this sounds like the discoveries about Ivermectin and cancer and against viral diseases.
and I had complicated Dengue with neurological and hematological changes but was not given anything but fluid.
since this is alternative medicine I couldn't find anything about Naltrexone and viral diseases like Dengue via google.
Could Ivermectin have helped? a 2020 paper suggests maybe. but it didn't change clinical outcome.
Source: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthSummary: Researchers reviewing 46 studies found evidence linking prenatal acetaminophen (Tylenol) exposure with higher risks of autism and ADHD. The FDA has since urged caution, echoing scientists’ advice that the drug be used only at the lowest effective dose and shortest duration. While important for managing fever and pain in pregnancy, prolonged use may pose risks to fetal development. Experts stress careful medical oversight and further investigation.
full story at link.
More from Dr Campbell.
....
James Roguski has more here:
The “Pandemic Agreement” has NOT been finalized. Instead, the WHO has engaged in a theatrical reframing of their failure to truly conclude the negotiations in order to make it look like success.
In a highly unusual step under international law, the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) decided to “adopt” the Pandemic Agreement in two parts. Negotiations will continue for an Annex on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System, under Article 12 of the Agreement. Since the PABS Annex is considered as the integral part of the Pandemic Agreement, States will NOT BE ABLE TO sign the agreement until after conclusion of the negotiations of the Annex and its adoption in the next World Health Assembly. Signature and ratification has been deferred until completion of an Annex on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing tentatively set to be agreed by the 79th WHA in May 2026.
NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has announced that the NIH Public Access Policy, originally slated to go into effect on 12/31/25 will now be effective 7/1/25. Read more in his statement: https://t.co/iktaa5tlcO pic.twitter.com/iUTbh676w9
— NIH (@NIH) April 30, 2025
Sigh
one does hope that RFK Jr will ask Michelle Obama to help out in this project.
but if they do, they need to include people knowledgeable of the culture: When I worked in the IHS we didn't introduce foods from the fancy elite dietary types, but we taught how to make their favorite foods in a healthy way: Whole wheat for fry bread, less sugar and less salt in the diet, use vegetable oil instead of lard, include more vegetable dishes, include fruit as snacks, etc.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?
The Levant is a dry climate, so the reference is probably to a skin ointment
In regards to the balm of Gilead, this balm is related to the balsam poplar (Commiphora opobalsamum) and is considered a myrrh-like resin/chemical compound found in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in ancient Palestine east of the Jordan River; it was used for medicine. ... The balm was known to be combined with other ingredients to increase its potency....(such as) oil or lard for bruising, swelling, or damage to the skin. Inflammation is what the balm of Gilead is used most for, presently, especially for sunburns or arthritis. Some ancient historians say that Queen Sheba gave a gift of the balm to King Solomon.
Here, coconut oil is a commonly used for dry skin or to treat dandruff/dry scalp; and our staff uses it with guava leaves for wounds
Whole leaves can be lightly crushed and placed on top of wounds to help heal them and prevent infection. Some even apply them on acne-prone skin, since the leaves have antiseptic and antibacterial properties that help clear skin up. and coconut oil for dry skin.
Ointments are expensive:
We used to give out Fluffo from one clinic for ordinary dry skin problems, because our budget was limited.
Fluffo is yellow Crisco, a lard substitute used in cooking but I haven't seen it on the shelves for 40 years.
In Africa, they used chicken fat ointment Mafuta to keep their skin from drying out: But even when I worked in one country 40 years ago, they were starting to use Vaseline.
Vaseline of course is still used in the black community.
but what about chapped skin or minor abraisions?
Well we used to use BagBalm for sore nipples for our breast feeding ladies because it was cheap and available in our rural area.
The active ingredients of Bag Balm are 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate 0.3% (antiseptic) in a petroleum jelly USP and lanolin base.[2]
... Originally, it was used for only cows' udders, but farmers' wives noticed the softness of their husbands' hands, and started using the product themselves.
What brought this up was in reading Strategypage about skin problems in the Middle Eastern Wars, they noted:
Fifteen years ago soldiers fighting in the deserts of Iraq and southern Afghanistan endured lots of burns, abrasions, insect bites and scratches. While the medics could treat these minor injuries, the troops preferred to obtain their own cures. But none of the available ointments seemed to do the job well. Then the wife of a soldier developed a new skin balm which she called Combat Ready Balm. Commercially this was a profitable item. That made it possible to send thousands of 59 ml jars of Combat Ready Balm to military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers and marines bought a lot more at $25 a jar because, as most of them pointed out, it worked. The balm was even useful during Afghan Winters, when dry skin replaced insect bites.
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The Balm of Giliad of course is a famous Black spiritual, referring to a spiritual balm to heal the soul.
I avoid reading about disease etc. because in some ways I have PTSS about my years in practice, and it triggers me into depressive thoughts.Yes, I have treated thousands of people, and yes most of them I have helped, but at times the memories that haunt me are the few where something went wrong, and I blame myself (even though most of the time, it was not my fault).
This is, of course, a sign of depression. And the only way to get over it is to balance the accusing thought with another thought, of someone who one helped.
and I pray for those involved
So on a chat site, someone put up a bible verse that said believe in Jesus and be saved (or go to hell)? As if it was that easy. Yes it is that easy, but it is the milk for babies level of faith, and one needs to grow and mature in God's care.
So I answered with two other verses that remind one that it is our deeds that prove our faith, and posted this picture.
yes that is one of those pictures by Filipino artist Joey Velasco.
And after I posted it, I felt peace: Because the painting summarizes why I became a physician: To help those who were sick, to bring comfort and relieve pain.
Because in 50 years of being a healer, although the memories often accuse me of mistakes or to see only when unforseen things went wrong, nevertheless, I did help most of those I treated. And that is a comfortable thought.
article one:Front Oncol. 2021 Apr 29;11:670804. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.670804 Repositioning of Antiparasitic Drugs for Tumor Treatment. table here is a summary
Antitumor mechanism of antiparasitic drugs us symmarized in the table
another article here on ivermectin. Ivermectin induces apoptosis and autophagy is mutually regulated. Interestingly, ivermectin can also inhibit tumor stem cells and reverse multidrug resistance and exerts the optimal effect when used in combination with other chemotherapy drugs.
the irony: These are medicines used in animals and also in humans and have few side effects, but often there is no money for expensive studies. (the articles tend to be from Asia). So will Trump pass a "Free to try" law?
one is reminded of the HIV treatment problems in the Dallas Buyer's Club.
Community screenings for high blood pressure cost as little as $1 per person, and the prescription of blood pressure medications often cost only $3-11 per year. Peer-reviewed research shows that controlling high blood pressure in the poorer half of the world would cost about $3.5 billion annually. But it would save almost a million lives each and every year. Put into economic terms, each dollar spent would achieve $16 in returns to society, making it one of the world’s most efficient policies.Despite becoming a bigger killer than infectious diseases—even in the developing world—chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease receive very little funding.
we have a lot of high bp here, from the high salt diet, even in the rural poor, whose main condiment is high salt sauces.
One reason this is not a priority is that high blood pressure, like diabetes and heart disease, it mainly affects the elderly
(here it means over 60... I mentioned I wanted my heart checked for fatigue because I diagnosed a silent heart attack in my mom who complained only of lack of energy, and when the docs asked how old she was, I said 80, and they then asked me how old I was, and I said 75, and they laughed. I am old here).
But we do see a lot of middle age people here with evidence of stroke (foot drop and weak hand) so yes high blood pressure is a killer of middle age. ..
the use of a solvent for pain relief that led to medical personnel caring for her to collapse was the story on a recent Murdoch mysteries.
Not the best episode, since the plot was unbelievable.
Or was it?
An investigation by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory proposed that Ramirez had been self-administering dimethyl sulfoxide as a treatment for pain, which converted into dimethyl sulfate, an extremely poisonous and highly carcinogenic alkylating agent, via a series of chemical reactions in the emergency room.
In medicine, DMSO is predominantly used as a topical analgesic,
a vehicle for topical application of pharmaceuticals, as an anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant.[29] Because DMSO increases the rate of absorption of some compounds through biological tissues, including skin, it is used in some transdermal drug delivery systems.I remember at the time it was being touted to use for arthritis as a liniment (which is how they use it in horses). Then the fad sort of disappeared. Maybe this lady's death had something to do with it.
it is approved to treat interstitial cystitis, where the spastic bladder causes painful peeing.
Medical article discusses the way it is being used.
Because it absorbs easily into the skin, DMSO may be a beneficial alternative to other pain medications. However, further investigation into this area is needed before any conclusions can be drawn.
DMSO has also been touted for its ability to reduce the amount of leakage during chemotherapy administration, but more studies, and real-world usage, need to be done before it can be labeled as a trusted method.
Additionally, there has been some research into DMSO’s benefits when it comes to inhibiting cancer cells. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Medical Discovery found evidence of benefit. However, research is just beginning in this area, so many more studies need to be done before any conclusions can be made.
more studies? If it relieves pain, etc. shouldn't it have been approved for this by now? Ah, but no way for big pharma to make money off of a medicine that's been around for decades.
Sigh
and this article is about side effects.
Results: We included a total of 109 studies. Gastrointestinal and skin reactions were the commonest reported adverse reactions to DMSO. Most reactions were transient without need for intervention. A relationship between the dose of DMSO given and the occurrence of adverse reactions was seen.
Conclusions: DMSO may cause a variety of adverse reactions that are mostly transient and mild. The dose of DMSO plays an important role in the occurrence of adverse reactions. DMSO seems to be safe to use in small doses.....
DMSO is mostly excreted through the kidneys, but a small part is excreted through the lungs and liver. Part of the DMSO is transformed to the volatile metabolite dimethyl sulfide, which gives a characteristic garlic- or oyster-like smell when excreted through the lungs .
DMSO may induce histamine release, which can be the reason for adverse reactions such as flushing, dyspnoea, abdominal cramps, and cardiovascular reactions .,,,,
Many studies on the use of DMSO have been performed in Russia. These studies have not been readily accessible to the global community due to the language barrier.
So another possible miracle drug that hasn't been approved by the FDA, and few docs use it. However I suspect a lot of people are using it on the sly: when I worked in rural areas, people frequently used vetinary drugs, such as antibiotics, when they got sick. That is why the scandal of Ivermectin being banned during covid needs more publicity, and the reason a lot of our patients use herbs and unapproved medicines when they are sick.
Sigh.
late last year there were reports of a malaria vaccine. the hope about this was that it would hit the falciparum form, that is most lethal and is more resistant to anti malarial medicines.
But now the BBC (and Lancet) reports initial studies suggest 70 to 80 percent protection.
A good discussion here not just about malaria but about how public health authorities implement disease protection: Start at 9 minutes if you are in a hurry.
I remember having a strong man cry when I was taking his family history: as he related how his son had died as a young adult of sickle cell disease.
Sigh. He didn't recognize me (all white lady doctors look alike) but I recognized him as the uncle of our next door neighbor, who had related the story to me asking about the chance he might pass the gene to his own children..
Racism does exist in medicine, and one example is how sickle cell disease has been ignored by much of medicine and the press. We have fund raisers for Muscular dystrophy but not for sickle cell disease.
And some of the health disparties between black and white population in the US is from this disease.
Sickle cell disease is one of the inherited hemoglobinopathies that are more common in certain ethnic groups (mainly but not only black, and Mediterranean ethnics)
The term sickle cell disease includes different genotypes of homozygous HbS sickle cell anemia (SS) and the double heterozygote states of sickle hemoglobin C disease (SC), sickle beta plus thalassemia (Sβ+Thal), sickle beta zero thalassemia (Sβ0thal), sickle cell anemia with alpha thalassemia (SS αthal), and sickle cell anemia with high fetal hemoglobin (SS+F).2
The treatment was hydration to prevent sickle cell crisis: where low oxygen levels cause the blood cells to change shape to a sickle, and clog the small blood vessels.
Since many end up with a destroyed spleen, we gave them penicillin (and now pneumonia vaccine) and kept an eye out for other bacterial infections like salmonella that can be fatal.
later, it was discovered the hydroxyurea helped prevent sickle cell crisis by raising the percentage of cells with fetal hemoglobin.
Background: A baby has fetal hemoglobin, which carries oxygen at a lower level than ordinary hemoglobin because the oxygen in utero is lower than you get from breathing on your own, but this gradually disappears after birth. This does not sickle, and if you have enough of this, your blood oxygen stays higher and you are less likely to have a sickle crisis from stress/dehydration etc.
Why does this gene survive when it is fatal? well, because those with one gene for Sickle anemia and one gene for ordinary blood aka "sickle cell trait", are less likely to die of malaria. Thalessemia is another blood disease that has some malaria immunity, but if you get a double gene it can kill you.
In the past sometimes we would transfuse people to give them better percentage of less vulnerable blood cells, but this could lead to iron overload and liver damage.
more recently, stem cell and bone marrow transplant offer a cure, but this is expensive and dangerous and not everyone is able to get this treatment.
and in the past, if you had a woman with sickle cell disease or other similar blood problems, it was considered a medical reason for abortion (although now with modern medicine the risk is smaller).
The possible good news is that using CRISPR, it might be able to actually use one's own cells to replace the abnormal hemoglobin with the fetal hemoglobin gene. CRISPR is a way to cut and paste things into genes.
This more easily readable article on FreeThink explains what is being done, and that the experimental treatment was found to still be working after three years.
(headsup from Instapundit)
CureSickle website has more information on the disease.
cross posted from my regular blog.
Remember that name: ZHP.
In this case, the valsartan recall was originally traced back to a problem with the material from Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals.
But how do you get N-nitroso compounds from the amines, and why was the solvent switched? Well, the classic industrial syntheses of these molecules involved reacting an aryl nitrile with tri-n-butyltin azide (often formed in situ from the trialkyltin chloride).
ZHP themselves appear to have introduced a cheaper, higher-yielding route using just sodium azide and zinc chloride in an aprotic solvent like DMF...
so it's also the first world drug companies who are at fault for trusting the manufacturers were being honest and following manufacturing protocol
The excess azide is consumed at the end of the process using sodium nitrite – but nitrite under acidic conditions will give you some nitrous acid, and nitrous acid will react with secondary amines to give you N-nitrosoamines. That would seem to be the root of the problem. Well, one of the roots. The second problem is that no one apparently picked up on the N-nitroso contaminants for years.
So we’re going to have to think about the way that synthetic routes in the generic API business are monitored, it would seem. People seem to have missed that changing the chemistry for the sartans could lead to this problem, so what else are we missing?again, italics mine.
No countries remain untouched by this issue — from North America and Europe through to sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America. What was once considered a problem limited to developing and low-income countries has now become an issue for all.
With the exponential increase in internet connectivity those engaged in the manufacture, distribution and supply of substandard and falsified medical products have gained access to a global market place. This extends both to consumers and business forums. ...
However, it is in low- and middle-income countries and those in areas of conflict, or civil unrest, where health systems are weak or non-existent that bear the greatest burden of substandard and falsified medical products.
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Unlike previous outbreaks, which have been restricted to fairly remote, rural areas, the present epidemic has swept through populated parts of northeastern Congo, a lawless area that is infested with rebel groups, freelance militias and armed criminal gangs. Already struggling in conditions more challenging than previous outbreaks anywhere in Africa, health workers are now trying to deal with an outbreak that has multiple epicentres. But nowhere is as worrying as Butembo, where a blend of insecurity, suspicion of aid workers and a large, mobile population have created an ideal landscape for the rapid spread of the disease.
The government is saying that it is doing what it can, but say it is hindered by the current economic crisis. The opposition blames the lack of resources on decades of corruption and mismanagement.
so did anyone bother to check it out?
In men, the androgens released at puberty are known to remodel the brain. This is also true in women, where relatively small quantities of testosterone can cause certain areas to shrink and others to grow.
...One of the first such studies was conducted only eight years ago - after the pill had already been in use for 50 years. Dr Pletzer recruited a mixture of men and women on and off hormonal contraception, then scanned their brains. What she found was striking. The scans revealed that several brain areas were larger in the women on the pill, compared to those of women who weren't.
These areas just so happened to be larger in men than women, too. The study involved a relatively small sample and didn't separate androgenic and anti-androgenic contraception, so Dr Pletzer cautions against reading too much into the results. But other research has hinted that both types of hormones actually may be changing our behaviour.
It turns out that women taking pills with androgenic progestins have lower verbal fluency. They were also better at rotating objects. This makes sense, since men are thought to be slightly less articulate than women in certain situations and have better spatial awareness. Other studies have found that women on oral contraception remember emotional stories more like men - recalling the gist more than the details. They're also not as good at recognising emotions in others, such as anger, sadness, or disgust - just like men. It looks suspiciously like certain types of pill are "masculinising" women's brains....
As Dr Pletzer wrote in 2014, when athletes take steroids we call it 'doping' - it's considered abuse and strongly condemned by society. But we are happy for millions of women to take these hormones every day, sometimes from puberty to menopause. Scientists do not yet know if any of the pill's effects on the brain have much of an impact on our behaviour. But perhaps it is time we put it to the test. -on the other hand, the alternative might be ten kids, or ten abortions, so maybe it's okay.
The guidelines recommend starting most patients on two blood pressure lowering drugs, not one. The previous recommendation was for step-wise treatment, which meant starting with one drug then adding a second and third if needed. This suffered from "physician inertia," in which doctors were reluctant to change the initial strategy despite its lack of success. At least 80% of patients should have been upgraded to two drugs, yet most remained on one drug.
It is now recognised that a major reason for poor rates of blood pressure control is that patients do not take their pills. Non-adherence increases with the number of pills, so administering the two drugs (or three if needed) in a single tablet "could transform blood pressure control rates," state the guidelines.
One in four Americans suffer when exposed to common chemicals...University of Melbourne research reveals that one in four Americans report chemical sensitivity, with nearly half this group medically diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), suffering health problems from exposure to common chemical products and pollutants such as insect spray, paint, cleaning supplies, fragrances and petrochemical fumes.
The study also found that 71 per cent of people with MCS are asthmatic, and 86.2 per cent with MCS report health problems from fragranced consumer products, such as air fresheners, scented laundry products, cleaning supplies, fragranced candles, perfume and personal care products. In addition, an estimated 22 million Americans with MCS have lost work days or a job in the past year due to illness from exposure to fragranced consumer products in the workplace.
To reduce health risks and costs, Professor Steinemann recommends choosing products without any fragrance, and implementing fragrance-free policies in workplaces, health care facilities, schools and other indoor environments.
