019
Lori Miller said…
Thanks, Larcana.
September 11, 2019
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Long-Term Experience Eating Safe (and Other) Starches

Years ago, before the Perfect Health Diet came out, I followed a program that involved eating quite a bit "safe starch." It was called Body for Life. It involved eating six small servings of carbohydrate along with six small servings of protein, plus two servings of fibrous vegetables per day. (A serving was the size of your fist or the palm of your hand.) There were six workouts a week (three weightlifting, three cardio) and one free day every week where you ate whatever you wanted and didn't exercise. In all fairness, these two programs are different: BFL allows certain grains, legumes and low-fat dairy and discourages fat. It doesn't call for a wheelbarrow full of vegetation. Nevertheless, my experience eating lots of fruit and lots of starch is relevant to the PHD because the amount and type of digestible carbohydrates are similar, and for the first few years, I didn't eat wheat except on free days. At first on BFL, I felt great. Before, I was continually...
17 comments
Read more

Blog Lineup Change

Bye-bye, Fathead. I've enjoyed the blog, but can't endorse the high-fat, high-carb Perfect Health Diet that somehow makes so much sense to some otherwise bright people. An astrophysicist makes some rookie mistakes on a LC diet, misdiagnoses them, makes up "glucose deficiency," and creates a diet that's been shown in intervention studies to increase small LDL, which can lead to heart disease. A computer programmer believes in the diet and doesn't seem eager to refute it because, perhaps, scientists are freakin' liars and while he's good at spotting logical inconsistencies, lacks some intermediate knowledge of human biology. To Tom's credit, he says it's not the right diet for everyone, but given the truckload of food that has to be prepared and eaten, impracticality of following it while traveling (or even not traveling), and unsuitability for FODMAPs sufferers, diabetics and anyone prone to heart disease (i.e., much of the population), I'm...
24 comments
Read more

Carrageenan: A Sickening Thickener. Is it a Migraine Menace?

Let me tell you about my ride in an ambulance last night. I woke up at six o'clock from a nap with a mild headache. I ate dinner and took my vitamins, along with a couple of extra magnesium pills. Since magnesium helps my TMJ flare-ups, I thought it might help my headache. Then I went to see my mother. A few hours later, I had a severe headache, sinus pain and nausea. During a brief respite from the pain, I left for home, but less than a mile later, I got out of my car and threw up. A cop, Officer Fisher, pulled up behind me and asked if I was okay. He believed me when he said I hadn't been drinking, but he said I seemed lethargic and he wanted the paramedics to see me. (Later he mentioned that a man he'd recently stopped was having a stroke.) Thinking I had a migraine headache, the paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital. But since I knew that doctors don't know what causes migraine headaches, and I didn't know what effect their medicine would have on m...
15 comments
Read more