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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

DENNIS PATRICK: THE FLU MORE THAN EBOLA IS TO WATCHED FOR

It is making the rounds. Influenza, that is. Forget Ebola. You are far more likely to contract flu even though early stages of Ebola resemble flu symptoms.

 

Influenza is an acute and highly contagious disease caused by viruses. The disease may begin abruptly with fever. Or it may sneak up on its victim slowly exhibiting various symptoms including muscular aches and inflammation of the respiratory system. Its more severe forms may include bacterial pneumonia and bronchitis.

 

We are not the first people to experience the pillaging effects of flu. Nor are we the first people ever to seek remedies for flu. How did other people cope? They used old-time remedies.

 

Keeping in mind that flu is caused by a virus (and there is no way to eradicate a virus), treating the symptoms is the reasonable course of action. Nasal congestion, cough, headache, diarrhea, nausea -- folk remedies were thought to treat all of these. Do the remedies really work?

 

What follows is a bit of esoteric wildwood wisdom.

 

White wine whey is suggested as a general treatment for flu. In a pint of milk add mace, nutmeg, and cinnamon with sugar to taste. Heat the milk mixture to the boiling point. Remove and add one or two glasses of white wine. Continue to heat until the mixture curdles. Remove and set in a cool place until the curds settle. Strain through muslin. Administer the elixir to the patient.

 

A simpler medication consists of a brandy, egg and milk mixture served as a stimulant to induce perspiration. Give plenty of water.

 

Some relief from nausea might be achieved by drinking a cup of hot water before taking solid food.

 

Coughing is nature’s way of removing phlegm from the lungs. Anything to encourage this action will eventually alleviate the need to cough. One useful mixture is made from 5 oz. of honey, one quarter pound of treacle, and 7 oz. of vinegar. Mix and simmer for 15 minutes. While still warm, add 2 drams of ipecacuanha wine. Administer a tablespoon every 4 hours.

 

A simpler treatment is to drink hot liquids. Hot lemonade or hot tea will help break the phlegm and move it out of the lungs.

 

Breaking a fever calls for the use of a compound spirit of balm. The spirit is distilled from 8 oz. of balm, 4 oz. of lemon peel, 2 oz. each of nutmeg and caraway seeds, and 1 oz. each of angelica root, cinnamon, and cloves. Add a quart of brandy and use as a stimulant.

 

Treat diarrhea as follows. Knead wheat flower with water, put into a linen cloth, and tie firmly. Boil in a pan of water slowly for 12 hours. Remove, dry, and peel away the thick rind after removing the cloth. Dry again. Grate a tablespoonful of the ball, boil with a pint of milk and administer.

 

For a sinus headache, one recommendation calls for simmering equal parts of water and cider vinegar and inhaling the fumes. A variation on this uses equal parts of water and ammonia. Inhale the fumes.

 

Here is another option for curing headaches. Have the patient sit down. You then place your right hand at the base of the patient’s skull and your left hand on his or her forehead.  Leave your hands in position quietly for a few minutes and the headaches will subside. Advocates claim that the hands are slightly polarized and generate a weak electric current thereby sorting out the “messed up” circuitry in the head.  I am not sure about that. Some folks swear by it.

 

Are these remedies effective? In 1918, one of the worst worldwide flu epidemics since the Black Death of the mid-1300s killed over 21 million people. That amounted to 1 percent of the world’s population. This epidemic, although it originated in China, afflicted over 80 percent of the population in Spain thus giving it the name “Spanish” influenza.

 

Spanish flu reached the United States on August 27 when two Boston-based sailors reported to their ship’s sick bay. By August 31, 106 sailors on the ship contracted the flu. By mid-September the flu had spread throughout the East Coast. Emergency tent hospitals were erected to handle the overflow from regular hospital facilities. Deaths from the flu exhausted the coffin supplies in Baltimore and Washington. Before the epidemic ran its course, 25 percent of the US population would fall ill and 500,000 would die.

 

I mulled over this information comparing the home remedies and folk medicine with the epidemic of 1918. If home remedies were so effective, why did they not contain the epidemic and spare so much misery? I thought it a fair question. Bottom line: statistically, modern medicine brings improved results dealing with influenza.

 

It was not until 1933 that the flu virus was isolated and identified. Today, flu vaccine can confer temporary immunity and certainly ameliorate flu symptoms.

 

Flu, not Ebola, may be in your future. However, a flu shot may help lessen the effects of the flu – home remedies not withstanding.

 

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

 

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