This Week In The HSI Healthier Talk Community
It’s very likely that you may have herpes simplex and not even know it. As many as 90 percent of us have been exposed to this viral infection, and most people who have it show no symptoms. But for those who do, symptoms (such as cold sores) can be painful and embarrassing.
“I need help,” writes an HSI member named Daryn. “My wife suffers from painful cold sores on her mouth every month and can hardly talk or eat when she gets them. Do you know of any remedies we can try?”
In the e-Alert “Fantastic Four” (10/3/05), HSI Panelist Jon Barron noted that grapefruit seed extract can be used to treat cold sores, as well as other skin conditions such as athlete’s foot and acne.
I had a hunch that this problem would be addressed in the Healthier Talk community, and I quickly found a thread titled “Herpes simplex I and II” in the General Health Topics forum.
Following a question about how to treat herpes sores, a member named Billy writes: “I don’t know about a cure but to knock down a lip sore, today I took a teaspoon of L-lysine powder 3 times (doesn’t taste bad). The quicker you start the more effective.”
L-lysine is an amino acid that helps repair tissue and has been shown to lessen the recurrence and healing time of cold sores and other herpes problems. A member named Leppert also recommends L-lysine, with these instructions: “Take 1 tablet per 10 pounds of body weight. Divide the daily dose by 4 and take 4 times daily between meals.”
Other treatments suggested by Leppert (quoting another member named Feldsher):
- Mangoes (they contain components that suppress the virus that causes herpes)
- Zinc
- Vitamin C
- Fish oil capsules
- B-complex (yeast free)
- A complete detoxification cleansing
- Probiotics to nourish the gut
Keep in mind that there is no cure for herpes, but people like Daryn’s wife who suffer from severe outbreaks clearly have many treatment options at their disposal. This thread has several postings with additional suggestions for natural approaches.
Other topics being discussed this week in the Healthier Talk community forums include:
- Heart: Pomegranate juice for atherosclerosis
- General Health Topics: Detoxing
- Depression: Seasonal affective disorder
- Hormones: Saliva test for hormones
- Memory: Ginger fights Alzheimer’s-related inflammation
- Auto-Immune Diseases: Lupus
To join in with any of these discussions, just go to our web site at www.hsionline.com, choose “Forum,” and add your own insights and comments about health, nutrition and natural treatments.
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REALLY, REALLY RAVEN MAD
Several weeks ago, watching the Ravens lose against Indianapolis and then Tennessee was somewhat painful. Both teams had beaten them in previous years in games that were instrumental in keeping them from advancing in the playoffs. (One was an actual playoff game.) So both were pretty emotional games. And you could tell they were trying and just couldn’t make anything happen.
This week, watching them against Detroit — a team they haven’t played in 7 years and have no real grudge against at all — it was completely different. For whatever reason, the Ravens decided at some point they weren’t going to win. Every time they made progress, like an interception or an amazing stance at the one-yard line that kept Detroit from scoring a touchdown, they made a decision to give it back. These were not bad football moves. I’m not talking about dropped passes, or even the fumbles or interceptions. I’m talking about obscene gestures, personal fouls, taunting, and making contact with the officials. Bad football decisions are one thing — those are the ones that result in interceptions or pass interference calls — and they are always going to happen. But bad life decisions are the ones that bring your judgment and character into question, and that can always be avoided. When grown men playing a game for a living can’t control their childish impulses, they prove that they aren’t men at all.
If I were Steve Biscotti, the owner of the Ravens, I would take the paycheck of every player that got a personal foul and donate it to the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, or some other cause that would help people of character and remind these players what it means to be men.
Next week, the Cleveland Browns come to Baltimore. Normally, I would make some prediction or talk some “smack,” but the truth is I have no idea what to say because I have no idea who is going to show upthe team that looked like it was starting to come together against the Jets or the team right out of The Longest Yard.
Personally, I would rather see my team play hard, struggle, and lose every single week than embarrass themselves by playing like street thugs again.
