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Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

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Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#51

Post by athenot »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #33

I still don't quite understand how tap water in a neti-pot is significantly more dangerous than swimming in local lakes, swimming pool or the ocean. Certainly, you get water in your sinuses from that, right?

When you swim in lakes & rivers, you typically don't get water way up your sinuses. Maybe a bit in the nose but not far back. So the odds are lower. Not impossible as there have been case of triathletes dying from the same thing after a lake race, but definitely lower odds.

As for the ocean, its salinity prevents that kind of amœba from even being present.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#52

Post by striking »

cortesoft wrote: post #22
stevehawk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, you need to stop that. Start carrying distilled water with you.

How do you warm it?

Could try microwaving it or using a chemical reaction to heat it, like an MRE meal.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#53

Post by athenot »

cortesoft wrote: post #21
capkutay wrote: post #2

Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.

They do, but I am never sure how that is supposed to be practical. You need to use warm water, which is easy with tap water, but hard to do quickly with distilled or boiled water. I know it has risks, but I still use normal tap water. From what I have read, all of the cases are from people using well water, never from city provided, chlorinated water. It actually says this in the article, too.

It's actually quite practical: boil water then stick a thermometer in it. Go do other stuff and check the temp; as it comes down and matches your body temp, it's perfect.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#54

Post by code_duck »

emersonrsantos wrote: post #19
code_duck wrote: post #3

I wash my nose in such a way frequently because I have an extreme sensitivity to airborne chemicals and fragrances. It’s so uncomfortable to be doused with air freshener, diesel exhaust, cleaner fumes, laundry fragrance, plastic odor or perfume that I rinse my nose out with whatever water is available, which includes taps and drinking fountains. I’ve worried about such an illness happening to me, evidently with good…

Your symptoms are the same of people with untreated nasal polyps. Ask your doctor about nasal corticosteroid spray treatment.

I see that listed as causing a decreased sense of smell - can it also cause a hypersensitivity to odors? My sense of smell is very precise, to the point that I can do things like smell which friends my girlfriend visiting on the way home from work. It could be in part because I maintain such a pristine, scent free environment where as other people have environments flooded with fragrances. This started it about the same time as my autoimmune disease and has steadily gotten worse at the same rate.

Upon exposure to an odor like Pantene or Gain, my upper lip feels numb and I start salivating. It makes me feel slightly dizzy and gives me a headache. The odor lingers in my nose and mouth until I rinse it out or 10-30 minutes. I was diagnosed with an esophageal hypersensitivity and dozens of allergies, but nasal polyps didn’t come up. I’ll ask.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#56

Post by athenot »

ams6110 wrote: post #7

Person dies under unusual, rare circumstances. Happens every day, there are nearly 8 billion of us. Why is this news?

If an article is about a "Brain-eating" danger, it captivates a host of emotional responses, mainly as a result of works of fiction. It's even more powerful if it's from something we can't see with the naked eye.

From a health perspective, it's also a way to remind ourselves that there are simple precautions to prevent that. We learn from others' mistakes.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#57

Post by JackFr »

girzel wrote: post #43
capkutay wrote: post #2

Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.

We've got a neti-pot-like thing that comes with a built-in filter. I don't worry about it past that.

Going by this article, it seems like you should.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#58

Post by da_chicken »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #33

I still don't quite understand how tap water in a neti-pot is significantly more dangerous than swimming in local lakes, swimming pool or the ocean. Certainly, you get water in your sinuses from that, right?

Yes, and people get from it from swimming [0] [1] [2]. That's typically how people get infected. It doesn't affect that many people because people typically don't intend to fill their nose while swimming.

The issue is that a neti pot is that you're intentionally putting water deep into the sinus cavities. This amoeba is exactly why they tell you to only use sterilized water in a neti pot and to clean and sterilize your neti pot regularly.

[0]: https://www.theepochtimes.com/surfer-dies-from-brain-eating-...

[1]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2392917/Hope-Kali-H...

[2]: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/brain-eating-amoe...

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#60

Post by jimktrains2 »

ergothus wrote: post #46
cowpewter wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The salts are to reduce irritation. Plain water is extremely uncomfortable in your sinuses, but saline is fine. As far as I know they do nothing to reduce contaminants in your water or harm bacteria.

And yet the article mentions distilled OR saline, which definitely raises the question. If I wake up feeling like crap, it is far easier to use a salt packet than to go to the store for distilled water. The article implies that is fine (but the article may be misleading)

Perhaps they meant premixed , sterile saline solutions ?
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