The On-going Battle With Bacterial Infections

Years ago there was a comic strip in the newspaper where a pickup truck was turned over on the side of the road with smoke coming out of it.  There were tumbleweeds blowing across the road and on the hill overlooking the carnage a small tumbleweed was talking into a communicator saying, "The Venusians score another one for planetary domination."  Reading about infectious disease these days sounds a lot like that, like the bacteria are winning the war.  MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus) causes over 80,000 skin, lung, or septic infections a year with 11,000 deaths.  It's just one of a growing legion of different bacterial species that are antibiotic resistant.  Their resistance developed by  natural selection aided with the speed of their reproductive capability and our gross over-use of antibiotics.  Hospitals, nursing homes, and group care facilities are the largest incubation chambers, but make no mistake -- you can come into contact with them virtually anywhere.  The last two or three generations have hardly known what serious bacterial infections could do because we have had antibiotics readily available.  To now read about dangerous infections that we lack treatments for is frightening.

The good news is that from the natural side of medicine there are weapons against even these mutated bacteria.  The inhabitants of planet Earth would not have survived this long if there were not an effective system of checks and balances firmly in place.  So, here are a few of the ways bacterial infections get treated in naturopathic medicine.  (Most of these methods have been and are being tested against MRSA.  There is no reason they should not work as well with other species of bacteria.) 

A.  Build Immune Defenses:

1. Radically limit or eliminate sugar from your diet.  Sugar completely weakens the immune system.
2. Exercise daily to build strength and stamina, and increase lung and cardiovascular capacity and circulation.
3. Insure you are getting enough protein and good fats in your diet.  Both are essential for healthy white blood cells.
4. Wash your hands often.  Work to break any habit of touching your face and mouth with your hands and fingers.
5. Take a hot bath daily.  Raising your body temperature temporarily will destroy a lot of bacteria and viruses, as well as stimulate more vigilance by white blood cells. (This is even more effective if you have the courage to take a minute long cold shower afterwards.)

B.  Eliminate the Bacteria: I'm just going to list the substances that are getting used with effective success.  For how to use them, you'll have to talk to me.

1. Neem
2. Tea Tree oil
3. Garlic
4. Turmeric
5. Homeopathy
6. Coniferous tree essential oils such as Cedar, Pine, and Blue/Black spruce*
7. Colostrum*

* The last 2 have no scientific studies that I'm aware of, however, I have had good results using them with ordinary bacterial and viral infections.