Malaria in India

icetea

I too was thinking of opening a thread about ayurvedic learnings that indiamike people might have tried and made a habit of...

But I was thinking more of oil massage, herbs and the like...all this ayurvedic medicine mambo-jumbo makes me dizzy...especially the terminology

Nick-H

Well,thr trouble with the terminology is that it is in a different language!

But, like the names of homeopathic remedies here, the ayurvedic names are not recognisable to most local people here.

I'd love to see such a thread.

One of the problems with Indiamike, though, is that the site sees so much trafic that new threads wich aren't contributed to for a day disapear from the recent thread searches.

If someone would like to make a post in the Health and Welfare section introducing Indian medicine, maybe we could make it a sticky.

I know such a thread wouldn't be without controversy, of course .

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theyyamdancer

I've been following this thread with interest and would like to contribute (excuse me for repeating what I wrote yesterday in the Andaman section) a very good anti-mosquito lotion which we used in the Andaman islands against both mosquitoes and sand flies. We also took proguanil/chloroquine combo and I would do so next time. The lotion however prevented us from being bitten in the first place. It is a mixture of essential oils of : lavendar, basil, cedar, citronella, eucalyptus, tea-tree and lemon verbena. I don't know the exact proportions as it was mixed up for us by a friend who is a pharmacist. Unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients it is extremely effective. Going back to the original article about the advice to British travellers in India not to take anti-malarials any more but to avoid being bitten instead, reading between the lines, I understand that the more drug-resistance develops to both kinds of malaria in India (as has already happened in the north-east of the country) the worse the problem becomes. As I have lived for many years in Paris, I had a conversation with a French doctor (GP) who claims that the proguanil/chloroquine combo which is currently prescribed here in Greece (as well as in England I believe) is totally useless for travel in all parts of India. The more expensive drugs like Malarone are unavailable here in Crete. For myself, if I ever travel to Africa I would much prefer to take Lariam with all the inherent risks than suffer a life-time of malaria. I've seen at close quarters what that looks like from African expatriates in France who may have had immunity as children but after 30 years away they no longer do. It is a very intricate topic. Let us hope that one day there will be a vaccination. But then we would have to all start worrying about the side effects of that...

icetea

theyyamdancer - that lotion sounds good..nice to see some practical advice here afteral!

But I must admit that I tried Citronella for a while....and it was working for only about 20 minutes from applying it. It has a strong smell, just like the other oils you mentioned, so it is difficult to apply more, and it also burns a little if you do so. I used to sprinkle it on the mattress...but I must say it doesn't really really work much.

I also tried it as a vaporiser. The room was quickly filled with very heavy smell..which was difficult to bear, as much as I might like it.

Another thing that works just about the same as the above is.... Cuticura powder (the lavender version...those ppl exagerated with the perfume in it, thats why). I sometimes sprinkle it liberally over my limbs at night...if I'm getting too annoyed with the mosquitos! My husband hates it..

And..of course...closing all windows before 6 o'clock...at which time the hoards of mosquitos come in (they're very punctual...).

sticky

Ayurvedic medicine may or may not work, but it seems that chinese traditional medicine had it right all along
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4079

we were given some chinese sweet wormwood extract by a naturpath friend in australis as a cure all for delhi bely, seems its even more usefull thatn that.

its success as a delhi bely cure are hit and miss BTW, sometimes it kills it dead within the hour. sometimes it has no effect.

I met a guy working on the Artemesin anit malarial, and he says that its only a year or two away from human trials. I guess they have a lot of evidence that its safe already due to its use for 1000's of years

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icetea

agree...I so many times have to dig after threads..even my own...as I always forget to subscribe to them.

yes, that would be nice. Isn't there such any thread discussing this already? I haven't searched..

I was thinking of a lighter discussion on ayurvedic everyday treatments..the kind that Indians use at home. Was wondering how many on Indiamike actually picked up such practices...like using oil for the hair&body regularly...or munching some ginger for a cold or a headache....eating "cold" foods to cool the stomach or avoiding "hot" ones when having fever...and so on

icetea

aa, yes, I remember seeing a documentary about this one, on Discovery

Sama

I would love to get the % of that mixture, as I make my own oils also. I may be in Tanzania next January so would love to bring some with me!

As I posted in another thread, last time I was in India one person who got bit the least was a woman who used strictly eucalyptus oil as a deterrant. It convinced me to use it next time I go.

I've used both DEET and a "natural" product spray, and still got bit, even through clothes that I had sprayed with DEET.

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Anders

Novartis has already made it and sold it for a few years.

PeakXV

Mosquitoes are attracted body heat, Co2, and perfumes so don't use scented skin lotions, deoderants or shampoo as they will mask the effectiveness of the repellant. With that in mind woman may need to use more insect goop than men!

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

icetea

hmm..from my experience..they hate strong smells and perfumes, Peak.

Nick-H

Well, I've used them in the past, but here is a damning article on using homeopathic remedies as anti-malarial...

TimMakins

Well done. EVERYONE should read that article. It was being mentioned on BBC Radio 4 this morning. Those homeopathic wackos are seriously endangering health on a major scale with advice like that, and some people STILL believe them. Why they aren't prosecuted in the courts is totally beyond me.

Tim in Ireland

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Nick-H

Its still a personal choice, Tim... as I say, I've relied on homeopathic remedies... ... ...

PeakXV

A Mosquitoe to human relationship is a vey personal thing.

You have body heat, Co2 volume emitted, & body odor/body chemistry that changes dramatically from person to person.

No doubt, there may be combinations of body lotions/potions that may or may not work for certain individuals. No long ago, a product called Skin so soft was being lauded as an effective repellent against mossies. It worked for some and had adverse effects for others. My point was that these strong skin/hair products will mask the effectiveness of Deet or other repellents. And with that in mind, may well be counterproductive since most random lotion/potion combination have not been lab tested.