Friday 23 December 2016

Infection Control In The Modern Age

By Mark Wagner


Super germs are in the news today. The overuse of antibiotics is one reason that medical personnel are having trouble fighting germs. Another reason is the ease of travel. People can fly in from a distant country carrying a disease that there is little or no local resistance to. All this is scary, but there are effective means of infection control according to some alternative practitioners. Home remedies may be your best defense in the new millennium.

Antibiotics came on the scene like a miracle, making things like blood poisoning and gangrene only faint memories. However, they were not used only as medicine. Farmers began adding them to animal feed, and household products contained them as sanitizing agents. Doctors also began prescribing them for even minor illnesses, often in response to the patient's demands. This overdosing has caused some strains of bacteria to become resistant to the more common and readily available drugs.

This is of particular concern now that international travel is easy and there is unregulated immigration in many areas. People may have been infected with disease before they left home. Others may come from countries with little or no disease control and carry illnesses like tuberculosis. This disease had been almost eliminated in many areas, but it is now being seen again.

This is a frightening scenario, but alternative medicine may have answers. Natural therapists say that a strong immune system can handle any bacteria or virus. If the immune system becomes weakened, the body is vulnerable to contagion. Practitioners advocate a good diet of natural foods, an active lifestyle, a program of stress reduction, and the use of dietary supplements for prevention and treatment.

Immune system boosters have become big business. Probiotics, which are composed of beneficial bacteria to replenish the digestive tract, are considered essential. Vitamins C, A, and E have been researched extensively and shown to help the body's defenses stay strong. Herbs from all over the world have been used for centuries to handle every kind of illness and injury. Echinacea is used to fight colds, elderberry is good for the flu, and goldenseal as a mouth rinse fights gum disease. Minerals are also important; think of zinc lozenges.

One natural antibiotic, which bacteria are not resistant to, is silver. The mineral has been used as a purifying and healing agent since ancient times. Travelers used to put silver coins in milk to keep it fresh. Modern research confirms silver's antibacterial properties, and it is widely used in water purification and industry to keep bacteria from flourishing in tubes and pipes. It is considered a safe dietary supplement, although care must be taken to know the quality of preparation and the purity of the product.

Silver is considered safe up to a point. After that, people can actually turn blue from taking too much. However, the dosage must be very high and the usage extreme to suffer this reaction. If you are worried about your skin tone, it still might not be a bad idea to keep a bottle of colloidal silver on hand for emergency use. If you have a sore that won't heal or think you have come into contact with someone that has a serious and highly contagious disease, you can use silver as a temporary shield against infection.

Other folk cures include poultices, fresh goat's milk, mustard packs, and mega doses of vitamins. It might be smart to refresh your memory on the remedies your mother and grandmother used to keep their families healthy in by-gone days.




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