Health Blog April Archive

Seeds Germinating

By Wilbur Corncob at 04/14/07 08:30

After a day and a half the wheat seeds are germinating nicely. With a little luck it won't be another week and it will be ready to juice.

The lentels are also nicely germinating. It will be just another day or two till these are ready.

MRSA and Antibiotics

Being a parent of a child who has recurring MRSA skin infections, I am concerned about the repeated use of antibiotics.

She was hospitalized for a week and given intravenous Vancomycin to kill the bacteria in her wound. She had developed a "boil" in the crease of her leg and subsequently from what I understand, the bacteria became flesh eating.

Now, what happens every time she has a recurrence? I can only imagine that in a short time, the antibiotic they give her will no longer be effective.

MRSA and Antibiotics

Being a parent of a child who has recurring MRSA skin infections, I am concerned about the repeated use of antibiotics.

She was hospitalized for a week and given intravenous Vancomycin to kill the bacteria in her wound. She had developed a "boil" in the crease of her leg and subsequently from what I understand, the bacteria became flesh eating.

Now, what happens every time she has a recurrence? I can only imagine that in a short time, the antibiotic they give her will no longer be effective.

Ready for Some Wheatgrass

After only a little frustration my automatic sprouter is ready to make me some wheatgrass. I started the first batch last night and we'll see how it goes. I'm trying a bunch of different seeds here.

It only took a couple hours to put together and incase there were any leaks I tried it in the laundry room first. Everything went well.

My cat had to be the first to check out my installation in the kitchen. Cat is quite pleased with it. Not sure what will happen when my wife gets home!

Here's a better look in the kitchen. It drains right into the kitchen sink. The small green hose comes in from a window from the laundry room where the timer and value is.

My first frustration with the project was waiting over a week to get the parts through customs and paying way too much in taxes. The second frustration came when I had everything together and couldn't hook up the water hose as the threads were wrong. A quick trip to the hardware store fixed that, though I fear the new coupling will split apart under the water pressure.

Now I just have to wait for my first batch of seeds to sprout.

If you missed my previous message I got the parts (and idea) from EatSprouts

MRSA Treatment

Upon being diagnosed with MRSA, it is my understanding that once you have it, you can break out with the skin infections at any time.

I wish I knew, or that someone could tell me, whether every time skin eruptions are present, they have to be treated with anitbiotics and surgically incised and drained, or whether they will resolve themselves.

In my research I can find websites that say that is what needs to be done, but not how you know which ones do and which ones do not.

MRSA, Is it Just a Skin Infection or a Plague?

I have recently experienced a part of the growing concern about MRSA, or staph infection, that is spreading throughout our community.

My daughter recently found what looked like in ingrown hair in the crease of her leg in the groin area. Within a day, it developed a hard knot underneath it with an area of redness. I took her to the doctor the next day and she was started on Augmentin. A follow up appointment was made for two days.

The next day, the knot had grown four times in size and she began to run a fever. The next morning, I took her back to the doctor and she was admitted to the hospital. They set up a surgical consult to determine whether they would drain the wound by her bedside or take her to the operating room.

By the end of the evening, the redness had spread another 10 inches down her thigh and the subsequent "surgery" left her with a fist sized chunk of tissue eaten away by the bacteria. The biopsy of the tissue confirmed the presence of MRSA or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.

She was put on a powerful antibiotic Vancomycin which kept the infection at bay. After a month of wound care, the incision closed. However, she was left being at risk at any time for this scenario to repeat itself. She did get another round of "boils" which had to be treated once again with a powerful antibiotic.

Since this time, I have been made aware of case after case of this happening, not only just in our town and prevalently in the schools, but also in other states.

When another of my children exhibited the same presence of this infection, there was no urgency by my medical doctor to culture the sore for the same MRSA presence. I would think that something as potentially deadly and as fast moving as this was would be more of a concern.

I am wondering, where is this coming from all of a sudden? What is the medical profession going to do when the antibiotics currently available don't work any more? How do you prevent it from recurring? Is it a plague sent from God as a warning?

Automatic Wheatgrass Sprouter

Now the fun begins. I had originally ordered the sprouter ebook plans in hopes of an easier way of growing wheat grass.

Using a tray with dirt worked, but I had terrible mold and my one littler helper (cat) really enjoyed eating, digging, ummm and I think other stuff in my wheat grass trays. With a small apartment I didn't have too many options for where I could put the trays... and one helper has now turned into two!

The plans and the concept looked good and in a covered plastic box the cat problem is resolved, but connecting it to water and a drain presents a different challenge.

After putting it off for a couple months (and Val from eatsprouts suggests to make a specific plan, schedule for when you will have your sprouter complete so that doesn't happen) I decided it would be easier to order their kit.

The alternative would have been pounding the pavement looking for the parts and trying to figure out the Spanish words for everything. I am trying to be more lazy in my life and that didn't fit so well.

The order processing went well and the kit shipped promptly. It even arrived promptly. Then it took way too much money and time to actually pick up the package at the post office.

They apparently decided the simple plan of just charging 60% import taxes gave way to the hassle the customer if your package is worth more than US$100.

Pictured here (click on it for a bigger view) is what I got... the big plastic box I bought at a hardware store. I got the electronic timer, value, misters, tubing and some miscellenous connectors. Also you can see helper #2 is more excited about the project than me!

Now comes the real challenge... putting it all together!

Cardinal Health: Helping People Stay Healthy

One of the companies that continuously provide medical products services to people all over the globe is cardinal health. This company, which was founded in 1971, has been one of the leaders in the industry for the past several years. From its number beginnings in 1971, this company has grown to be one of the respected leaders in the health industry. Cardinal health had been helping medical practitioners save lives all over the globe for several years by providing reliable hospital equipments as well as drugs that are proven effective in curing and managing certain types of diseases. Cardinal Health offers a wide range of medical and pharmaceutical products to clients. It offers medical and laboratory equipments using state of the art technology. This company is best known for its pharmaceutical development activities where they discover new drugs to treat certain types of disease and their equipments for hospital and laboratory use. In fact, some of its most popular products are now being used in leading diagnostic laboratories all over the United States.

The good thing about Cardinal Health is that it believes in integrity and openness when it comes to their products. Time and again this company has proven that it will not relegate its responsibilities. If they commit mistakes, this company would no better than hide behind the mantle of corporate veil. It accepts full accountability for its actions and makes reparations where it is appropriate. Cardinal health believes that saving lives and helping people should be the paramount considerations in the health industry. That is why in its research and development of new drugs, they always make sure that they follow certain ethical standards so as not endanger human lives. This company believes in doing things the right way and not making any short cuts just to make more profits.

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Automatic Wheatgrass maker from EatSprouts

What I really like about the stuff from Eat Sprouts is that it is perfect for the lazy people like me. Pop the seeds in and wait.

I purchased the automatic sprouter plans from them (under ten bucks) and it gives you all the information you could possibly want. After pondering it a bit I decided to order their mister kit which should arrive next week or so.

Unlike other wheat grass growing systems this one is basically aeroponic. It automatically mists the seeds (and sprouts once they start) for a few minutes every couple hours.

Once you get the sprouter built (or you can order one ready to use) this looks like the simplest and most effective method to grow wheatgrass and other sprouts.

Wheatgrass from Monocot

I haven't ordered anything from monocot yet. However, they have an excellent article on growing wheatgrass and the benefits some have attained.

They also sell a book, seeds and juicer. The really nice thing about wheat grass is that it's really cheap and good for you.