Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water • Hacker News Board

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

#71

Post by bdamm » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:23 PM UTC

athenot wrote: post #56

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.

True, but, if I took every simple precaution I know of to prevent all of the unlikely but known conditions, I doubt I'd get anything done in a day. Or have much fun.

* Avoid cars.

* Wash hands after exposure to public transit and before touching one's face.

* Always wear sunscreen when exposed to the sun.

* Don't wear contact lenses.

* Wash hands after exposure to dust of any kind.

* Wear mask during moderately poor air condition (almost every day in SF Bay!)

* Don't swim in the south (killer amoebas)

* Don't breathe in the north-west (killer fungi)

* Don't walk in the north-east (insanity causing ticks).

* Drink out of only glass or stainless steel.

* Eat only fresh unprocessed foods.

* Never eat bacon or BBQ.

* Never drink alcohol.

* And definitely, never, ever, go to a hospital.

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

#72

Post by scythe » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:23 PM UTC

shawnz wrote: post #68

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You shouldn't be using water from the hot tap even just for drinking or cooking, let alone putting in a neti pot. Water from a hot water tank can contain high levels of dissolved contaminants since it sits in your plumbing system for extended periods at high temperatures.

No cooking? Even, say, boiling potatoes? I always use filtered water if I'm planning to consume it, but I thought I could get away with the sink if I was throwing it out.

That's news to me, I'll have to boil cold water from now on.

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

#73

Post by KSS42 » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:23 PM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #66

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you explain why you use a neti-pot? I don't know anyone who uses one and I don't really understand the reasons behind it.

My wife uses one to clear out her sinuses when they are stuffed due to a cold. Sinus infections cause her pain. Her doctor recommended it. She uses a squeezable bottle.

I made sure she only uses distilled water. She dissolves a saline powder in it.

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

#74

Post by nscalf » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:26 PM UTC

da_chicken wrote: post #58

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 yo…

Beyond just that, I have to question how many non-lethal non-brain-eating infections come from injecting untreated water into your face that don't make the news.

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

#75

Post by dhimes » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:26 PM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #66

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you explain why you use a neti-pot? I don't know anyone who uses one and I don't really understand the reasons behind it.

It relieves the symptoms of sinusitis. Painful pressure can build in your sinuses, and rinsing can help open passages and equalize the pressure as well as soothe the pain a bit.

I also like to think I'm removing bad stuff and helping with the healing process, and maybe killing bad stuff by flushing it with salt water, but this is my own personal myth.

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

#76

Post by code_duck » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:26 PM UTC

emersonrsantos wrote: post #70

code_duck wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 s…

Yes, it distorts the sense of smell and taste - my mother-in-law would smell an annoying floral aroma everywhere, can’t smell certain foods or she would get immediate heartburn, and couldn’t taste salt or taste it too much in certain hours of the day. It’s weird! But we tend to not take our sense of smell and taste so seriously so I think it should be very important to the brain to have a healthy sense of smell and t…

My issue seems to be with amplification and lingering of odors more than distortion. I guess another issue is scents interfering with my taste during and after eating.

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

#77

Post by KSS42 » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:27 PM UTC

striking wrote: post #52

cortesoft wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you warm it?

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

I would recommend placing the bottle in a hot/warm water bath. Like how baby bottles are warmed.

If microwaving, make sure to mix well!

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

#78

Post by Ninjaneered » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:31 PM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #66

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you explain why you use a neti-pot? I don't know anyone who uses one and I don't really understand the reasons behind it.

I use a version* of a net-pot to flush out my sinuses after surfing. If I don't, especially if I surf in a red tide, I get a nasty sinus infection (surfers sinusitis or acute sinusitis). I even had sinus surgery to reduce my turbinates and increase my sinus ducts which helps, but still doesn't prevent the problem.

* I use NeilMed's sinus flush which basically is a sealed bottle with a straw I can use to force flush my sinuses, vs. just using gravity.

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

#79

Post by cydonian_monk » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:33 PM UTC

dom96 wrote: post #66

cortesoft wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you explain why you use a neti-pot? I don't know anyone who uses one and I don't really understand the reasons behind it.

I had to use one after a sinus surgery (to remove a not-so-tiny bone spur and then put things back where they belong) to flush out dried blood and whatnot.

I've used it a few times after when I have a severe head cold to open things up a bit. Easier and less invasive than going through the background check needed to buy cold medicine.

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

#80

Post by gilgoomesh » Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 9:35 PM UTC

BjoernKW wrote: post #67

Distilled water certainly is the safest way but tap water mixed with salt in countries where it's safe to drink tap water in most cases should cause no harm either. Salt works as a disinfectant when dissolved in water. When rinsing your sinuses you'll want to use saline water anyway because fresh water will hurt the mucous membranes in your nose.

That's bad advice. Common saline solutions are around 9g/L and won't kill most protozoa.

http://www1.nencki.gov.pl/pdf/ap/ap574.pdf

Even at seawater-like concentrations of over 30g/L, it can take over 72 hours to sterilize water containing fresh-water protozoa.

Boiling is the only practical way to sterilize water.