We all know that echinacea is crap, but...

[Jas]

... is there anything that can stave off illness?

I think I might be coming down with strep, or some other throat disease, and I really don't have the ability to take the time off work.

Short of drinking (alcohol kills germs :)), is there any sort of non-woo remedy that could possibly stay the onset of illness?

Please?

[Zygar]

... is there anything that can stave off illness?

I think I might be coming down with strep, or some other throat disease, and I really don't have the ability to take the time off work.

Short of drinking (alcohol kills germs :)), is there any sort of non-woo remedy that could possibly stay the onset of illness?

Please?

You could try cryogenic stasis... oh, you said non-woo.

[Dogdoctor]

Too late now. There are antiviral drugs that can stave off viral infections but for strep throat the treatment is antibiotics. Avoiding getting sick might be a better plan. Eat well, exercise well and wash your hands a lot. My recent attempt to head off an illness seemed to have an effect in decreasing the symptoms. What I did is to raise my body temperature by covering up till I was uncomfortably hot. It seemed to immediately reduce symptoms but the duration of illness seems unchanged. No science other than theory that organisms prefer to live at temperatures similar to your normal body temperatures. Raising your body temperature may affect that however I have no clue if this is safe or effective but appeared to have an effect for me (and I did not die.....so far)

[fuelair]

Too late now. There are antiviral drugs that can stave off viral infections but for strep throat the treatment is antibiotics. Avoiding getting sick might be a better plan. Eat well, exercise well and wash your hands a lot. My recent attempt to head off an illness seemed to have an effect in decreasing the symptoms. What I did is to raise my body temperature by covering up till I was uncomfortably hot. It seemed to immediately reduce symptoms but the duration of illness seems unchanged. No science other than theory that organisms prefer to live at temperatures similar to your normal body temperatures. Raising your body temperature may affect that however I have no clue if this is safe or effective but appeared to have an effect for me (and I did not die.....so far)
I ONCE stopped a flu attack in its' tracks by doing an expanded version of that - electric heater - non thermostat-full on, small room, heavy covers, no cold air source. . Don't know what temp I reached but at 5:30 the next morning I woke drenched but flu free.

[Jas]

So the plan now is to get drunk and hot.

Good times!

Thank you!

[This Guy]

My standard cure all is a 50/50 mix of Tequila and Orange juice.

I figure the vitamin C is good for you, but can't drink Orange juice straight. ;)

I could tell about the time I had to do PT in a cold CT. rain, and used this mixture that night to stave off an impending cold. But I won't.

I'll just say that even if it doesn't cure anything, you don't care as much, for awhile :D

[Eos of the Eons]

If you don't mind stinking for a few days, down some garlic with a spicy ceasar (lots of tobasco). Then drink lots of gatorade for a day while bunking under blankies. My throat usually clears up quickly with this night and day regime. Drink ceasars at night with chopped garlic, and gatorade during the day. Breath really stinks though. If you have to work, then skip the garlic. If I don't have Ceasar mixings, then I'll down the garlic with ginger ale laced with 3 drops of tobasco at the first sign of a sore throat. Don't know if it's non-woo, since I can't conduct any proper controlled trials.

To avoid getting sick, wash your hands a lot. Wash your hands before you eat, wash your hands before touching your eyes, blah blah. Eat healthy, stay active. Get your flu shot.

And tobasco seems to help stave off infections in chickens for various reasons:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010820071840.htm

Maybe it will help kill those cocci in yer throat too.

[Jas]

Maybe it will help kill those cocci in yer throat too.

I completely misread that sentence.

But any remedy that includes Caesars is ok with me!

[Eos of the Eons]

I completely misread that sentence.

But any remedy that includes Caesars is ok with me!
:D I always mispell Caesars.


Can't imagine how that sentence could be misread ;)

[Badger]

Relax and rest.

There's not much else you can do except help your immune system do it's job to the best of its ability.

[NeilC]

North American Ginseng?

http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0001818/35/

[Jas]

So I'm at work, and I sound like a frog. This, I've been assured, is DEAD SEXY.

Copious amounts of Nyquil = :)

[Old man]

I could tell about the time I had to do PT - in a cold CT. rain...
It's Kentucky rain, man. :D

[Scotty B]

We all know echinacea is crap...
I've heard this many times and I found an article (http://www.wiredberries.com/features/2006/12/mythbusters_echinacea.asp) that references a 2005 study in The New England Journal of Medicine, but does anybody have any other good info on this? My reason for inquiring is that my mom still wastes money on it and I'd like to show her some evidence and I need more info if I'm going to explain to her that it doesn't work. Any good resources on this?

Oh and I think I remember it being mentioned once or twice on the Skeptic's Guide how the whole Echinacea thing got started, but I may be confusing it with something else. Anybody have info on this as well?

[Mongrel]

I've heard this many times and I found an article (http://www.wiredberries.com/features/2006/12/mythbusters_echinacea.asp) that references a 2005 study in The New England Journal of Medicine, but does anybody have any other good info on this? My reason for inquiring is that my mom still wastes money on it and I'd like to show her some evidence and I need more info if I'm going to explain to her that it doesn't work. Any good resources on this?

Oh and I think I remember it being mentioned once or twice on the Skeptic's Guide how the whole Echinacea thing got started, but I may be confusing it with something else. Anybody have info on this as well?

Bandolier has a glowing report of a high quality study (here (http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band109/b109-7.html)) done in 2002. Generally if there's any good studies that refute previous findings they're happy to report it.

[Lisa Simpson]

Here's a study of the echinacea studies (http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/march9/med-echinacea-030905.html).

And here's another study - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16049208&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum

[hgc]

To avoid getting sick, wash your hands a lot. Wash your hands before you eat, wash your hands before touching your eyes, blah blah. Eat healthy, stay active. Get your flu shot.
This bears repeating. During the day, think of every situation where your hands touch something that someone else's hands touched (starting with hand-shaking). In between those instances and when you get to wash your hands, don't touch your face. Carry Purell around with you, though nothing tops good old soap and hot water.

[Hamradioguy]

This bears repeating. During the day, think of every situation where your hands touch something that someone else's hands touched (starting with hand-shaking). In between those instances and when you get to wash your hands, don't touch your face.

One of the radiological response courses I took long ago had a section on contamination and decontamination. Before starting the lesson the instructor would talk about a funny joke someone sent him. He had typed it up and passed the paper around for all the students to read. Then well into his lecture on how easy it was for radioactive contamination to be spread around he announced that he had placed a powder that glows under ultraviolet light on the paper that had the joke on it. (You've probably seen this powder used on various CSI episodes.) The room lights were darkened and he walked among the students with a UV light. It was funny to see just where peoples hands had roamed in a half hour or so, although the butt scratchers and nose pickers among the students were generally not amused.

Hand washing, even with plain water would seem to be far more beneficial than echinacea.

[Dancing David]

So I'm at work, and I sound like a frog. This, I've been assured, is DEAD SEXY.

Copious amounts of Nyquil = :)



Don't overdose! it has tylenol in it!

:)

[Dancing David]

I think echinacea is helpful in preventing colds, it thickens the mucos.

[Lisa Simpson]

I think echinacea is helpful in preventing colds, it thickens the mucos.

Evidence?

[hgc]

Evidence?
He said...

I think...What more evidence do you need. Scientism run amok!

:D

[Dancing David]

Evidence?

Just anecdotal, echinacea causes me to have more mucus, health practioner who are into alternate medicine have poo-poo-ed me on that. But it keeps my throat from drying out and makes my nose run.

But that is just me, nothing more, it helps me cough up stuff like giutx.

No evidence, sorry.

[Dancing David]

He said...

What more evidence do you need. Scientism run amok!

:D

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