Things They Don

Do you have kids?  Do you have grand-kids?  Of course, you want to protect them,  help them grow, and do all you can to make sure they have a good start on life.

I have ear infections.  About once a month.   And no matter what I do, I have them.  It really sucks.  Especially if you have to fly on a plane.  Then you cry alot.  Seriously.

My purpose in life changed dramatically when I was 20 years old.  At 19, I was going to change the world, become a doctor, be a missionary, and marine biologist, trot the globe, save the world, all that stuff.

But, at 20, I hurt myself.   Just getting around and walking became a major effort.  My purpose in life changed from trying to change the world, to trying to be pain-free.

In the pursuit of a pain-free life, I became interested in how the body works.  When I retire, it would fun to get my biochemistry degree.  What does all this have to do with kids & grand-kids?

Well, I have ear aches.  And I have seen parents horrendously and unintentionally give their kids ear disease & infections.   Repeatedly.  And there is no need for this kind of pain and damage on a child.  But parents don’t know and don’t pay attention — they’re stressed out enough, just being parents.

How do they infect their kids?  Go into any mall, and watch the parents with their kids in strollers.  The pacifier falls out of the mouth, onto the floor.  What do the parents do?  They pick it up, MAYBE rub it off once, and plugged it back into the screaming child to shut them up.  Good Lord!!  What did you just innoculate your child with??? Are you insane?!?!

I used to walk up to these parents and say, “Excuse me, but the men’s bathroom floor is covered with urine.  I just walked out of there and across the floor where that pacifier fell.  You just put urine in your child’s mouth.  Urine that may have hepatitis.  I would wash it in hot water next time.”

Oh, you should have heard some of these people.  A few were grateful for the wake-up slap across the face.  And we would talk about how the pacifier (coated with bad bugs) was causing their child’s ear infections and other problems.  You see, the vacuum action of sucking the pacifier, opens and closes the eustachian tube.  This propels the bad bugs into the inner ear; a nice warm quiet place for disease to grow.

Most people were just indignant at my rudeness.  Of course, I always got the best reaction from cigarette smokers.

I would be standing near the entrance of Kroger waiting for my propane gas tank.  And of course, logically, this is where the smokers hang out, flicking their lighters?!

The smoke would choke me, and I would cough.  The smoker, being polite, would say, “Sorry, does the smoke bother you?”

I would say very seriously, and with a smile, “No, no, not at all.  Please continue.  In fact, if it weren’t for people like you exercising their American right to choose to smoke, my kids would never have had the money to go to college.  Thanks to folks like you, I have a job, a car and a nice house.”

They would of course reply, “What do you do?”  My response as I walked away, “I sell chemotherapy drugs for lung cancer patients.”

I wonder how many lives I saved with that comment?  But, I digress…

Bad bugs in the mouth cause ear infections as they travel from the mouth up the eustachian tube (the pressure equalizing tube connecting your ear to your mouth) and set up housekeeping.  Wouldn’t it be great if they couldn’t live in your mouth or eustachian tube!!

It is estimated that 2% of the population naturally carry Streptococcus salivarius K12 in their mouths.  This was first noted in healthy school children in New Zealand by Professor John Tagg, a microbiologist at the University of Otaga in New Zealand.  These children were unusually healthy.

S. salivarius K12 colonizes your mouth (like acidophilus does your gut) and protects against otitis media, strep throat, and oral candida yeast infections.

S. salivarius K12 does 3 fantastic things:

* blocks bad bugs by competing with them for food;
* produces powerful toxins that kill other bugs;
* activates over 500 genes in the human body that have to do with immune defense  & decreasing inflammation.

So, I bought some S. salivarius K12 and am going to give it a test drive.  It’s a nice little lozenge you suck on for about an hour.  An interesting side effect of these bugs — no bad “morning breath” when you wake up.  Apparently it cures halitosis, too.

If I do not have an ear infection by March 1st, that will be interesting.  If no infections by April 1st, then its a categoric success!

Mom & Dad, I would certainly try these lozenges out on your kid, BEFORE I let a doctor poke holes in my child’s ear drums (tube placement).

Here’s the link to S. salivarius K12:
http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item01300/Advanced-Oral-Hygiene.html

http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=9222&query=ear%20nose%20throat%20k12&hiword=NOSES%20THROATS%20ear%20k12%20nose%20throat%20

Here are the study links:

http://iai.asm.org/cgi/content/full/76/9/4163

http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=801054

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118566735/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0