When There Is No Penicillin

May you live in interesting times.

That quote is often purported to be a Chinese curse, but a little internet research revealed that apparently the Chinese don’t actually have a saying anything like that. 

It doesn’t matter.  Our lives will become interesting pretty soon.

As mentioned several times previously on this blog, we—actually the entire world—are almost entirely dependent on antibiotics from China.  Rosemary Gibson, author of “China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine, warned us three years ago of the perils of relying on China to cure our ills.[1]  The situation hasn’t improved, and I’d say the day China decides to take back Taiwan is getting ever closer.  As is the day that the world decides the dollar is worthless.  As is the day that China cuts off our access to essential antibiotics.  When we’re in the middle (or beginning!) of a war.  And if history repeats itself again, it will resemble the wars before it—more people die of starvation and disease than from actual combat. 

And as I noted in “Penicillin Primer for Preppers,” 

...[P]enicillin doesn't make the top five or ten list of antibiotics to stockpile for most physicians.  It's a narrow-spectrum antibiotic to which many bacteria have developed resistance.  However, it does have a couple of significant advantages.  The first is that penicillin penetrates very well into the central nervous system.  It's a good choice for bacterial meningitis infections.  The second is that it is considered safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

I have two daughters-in-law and one daughter about to be married, and all of them are hoping and planning for large families.  Making sure we can safely treat any infections they may develop is a top priority.

First off, let’s just rid ourselves of the notion that people will be able to DIY some penicillin when the need arises.  The reasons why this isn’t a great idea are outlined in the DIY penicillin article linked below.

As mentioned in the afore-mentioned “Penicillin Primer” article:

When treating various bacterial infections with penicillin, physicians will prescribe along the lines of the following:

·        cutaneous anthrax, 500 mg every 6 hours, for 10 days in "normal" situations, or up to 60 days in the case of bioterrorism

·        diphtheria, 250-500 mg every 6 hours, for 14 days

·        dog [and cat] bites, 500 mg every six hours, for 3-5 days

·        ear infection, 250-500 mg every 6 hours, until there has been no fever for at least 2 days

·        scarlet fever, 250 mg every 6 hours, for 10 days

·        upper respiratory tract, including sore throat due to bacterial infection, 250-500 mg every 6 hours, until there has been no fever for at least 2 days

Penicillin is also used to manage:

• dental abscesses[2] 
• cellulitis[3] 
• erysipelas[4] 
• peritonsillar abscess[5] 
• listeria (intravenous)
• trench mouth[6] 
• endometritis (“childbirth fever”)[7] 
• bacterial meningitis. 

(The only treatment for bacterial meningitis is administration of intravenous penicillin.  There are no known substitutes.  No “fish” antibiotics.  IV penicillin is available through All Day Chemist.)

So you take a look at this list of illnesses and realize that you don’t have enough penicillin on hand.  Maybe it was used to treat other illnesses.  Maybe it was destroyed in an accident.  Maybe you should have stored more.  Regardless, you recognize that the remaining penicillin supply has to be carefully rationed.  How do we do this?

1. Accept that many common infections will resolve without using antibiotics at all.  Healthy people do not need antibiotics to eliminate ear infections or strep throat.  Of course, it hurts a lot more that way.  Earaches can be on the same pain level as childbirth.  Turn to herbal remedies instead.   

2.  For illnesses that may not resolve without an antibiotic, a physician can substitute a different antibiotic in order to conserve the penicillin for those who need it. Fortunately, the US now apparently has some domestic production of amoxicillin and Augmentin.  Keflex is also commonly used instead of penicillin for some illnesses.

3.  We have herbs!  (And other natural substances.)  When using herbs we have to select one that works on the affected tissue.  It’s not enough to pick an herb off a list like the top 10 herbs for bacterial illness.  We have to also make sure the herb works on the tissue affected.

• Dental/oral:  Japanese barberry, thyme,
• Gastrointestinal:  blackberry, Japanese barberry, juniper
• Respiratory: blackberry, catnip, Japanese barberry, juniper, lomatium, thyme, usnea,
• Skin:  blackberry, elder, Japanese barberry, juniper, usnea, honey, sugar, moldy bread.
• Urogenital: Japanese barberry, juniper, usnea

4.  We have potentiators!  (MS Word says I just made up the word “potentiator.”  Whatever.)  We have substances that potentiate penicillin—make it more effective and get it to the tissue it needs to work on. 

• Thyme essential oil, 1-2 drops or ½ teaspoon of tincture in hot water
• Isatis, a 75% alcohol extract
• Piperine, which is especially indicated for central nervous system illnesses like meningitis.
  

Interesting times are already baked into the cake for this country.  Being prepared with one of the less-popular antibiotics like penicillin in its varied forms as well as herbs to replace or potentiate penicillin may help ensure that life is a bit less interesting for us and our children.

Links to related posts:

Allergic to Penicillin?  What Are the Options? 
DIY Penicillin--Do You Really Want To Go There?   
Usnea  

The US Depends on Drugs from China.  Should You Also?   

Penicillin Primer for Preppers

Top 10 Herbs That Are Effective Against Gram-Positive Bacteria 

For further reading:  
Armageddon Medicine 
Alton's Antibiotics, pp 127 and 156
Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd Edition, p 209

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[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-has-cornered-the-market-on-antibiotics-so-the-u-s-must-rebuild-its-manufacturing-capacity-11619640612

[2] Joseph Alton, Survival Medicine Handbook, 4^th Edition, 2021, 226.

[3] Joseph Alton, Survival Medicine Handbook, 4^th Edition, 2021, 376.

[4] The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea, 1978, 237-38.

[5] Jeffrey S. Rubin, et al., “Facts You Should Know about Peritonsillar Abscess,” eMedicineHealth.com, 12 November 2020, https://www.emedicinehealth.com/peritonsillar_abscess/article_em.htm (accessed 5 January 2021). 

[6] The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea, 1978, 153-54.

[7] The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea, 1978, 353.

 

Hemorrhoids in Armageddon

As I research various medical topics, it’s always interesting to see which references address the various issues.  With today’s topic, one of my favorites—Armageddon Medicine—didn’t cover hemorrhoids at all.  This again underscores the need to have more than two medical books on hand when you don’t have anyone else to consult. 

Maybe it didn’t cover hemorrhoids because the condition is a fairly common one and usually resolves without medical intervention.  However, some become a little more complicated and a lot more painful.  It’s a good idea to be prepared to deal with them.

First off, let’s start with the information contained in The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea:

Hemorrhoids (Piles)

Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins surrounding the last inch or so of the rectum and its outlet, the anus.  Not all hemorrhoids bleed, but bleeding occurs sooner or later in most untreated cases.

The enlarged veins may occur internally above the anal sphincter muscle or externally below the muscle.  Although external hemorrhoids can be seen, internal hemorrhoids cannot be seen unless they are forced through the anus by straining. 

Hemorrhoids may be painful or painless, and may be as large as an almond or even larger.  Bleeding hemorrhoids may produce a few drops or a tablespoonful of blood.  Internal protruding hemorrhoids may pose a very serious medical problem when they become engorged and inflamed.  They may not be able to be pushed back easily into the rectum. 

Common causes of hemorrhoids include constipation, straining at the stool, excessive use of cathartics [substance that accelerates defecation], and heredity.

Treatment

A patient with hemorrhoids should be advised to consult a physician to make sure that other conditions are not present as an abscess, fissure, or possibly cancer.

To relieve pain in acute cases, warm compresses made by wringing out cloths with warm saline solution (one teaspoonful of sodium chloride in 1,000 ml of water) may be applied.  The patient should sit in a tub of warm water for 20 to 30 minutes, every two to three hours for relief of pain and itching.  After the baths he should return to bed rest.  Hemorrhoidal suppositories may be inserted rectally, as directed on the package, to supply relief.  Medical advice by radio should be obtained on whether local application of hydrocortisone ointment 1% may be prescribed.

To keep the stools soft, milk of magnesia should be administered once or twice daily.

 

That’s the info from The Ship’s Medicine Chest.  Further information from other references may help in an austere situation.

Symptoms

• Anal itching
• Bleeding, usually on the toilet paper, but sometimes a drop or two will appear in the toilet
• Painful bowel movements
• Anal pain that is worse when sitting
• Painful bumps near the anal opening

Risk factors for hemorrhoids

• Low fiber diet
• Pregnancy
• Standing for several hours each day

Prevention

• Eat a high fiber diet that includes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables[2]
• Exercise
  

Most hemorrhoids are easily diagnosed by simple observation—the hemorrhoid is a bluish bump at the edge of the anus.  In the case of an internal hemorrhoid, a rectal exam to palpate the hemorrhoid will be necessary.  Interestingly, most hemorrhoids are asymptomatic.  Only hemorrhoids that cause pain or bleeding need to be treated.  If the hemorrhoid develops a clot, it becomes inflamed and may cause constant discomfort or pain that can make everyday activity nearly impossible. 

Additional treatments not mentioned above include:

• Witch hazel used in a compress or dabbed on the hemorrhoid directly.[1]
• Stool softeners
• Corticosteroid creams like Anusol-HC or Preparation H
• Wipes such as Tucks pads

Herbs that may be employed to treat hemorrhoids include:

• Blackberry root bark decoction, compress applied externally
• Calendula lotion, cream, or ointment
• Catnip essential oil, applied topically
• Cattail dried root powder and pollen
• Cayenne
• Eggplant
• Elder, dried flower wash
• German chamomile salve
• Isatis
• Japanese honeysuckle
• Jimsonweed seed salve
• Juniper
• Lamb's quarter
• Mullein, leaf and flower poultice
• Oak, bark tea
• Passionflower
• Peach bark, flowers, fruit, leaves, roots
• Plantain infusion, poultice, salve, seeds
• Purslane
• Snapdragon poultice
• Yarrow, infusion taken internally, or poultice, or tincture in a bath
• Chocolate
• Coconut oil, 2 drops lavender essential oil diluted in 1 teaspoon coconut oil and applied to affected area

If the hemorrhoid is bleeding, the bleeding may be controlled by direct pressure. [3]  If 30 minutes of direct pressure fails to stop the bleeding, a physician should be sought out if possible.  If this is not possible, the bleeding may be controlled by removing the clot that is inside the hemorrhoid. 

The procedure a physician may use is as follows:

• Apply local anesthesia if you have it[4] (tattoo numbing cream, cold spray, etc.).
• Cleanse the area thoroughly with povidone iodine.[5]
• Use a scalpel to incise just enough to remove the clot.[6]
• Use gauze to absorb blood and apply pressure to stop the bleeding.[7]
• Be prepared to suture the incision if the bleeding is heavy.[8]

DO NOT try to cut out the hemorrhoid itself as this could result in the patient bleeding to death.[9] 

Links to related posts:

TEOTWAWKI Local Anesthesia Options for Everyone 

Betadine for Preparedness 

All About Sutures

The Ship’s Medicine Chest Book Review

For further information on the herbs, use the search bar at right. 

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[1] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[2] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[3] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[4] Joseph Alton, The Survival Medicine Handbook, 2013, 442.

[5] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[6] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[7] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[8] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

[9] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 175.

 5 january 2022

Prayer as Medicine

Some of the best things in life are free.  The same holds true in medicine.  A caring heart, a listening ear, a good laugh—these don’t cost a dime, and most everyone agrees that they work. 

Prayer, on the other hand, gets a bit controversial.

While a significant number of studies with prayer and healing have been conducted, the results have been somewhat mixed.  This can be attributed to the way the study was designed, how prayer is defined and practiced, and to the placebo effect.

Prayer and Meditation

Those involved in the numerous research studies I consulted generally agree that prayer (defined as communication with God or divine being of whatever religious persuasion) is a special form of meditation.  As such, it may convey the health benefits associated with meditation.  Meditation has been shown to decrease blood pressure and increase the immune response. [1] [2] [3]

However, comparing secular meditation and spiritual meditation (i.e., prayer) groups revealed substantial advantages for those practicing the latter.  The patients in the prayer groups exhibited a greater decrease in anxiety and tolerated pain almost twice as long as individuals in the secular meditation group.[4]

Intercessory Prayer—a Placebo Effect?

A few studies involved intercessory prayer, that is, prayers offered in behalf of another person, with interesting results.

• A study involving hospitalized covid patients in Brazil found remote intercessory prayer had no effect on whether the patients lived or died.[5]
  
• Another study showed that remote intercessory prayer for patients with bloodstream infections had no effect on the mortality rate, but did shorten the duration of the fever and the hospital stay in the experimental (prayer) group.[6]
• A 12-week study with late-stage dementia patients found that prayer reduced the number of disruptive behaviors.[7]
• A six-month-long study involving advanced AIDS patients in the 1990s found that these patients who had others praying for them experienced fewer new AIDS-related illnesses, less severity of illness, and needed fewer doctor visits and hospitalizations, as well as fewer days of hospitalization.[8]
• A 17-year study with HIV patients found that “[t]he survival curve is clearly higher for those who reported praying for known others.”[9]  In short, the study found that HIV-positive patients who prayed daily or more often for other people lived much longer than those who did not pray for others.  Various theories are offered to explain this observation.

In the above cases, with respect to intercessory prayer, it seems that it works much like the placebo effect.  It’s more effective in cases of chronic pain and disease than in acute illness.  In the last case presented above, it was noted that the HIV patients were praying for someone else, not that they were being prayed for.  It was thought that perhaps having a more selfless outlook on life gave the HIV patients a physical advantage.

Intercessory Prayer—Not a Placebo Effect

And then there are another few cases that cannot be attributed to a placebo effect:

• A randomized, triple-blind, controlled study involving consecutively infertile women in South Korea (women and their doctors were unaware of the intervention, and researchers didn’t know who was in which group until results were tallied at the end) revealed that those who received distant prayer (from people in the US, UK, and Australia) experienced twice the pregnancy success rate of those who were not prayed for.[10] 

• Bush babies with skin wounds were divided into two groups, one of which received prayer intervention while the other served as the control.  Wounds in the group that received prayers healed significantly more quickly.  The fact that this study involved bush babies, non-human primates lacking higher-level cognitive skills and the ability to understand the placebo response bears remembering.[11]

·       Of course, then there are those cases—miracles—fully documented in medical literature for which no scientific explanation can be offered.  These are patients with long histories of illness well documented by numerous physicians who are suddenly cured after prayer.

o   Miraculous cure/”unexpected recovery” from advanced Parkinson’s[12]

o   Miraculous instantaneous resolution of juvenile macular degeneration blindness[13]

o   Miraculous healing of a patient on a feeding tube from birth[14]

While some consider healings that occur after human medical intervention as miraculous, the above miracles had nothing to do with surgery or medication.  They occurred soon after proximal praying—where the person offering the prayer is in the same room and possibly laying hands upon the patient. 

An interesting factoid:  Praying for one’s own health is practiced (or was in 2004) by 43% of Americans—the most common form of complementary and alternative medicine used—when prayer is considered as a form of CAM.[15]

Finally, these are some areas in which prayer has been studied and found to have consistent medicinal benefits: 

• Cardiovascular
• Meditation decreased diastolic and systolic blood pressure in hypertensive and normotensive individuals[16] [17]
• Immunological 
• Mindful meditation was shown to enhance the immune response[18] 
• Musculoskeletal 
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• In-person intercessory prayer[19]
• Neurological
• Stress[20]
• Anxiety[21] 
• Depression[22] 
• Other
• Pain reduction[23]

We read in scripture that some people have the faith to be healed.  As noted in the articles on the placebo effect published elsewhere on this blog, research is being done to identify those people most likely to benefit from the placebo effect.  We see that our prayers help others to heal, and they also help us.  Pain may not be entirely eliminated, but it can be reduced.  And sometimes, miracles happen as well.  Prayer is another tool in the medicine chest that we can use to alleviate pain and suffering around us.

Links to related posts:

The Placebo Effect  

Laughter  

Love (The Rabbit Effect and Individual Health)  

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[1] Barnes VA, Davis HC, Murzynowski JB, Treiber FA, Impact of meditation on resting and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in youth, Psychosomatic Medicine, Nov-Dec 2004, Vol 66 No 6, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15564357/ (accessed 16 January 2024).

[2] Anderson JW, Liu C, Kryscio RJ, Blood pressure response to transcendental meditation: a meta-analysis, American Journal of Hypertension, March 2008, Vol 21 No 3, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18311126/ (accessed 16 January 2024).

[3] Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Urbanowski F, Harrington A, Bonus K, Sheridan JF, Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation, Psychosomatic Medicine, July-August 2003, Vol 65 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12883106/ (accessed 16 January 2024).

[4] Wachholtz AB, Pargament KI, Is spirituality a critical ingredient of meditation? Comparing the effects of spiritual meditation, secular meditation, and relaxation on spiritual, psychological, cardiac, and pain outcomes, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, August 2005, Vol 28 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16049627/ (accessed 16 January 2024).

[5] Soubihe Junior NV, Bersch-Ferreira ÂC, Tokunaga SM, Lopes LA, Cavalcanti AB, Bernadez-Pereira S, The remote intercessory prayer, during the clinical evolution of patients with COVID -19, randomized double-blind clinical trial, Heliyon, 17 November 2023, Vol 9 No 11, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10689938/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[6] Leibovici L, Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomised controlled trial, BMJ, 22 December 2001, Vol 323 No 7327, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11751349/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[7] Struve AR, Lu DF, Hart LK, Keller T, The Use of Intercessory Prayer to Reduce Disruptive Behaviors of Patients With Dementia: A Pilot Feasibility Study, Journal of Holistic Nursing, June 2016, Vol 34 No 2, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26025094/ (accessed 18 January 2024).

[8] Sicher F, Targ E, Moore D 2nd, Smith HS, A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS. Report of a small scale study, Western Journal of Medicine, December 1998, Vol 169 No 6, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305403/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[9] Ironson G, Ahmad SS, Praying for People You Know Predicts Survival over 17 Years Among People Living with HIV in the U.S. Journal of Religion and Health, October 2022, Vol 61 No 5, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35999335/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[10] Cha KY, Wirth DP, Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer? Report of a masked, randomized trial, Journal of Reproductive Medicine, September 2001, Vol 46 No 9, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11584476/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[11] Lesniak KT, The effect of intercessory prayer on wound healing in nonhuman primates, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Nov-Dec 2006, Vol 12 No 6, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17131981/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[12] Kruijthoff DJ, Bendien E, Doodkorte C, van der Kooi C, Glas G, Abma TA, "My Body Does Not Fit in Your Medical Textbooks": A Physically Turbulent Life With an Unexpected Recovery From Advanced Parkinson Disease After Prayer, Advanced Mind and Body Medicine, Winter 2021, Vol 35 No 2, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33620331/ (accessed 18 January 2024).

[13] Romez C, Freedman K, Zaritzky D, Brown JW, Case report of instantaneous resolution of juvenile macular degeneration blindness after proximal intercessory prayer, Explore (NY), January-February 2021, Vol 17 No 1, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32234287/ (accessed 18 January 2024).

[14] Romez C, Zaritzky D, Brown JW, Case Report of gastroparesis healing: 16 years of a chronic syndrome resolved after proximal intercessory prayer, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, April 2019, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30935546/ (accessed 18 January 2024).

[15] Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL, Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002, Advanced Data, 27 May 2004, Vol 343, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15188733/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[16] Barnes VA, et al.

[17] Anderson JW, et al. 

[18] Davidson RJ, et al.

[19] Matthews DA, Marlowe SM, MacNutt FS, Effects of intercessory prayer on patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Southern Medicine Journal, December 2000, Vol 93 No 12, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11142453/ (accessed 17 January 2024).

[20] R Bonadonna, Meditation's impact on chronic illness, Holistic Nursing Practice, Nov-Dec 2003, Vol 17 No 6, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14650573/ (accessed 16 January 2024).

[21] Bonadonna.

[22] Bonadonna.

[23] Bonadonna.