So, who has swine flu?

ThreeOhFour · Sun 01/11/2009 23:11:32

It always amuses me when Jenny McCarthy's name gets mentioned when talking about medicine. Amuses me in a kind of horrified way (she's quite clearly Satan or something similar

(please, no religious debates or anything, it was just an expression people)).

Anyway, the flu sucks. Rest up and get well soon

Disco · Sun 01/11/2009 23:46:54

Oh I'm all for vaccines for whoever wants them, I have all the standard stuff floating around in my system and get the booster shots on schedule

I just don't much like the idea of a media frenzy causing the kind of mass-mindset where getting one becomes mandatory for every new scare that pops up.

I take quite good care of myself in regards to washing up and avoiding or carefully using public things, as I am compelled to do by the mild hypochondria, and prefer doing this rather than getting every new jab that is produced. I believe it promotes better hygiene and behaviour in the long run.

Crimson Wizard · Mon 02/11/2009 14:56:39

Whole my family had a flu somewhere in the end of August. Not sure which flu though. Someone infected us, but that was too hard to tell, who was first, since everyone was ill

. I hope that counts as a we've fulfiled flu's annual plan for us

Andail · Mon 02/11/2009 18:28:58

Quote
The main reason the US Government is going apeshit is because The Obaminator is trying every angle he can to convince people that a nationalized healthcare system is the way to save us from all sorts of horrible things

Erh...nevermind. I guess Obama deserves his share of conspiracy theories...

TerranRich · Tue 03/11/2009 01:04:25

Like Joseph, my girlfriend is a pediatric nurse, and we talked at great length about how H1N1 isn't the epidemic that the media is making it out to be. The symptoms are similar to the regular flu, aren't much stronger, and the death toll so far has been less than the number of people that die from the regular flu each year.

We have a theory: somebody, somewhere, saw that H1N1 is a child of the swine flu and other flu strains, so that person figured it must be a SUPER-strain of flu and much more deadly. All it takes is one media outlet to make it sound worse than it really is, and other media outlets pick up on that, strengthen the story, and report it. This continues to happen until people are scared out of their minds and start spreading rumors.

Case in point: my father said that he listened to the news and apparently only those with H1N1 could have the vaccines. Apparently he misunderstood a recent news report. Thing is, he would've told 10 other people, who would've made the story worse, tell 10 each of their friends, and so on.

We hear the "one in a thousand/million" stories on the news, for example the boy who was on the football team and was near death when he caught H1N1, but we tend to forget that these stories are the exception to the rule, not the other way around.

Ali · Tue 03/11/2009 09:04:50

Quote from: Andail on Mon 02/11/2009 18:28:58
Quote
The main reason the US Government is going apeshit is because The Obaminator is trying every angle he can to convince people that a nationalized healthcare system is the way to save us from all sorts of horrible things

Erh...nevermind. I guess Obama deserves his share of conspiracy theories...

Okay we admit it! The truth is that the British National Health Service created Swine Flu in an attempt to kill Stephen Hawking.

Misj' · Tue 03/11/2009 10:10:40

Quote from: Ali on Tue 03/11/2009 09:04:50Okay we admit it! The truth is that the British National Health Service created Swine Flu in an attempt to kill Stephen Hawking.

That's not true! - There were other names on that list too (including - but not limited to - everyone who stands in the way of Blair becoming the next and first president of Europe)!

Snake · Tue 03/11/2009 16:09:30

Quote from: Ali on Tue 03/11/2009 09:04:50
Okay we admit it! The truth is that the British National Health Service created Swine Flu in an attempt to kill Stephen Hawking.

Hey, come on, leave Stephen Hawking alone! You've already got Carl Sagan, how much more do you need?2?!

Khris · Tue 03/11/2009 17:20:26

Quote from: Snarky on Sat 31/10/2009 23:29:05
But how do I know that the alternative remedies haven't been cursed by an evil wizard?

Hahaha, this is the single greatest one liner comeback I've read here yet!

Made my day!

Oh, btw., if you already have the swine flu and don't buy into all that science crap but rely on homeopathy instead, Dr. Werner is happy to explain to you how exactly it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0c5yClip4o

(Word of advice though: turn your brains off before watching this, otherwise you'll risk permanent damage to it.)

Lufia · Tue 03/11/2009 19:32:01

Mass is very tiny so you can cross out mass in e=mcÂ²? I don't think that's how mass works, but more importantly, that's definitely not how multiplication works. But hey, what do I know? Stopped watching after that.

The basis of homeopathy is to dilute medicine so as to a give you a single molecule of aspirin, or whatever your drug is, to avoid waste (I'm not qualified to say whether this idea is silly or not). But it's usually diluted too much and you end up with just water.

LGM · Tue 03/11/2009 19:37:00

I had swine flu and all I got was this slab of bacon....

Khris · Wed 04/11/2009 00:58:24

Quote from: Lufia on Tue 03/11/2009 19:32:01
The basis of homeopathy is to dilute medicine so as to a give you a single molecule of aspirin, or whatever your drug is, to avoid waste.

Not exactly. It's based on like cures like, as in: if you want to cure a headache, you take something that causes headache, then dilute it until the chance of a single molecule of the substance still being in the water is less than 1. The more diluted, the more "powerful" that "solution" is (and the more expensive). Homeopaths believe the water to somehow absorb the energy of the substance.
You don't need to be an expert to call complete bullshit on that either. Guess what's diluted when they produce sleeping pills? Caffeine.

But I really don't want to turn this thread into a discussion about homeopathy, so apologies. Just thought the vid is really funny in a sick and twisted, brain cell killing way.

Edit after Lufia's response:
Sure, there's nothing to say against taking the stuff to invoke the placebo effect, after all, it even works if you know there's nothing but water in the balls.
I only object to the steep prices, the homeopaths telling people it wasn't the placebo effect, and most of all: the minor issue that people with serious but perfectly curable illnesses rely on something that won't help them and die.

Lufia · Wed 04/11/2009 01:35:01

Is it? My mom used to take me to a doctor that dealt in homeopathy when I was a kid, I don't remember him saying anything like that.

Anyway, she took me there when I had a cold. Seeing how incredibly efficient medicine is against viruses, homeopathy is just as good and yummier. The other doctors around systematically gave out antibiotics. I think I prefer the alternative of little sugary balls and placebo effect.

Calin Leafshade · Wed 04/11/2009 15:44:16

Homeopathy should be illegal.

its medicine sold at very high prices with no proven effects.

It no you cant 'overdose on it' but you can fucking drown.

Wonkyth · Wed 04/11/2009 23:33:35

Ohh, but the 'lil sugary balls are sooo sweeet!
I could suck on them all night...

Baron · Thu 05/11/2009 03:44:44

Meh, I've been sicker.

TerranRich · Thu 05/11/2009 04:32:02

So far I've had a nasty cold, a really painful and bad ear infection, and a foreign object stuck under my eyelid, all in the past week. Bring on the H1N1, I think I'll be better off.

Oliwerko · Thu 05/11/2009 05:56:16

Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Wed 04/11/2009 15:44:16
Homeopathy should be illegal.

Illegal? Why? You believe it - take it. You don't - don't take it. Simple as that, why make it illegal? Illegal things are (usually) those who have proven BAD effects on something.

ThreeOhFour · Thu 05/11/2009 06:06:58

I think he was just trying to support his opinion demonstrated here.

Well, either that or he's a hypocrite

Calin Leafshade · Thu 05/11/2009 16:11:56

Quote from: Oliwerko on Thu 05/11/2009 05:56:16
Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Wed 04/11/2009 15:44:16
Homeopathy should be illegal.

Illegal? Why? You believe it - take it. You don't - don't take it. Simple as that, why make it illegal? Illegal things are (usually) those who have proven BAD effects on something.

Because authority has a responsibility to give us the facts.

I have no problem with people taking sugar pills to cure their cancer but it's irresponsible to sell things under the banner of 'medicine' if it has no proven effects.

You wouldnt expect to go into a hospital and then be given a medicine which has no clinically observable effects.

"And this will cure me, doctor?"
"yeah, fuck it... it might."

I'm also all for drug education. I think the government should research the effects of drugs, give us the information and then let us decide if we want to mess with our bodies.