In a post below (Anthrax discussion), I asked about finding an article I had once read where a Dr. gives advice and info about antibiotice for the home medical kit.

Linda posted that she knew it was by Dr. Bill Schenker, but that she lost the link. I did a search and found it and I thank you very much Linda. This info is worth copying:

http://www.y2kchaos.com/s35p110.htm#Message285

-- Skeeter K. Jackson Simpson (skeeter@barsawmp.corn), April 23, 1999

Answers

[Originally targeted for "Looking for Y2k, Anthrax, plague, etc. etc. antibiotic info. (Skeeter K. Jackson Simpson, skeeter@barsawmp.corn, 1999-04-22)"].

Thanks very much for the link; I'll be checking it out.

Just so we're all aware:

"...the use of antibiotics in a manner unsupervised by a physician is always dangerous. Not only can using these agents prior to coming under a physician's care make it more difficult for a correct diagnosis to be made once antibiotic therapy has been started, but the antibiotics themselves may cause potentially fatal reactions, or they may allow certain other infectious agents, such as fungi, to begin growing, harming the person taking the antibiotic. Some of these effects, even the potentially fatal ones, may not be immediately apparent." --Lawrence J. Joyce, 1996, in a document describing the use of antibiotics against biological attack.

Duly noted. I plan to stock some antibiotics anyway. HOWEVER:

Some of the things we're stocking up on can lend us a false sense of security. The preferable mode is to AVOID EXPOSURE: to biologicals, to radiation, to Mutant Cannibal Looters. If you have to use antibiotics to survive disease, or potassium iodide to limit radioactive iodine uptake, or guns to ward off MCL's, you're not doing too well. Does that mean I think you should not have antibiotics or potassium iodide or weapons on hand? No. All I'm saying is, we need to be careful how much we rely on these things, even psychologically. It could lead to complacency, to getting sloppy, putting us in positions we could have avoided. And there are some things, such as exposure to 600 roentgens, that you probably aren't going to survive no matter what you've managed to stockpile.

As related to Y2k and a potential full-scale meltdown, I think we can do better by ourselves through paying strict attention to hygiene, to food preparation and storage, rather than relying on antibiotics. Especially important is availability of clean water to wash with, and some means of refrigeration for storage of perishables.

As for biological attack, that's in a whole different league. One of the big problems with biological warfare is knowing when an attack is taking place. Antibiotic therapy is best started before the disease organisms are encountered (especially in the case of anthrax, which may be untreatable once symptoms appear).

Storage and rotation of antibiotics, especially the tetracyclines, is also very important.

If you wish to pursue this further, you might want to check out "Do- It Yourself Medicine: How to Find and Use Miracle Drugs without Costly Doctor or Hospital Prescriptions" by Ragnar Benson, at http://www3.via web.com/spytechagency/12157.html. This is just a suggestion based on a web search; I don't have this book. I'm getting my information piecemeal from a variety of sources, so I can't point you to any other individual reference.

For those of us who are considering this level of preparation, I believe that it's important for us to think carefully about what we're doing. Be skeptical. Use the scientific method, do your homework, get both sides of the story. The only reason I mention this is because I found myself falling into this trap, checking off points on a preparation list without completely examining what I was doing. It can be dangerous.

A good site for getting the "establishment" side of the story is at http://www.quackwatch.com/ (which link I think I learned about on this forum). But don't blindly accept everything you read there, either.

"Let's be careful out there. . . ."

=DSA.

-- David S. Angal (dsangal@ibm.net), April 23, 1999.

Dr. Schenker also discusses the benefits and risks of using colloidal silver in:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000ZNH

-- Roger Altman (RogAltman@AOL.com), April 23, 1999.