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Christopher Columbus, Credibility, Cincinnati, and a Cure

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

Christopher Columbus - This Columbus Day, let’s celebrate an American entrepreneur!  Like most entrepreneurs, Columbus took great risks in his quest for wealth.  While he was not completely successful and never did find an alternate route to India, he was responsible for some great achievements, not the least of which was bringing Europeans to the American continent.  Thanks to his discovery of this continent, our forefathers inherited a place in which an experiment in freedom and self-government would be tested.  As one of the millions of beneficiaries of that experiment, I am very thankful for the efforts of Columbus and of other entrepreneurs who followed him across the ocean in search of fortune and freedom.

Credibility – Many groups that are normally associated with scientific research into health issues now have become advocates in the anti-smoking jihad.  Unfortunately, in their crusaders’ zeal, they are risking the loss of their credibility by presenting as “facts” many statements that do not stand up under scientific scrutiny.  First, they state as a fact that 56,000 people per year die from second-hand smoke.  If they were going to tell the truth, they would say that some people estimate 56,000 deaths per year based on pure speculation, while others estimate far fewer, or zero deaths.  Next, they state that the chemicals present in second-hand tobacco smoke are so toxic that they are not safe at any concentration, which is pure hogwash!  Dosage is extremely important when considering the effects of any chemical on human health.  For example, drinking a glass of red wine each day has been found to improve health, while heavy drinking has been proven to be very unhealthy.  The fact is that there is nothing pure in nature – everything is contaminated to some degree – and if the levels of contaminants (even those that are very toxic at higher dosages) are low enough, they have no negative effect on human health.  Similarly, too much of a good thing (even water) can kill you. 

          When these pseudo-scientific organizations say that dosage is irrelevant in the case of second-hand tobacco smoke, which I know to be a lie, it makes me wonder what other lies they have been telling us.  I, for one, will not be making any more donations to these groups, who obviously are willing to promote very unscientific lies in order to dupe the public into supporting their agenda.  They are engaging in brainwashing – not science.

Cincinnati – This past weekend, our family spent a couple of days as tourists in Cincinnati.  We visited the birthplace of President Taft, which is on top of a hill, a few miles away from downtown Cincinnati.  According to the tour guide, Taft’s father moved his first wife and children out of the city to this hilltop home, because his wife had been very ill, and the air in the city was considered to be unhealthy.  At that time, in the mid-1800’s, the air was filled with smoke, soot, dust, and the stench of hog-slaughtering operations.  (We noted that, today, the air quality is vastly improved, thanks to affluence and improved technology.)  Unfortunately, Fanny Taft did not live very long, even up on the hilltop, but Mr. Taft remarried, and his second wife became the mother of a U.S. President and Supreme Court Justice!

A Cure – I have been a lifelong sufferer from allergies, and this time of year (ragweed season) is usually my worst.  (So much for the healthy country air!)  For many years, I have taken decongestants and antihistamines every day, but still I struggled and occasionally suffered from sinus infections, bronchitis, and other related ailments as a result of the allergies.  But a month or two ago I stopped taking all those medicines, because I have discovered a simple solution.  It is a nasal spray called Xlear, (see also) which contains water, xylitol (a natural sugar), saline, and grapefruit seed extract (a preservative).  As I was researching xylitol and telling my kids about it, my daughter Andrea asked, “Mom, can you say ‘snake oil’?”  While it did seem too good to be true, I thought that water with sugar and salt in it couldn’t do much harm and was at least worth a try, so I bought some and have been amazed at the results.  While I still sneeze sometimes and occasionally still have itchy eyes, the rest of the allergic symptoms are gone.  I even find second-hand cigarette smoke less irritating now.  Maybe we should pass a law requiring that this stuff be offered for sale in restaurants and bars or any business in which smoking is permitted!

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