4 ms·

109 cases in a little over 40 years.. yeah, this is more of a freak occurrence. also, the article says they never tested the water, so this idea of the neti po

109 cases in a little over 40 years.. yeah, this is more of a freak occurrence. also, the article says they never tested the water, so this idea of the neti pot is just a guess to begin with.

8bitsrule 8y ago
There must have been something else involved. Should we not swim in pools, rivers or lakes, or submerge ourselves in hot tubs? Netis are part of Ayurvedic medicine in India since long before people dreamed of personal immortality. Remember when people worked outside all summer without worrying about excess UV? Maybe we're overthinking this stuff, we Chicken Little emulators.
- copperx 8y ago
  Spending a large part of the day under direct sunlight (e.g., working in a farm), is known to paradoxically reduce the risk of skin cancer; whereas occasional exposure (e.g., working at a desk job and then sunbathing in Cancun) greatly increases the risk. Perhaps we're not overthinking it. Maybe there are complex processes that we don't yet understand.
  - User23 8y ago
    This phenomenon has been well known for almost all of history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349158/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349158/
  - ejstronge 8y ago
    This is interesting - do you have a source for this?
- taneq 8y ago
  You absolutely should not get river or lake water in your sinuses if you can help it. The lake I used to swim in as a kid would regularly get warm enough to have amoeba in it that could cause amoebic meningitis and we were always told to keep our heads above water.
- duskwuff 8y ago
  > Netis are part of Ayurvedic medicine in India since long before people dreamed of personal immortality. Yes. And in that time period, average life expectancy was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 years. The risk of death from neti pot use was hardly significant compared to all the other health risks anyone living at the time would be exposed to. The same goes for skin cancer. It's a meaningful risk to us today because we can live long enough for the cumulative damage from solar radiation to be a meaningful cause of mortality.
  - erik_seaberg 8y ago
    30 is the mean between infants and 60-year-olds. There has never been a society in which dying at 30 was typical.
    - TheCoelacanth 8y ago
      Infant mortality was the biggest contributor, but there was also higher mortality across all age groups.
  - 8bitsrule 8y ago
    IMO most of 'average life expectancy' can be attributed to human ignorance and savagery. Like the savagery of pouring dyes into rivers until too many people die of bladder cancer, then moving the factories to another continent. Repeatedly. Or the savagery of using scientific knowledge to create nukes ... and use them. One example of ignorance is knee-jerk, gainsaying, scientism about alternatives to Western medicine. My use of Neti was recommended by a well-trained physician, and it was very beneficial. There was indeed practical wisdom in the world before the rise of materialist rationalism. Oh yeah... and western medicine couldn't save the lady's ass. I'm sure the bill was VERY healthy though.

109 cases in a little over 40 years.. yeah, this is more of a freak occurrence. also, the article says they never tested the water, so this idea of the neti pot is just a guess to begin with.

8bitsrule 8y ago

There must have been something else involved. Should we not swim in pools, rivers or lakes, or submerge ourselves in hot tubs? Netis are part of Ayurvedic medicine in India since long before people dreamed of personal immortality. Remember when people worked outside all summer without worrying about excess UV? Maybe we're overthinking this stuff, we Chicken Little emulators.

copperx 8y ago
Spending a large part of the day under direct sunlight (e.g., working in a farm), is known to paradoxically reduce the risk of skin cancer; whereas occasional exposure (e.g., working at a desk job and then sunbathing in Cancun) greatly increases the risk. Perhaps we're not overthinking it. Maybe there are complex processes that we don't yet understand.
- User23 8y ago
  This phenomenon has been well known for almost all of history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349158/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349158/
- ejstronge 8y ago
  This is interesting - do you have a source for this?
taneq 8y ago
You absolutely should not get river or lake water in your sinuses if you can help it. The lake I used to swim in as a kid would regularly get warm enough to have amoeba in it that could cause amoebic meningitis and we were always told to keep our heads above water.
duskwuff 8y ago
> Netis are part of Ayurvedic medicine in India since long before people dreamed of personal immortality. Yes. And in that time period, average life expectancy was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 years. The risk of death from neti pot use was hardly significant compared to all the other health risks anyone living at the time would be exposed to. The same goes for skin cancer. It's a meaningful risk to us today because we can live long enough for the cumulative damage from solar radiation to be a meaningful cause of mortality.
- erik_seaberg 8y ago
  30 is the mean between infants and 60-year-olds. There has never been a society in which dying at 30 was typical.
  - TheCoelacanth 8y ago
    Infant mortality was the biggest contributor, but there was also higher mortality across all age groups.
- 8bitsrule 8y ago
  IMO most of 'average life expectancy' can be attributed to human ignorance and savagery. Like the savagery of pouring dyes into rivers until too many people die of bladder cancer, then moving the factories to another continent. Repeatedly. Or the savagery of using scientific knowledge to create nukes ... and use them. One example of ignorance is knee-jerk, gainsaying, scientism about alternatives to Western medicine. My use of Neti was recommended by a well-trained physician, and it was very beneficial. There was indeed practical wisdom in the world before the rise of materialist rationalism. Oh yeah... and western medicine couldn't save the lady's ass. I'm sure the bill was VERY healthy though.