Flu Home Remedies

[Jason Thompson]

The point being made, LionKing, is that most common medicines are natural products. Just because something has been refined in a factory and packaged in pure form does not alter its origin. Aspirin, paracetamol, and similar commercially available cold and flu remedies are as much 'natural' products as sugar is. You don't find the sugar you put in your tea in crystalline form in nature, but it still is just a natural product refined and packaged.

[Echnaton]

I was comparing how different people react to flu. from the replies, there is use of medication rather than trying home remedies of natural products

What is "natural" about any home remedy?  What is "natural" about "is sweating..wrap yourself and dress heavily."  What is "unnatural"  about acetaminophen, cough syrup, or pseudoephedrine?  The vague and arbitrary way most people use the word "natural" is a strong indication it is a marketing term to convey an emotional connection rather than a science term that relates to the actual natural world. 

[Andromeda]

In addition to what Jason has said, I'd like to point out that "natural" does not necessarily mean "good" or "effective".

After all, arsenic is natural - although I suppose you wouldn't need to suffer with the flu for much longer if you consumed enough of it...

[Zakalwe]

from the replies, there is use of medication rather than trying home remedies of natural products

Aspirin IS a "natural" remedy. Salicylic acid, the active ingredient of aspirin, was first discovered from the bark of the willow tree in 1763 by Edward Stone of Wadham College, University of Oxford. It makes absolutely no difference if the compound was synthesised in a plant cell or in an industrial process. Its the same compound!

I don't suppose you have a tattoo of a pixie secreted anywhere about your body, do you? 

[LionKing]

Andromeda
I am talking about the effective known methods

for the rest,
yes medicines are composed of natural products but some synthetic issues might not be good for the liver and have adverse effects

Yes, certain natural remedies are available and packaged and might have side effects. what I wanted to compare is the interference of the synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals so-to-speak in remedies rather than trying available home products that don't have side effects

[Zakalwe]

Andromeda
I am talking about the effective known methods

for the rest,
yes medicines are composed of natural products but some synthetic issues might not be good for the liver and have adverse effects

Yes, certain natural remedies are available and packaged and might have side effects. what I wanted to compare is the interference of the synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals so-to-speak in remedies rather than trying available home products that don't have side effects

"Synthetic chemicals"  Compounds are compounds. It makes not one jot of difference where they are synthesised.

I'd best walk away from this thread as the pseudo-science and "chemicals bad, natural good" is making my brain want to escape via my ears....

[LionKing]

harmful synthetic chemicals .. you know that medicine has those

at any rates I am not trying to enforce anything on anyone .. you are free to choose what you want. I was just comparing what is done in different cultures . I couldn't see drinking tea with lemon or boiling lemon and sweating as traditional methods used as is done here, although people are moving more towards Panadol Flu. I am just against certain drugs used that might have side effects and certain reactions with other medicines while the alternative is available.

[Zakalwe]

"Synthetic chemicals"  Compounds are compounds. It makes not one jot of difference where they are synthesised.

harmful synthetic chemicals .. you know that medicine has those

.  <My point
                                                                                                                                     You>.

 

[Echnaton]

harmful synthetic chemicals .. you know that medicine has those

Can you say which word in the phrase "harmful synthetic chemicals" you are talking about?  Is it the "harmful, "  "synthetic" or the "chemicals" part that concerns you?  I ask this because there is no scientific difference between "natural" and "synthetic."  It is an artificial distinction.  As long as you make these vague questions, you will never get a satisfactory answer from anyone.

at any rates I am not trying to enforce anything on anyone .. you are free to choose what you want.

Ya, we got that, and it is a dodge of a response. 

I was just comparing what is done in different cultures . I couldn't see drinking tea with lemon or boiling lemon and sweating as traditional methods used as is done here, although people are moving more towards Panadol Flu. I am just against certain drugs used that might have side effects and certain reactions with other medicines while the alternative is available.

Is this a sociological query or a medicine question?  Please clarify.  If the former, are you just interested in old folk remedies?  If the latter, as is implied by your query, then tradition is irrelevant and safety and efficacy are what matter.   If a folk remedy has no efficacy then the absence of side effects are irrelevant, are they not?  So please tell us which traditional methods you think are effective and why?  Why do you think sweating out a fever is either effective or has no deleterious effects? 

[Andromeda]

Andromeda
I am talking about the effective known methods

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/557094-i-m-sorry-herbal-medicine-oh-herbal-medicine-s-been-around-for

[twik]

My grandmother's recommended cure for a cough was to crush up eggshells, soak them in brandy overnight, and then strain and drink the brandy. Possibly there might be some helpful protein or calcium compound that leaches out. Or it might be the brandy that does the trick by itself.

I find putting a dollop of Vicks into a pot of water taken off the stove and inhaling the steam (or even just putting it into a sink of hot water), does a good job of decongestion.

Of course, neither of these "cure" influenza, they just make the symptoms of the infection easier to bear.

My grandmother had an interesting book of remedies from the early 1900s. Apparently, a good cup of beef broth was helpful, if not a perfect cure, for all ailments up to and including Black Death. (I cannot explain the authors' criminal disregard of chicken soup.)

[Echnaton]

My grandmother's recommended cure for a cough was to crush up eggshells, soak them in brandy overnight, and then strain and drink the brandy. Possibly there might be some helpful protein or calcium compound that leaches out. Or it might be the brandy that does the trick by itself.

I find putting a dollop of Vicks into a pot of water taken off the stove and inhaling the steam (or even just putting it into a sink of hot water), does a good job of decongestion.

Of course, neither of these "cure" influenza, they just make the symptoms of the infection easier to bear.

My grandmother had an interesting book of remedies from the early 1900s. Apparently, a good cup of beef broth was helpful, if not a perfect cure, for all ailments up to and including Black Death. (I cannot explain the authors' criminal disregard of chicken soup.)

That is just it, home remedies address the symptoms.  Just as taking most over the counter medicines do.  But for knocking down a fever, nothing works for me as well as ibuprofen.  Even if it doesn't come with the extra dose of a grandmothers love.


When in need of a home remedy,  I make matzo balls.  Then throw a few veggies in fully salted chicken broth while the matzo cooks. Then add the matzo and feel better.    In fact I may have this for dinner tonight as flu season is coming on.  You can't be too prepared.

[Jason Thompson]

what I wanted to compare is the interference of the synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals so-to-speak in remedies rather than trying available home products that don't have side effects

Home remedies DO have side effects. The only difference is that they are not as well-documented as those in commercial remedies. Regulations require side effects to be documented and listed on pack information for all commercial products. Because something is natural does not mean it has no side effects.

Deliberately increasing your body temperature by wrapping yourself up so you sweat does far more than deal with the flu. It is artificially giving you a fever, and heating up your system has a LOT of effects. Just because they weren't listed in a leaflet doesn't mean they were not there.

[Jason Thompson]

harmful synthetic chemicals .. you know that medicine has those

There is NO difference between a synthetic and naturally occurring form of a chemical. Home remedies also have harmful natural chemicals. If I mash up a plant product known to contain a good remedy for a sore throat and ingest it I take in EVERYTHING that plant contains. Not everything in a herbal remedy is good for you, it's a balance of the therapeutic products and the harmful ones.

There is also the point that 'chemicals' can be harmful in certain quantities but very beneficial in others. Or it could be related to the combinations. Try ingesting sodium or inhaling chlorine and you'll be dead in a short period. Try going without salt, which is sodium chloride, and you'll be just as dead. You simply cannot say 'natural' remedies are good because they are natural, and commercial ones are bad because they contain synthetic chemicals.

[gillianren]

I have a lot of friends who would be dead without "harmful artificial chemicals."  Heck, to the idiots who lump vaccines into that label, I might be, too.  We live in a much healthier world because of the existence of "harmful artificial chemicals."