ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

Where is this Tyler?

I took that photo while sitting at my desk in my office. The bunnies and birdies come out to play about 9am as the sun begins to warm the earth.

It is beautiful! Thank you!!

give dat cwazy wabbit some cawwots!

Nice desktop wallpaper. Thanks.

Did everybody leave town for the 3 day weekend?

yeah, where is everyone? oddly quiet on the Post the last few days. anyway, off to breakfast and the farmer's market. see you there.

PS - the Ojai book makes a really nice Christmas gift - enter our contest and win a copy! We need more entries, folks.

Well, I'm afraid this post isn't nearly as nice as the picture above, but it's something that recently invaded my consciousness and I need to ask some questions about it.

Some 90,000 Americans are infected by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) each year. It is estimated that as many as 18,000 die of these infections each year, which makes it more deadly than AIDS. Arguably, most of the deaths are among very ill patients in hospitals, so a direct comparison like the above is not necessarily warranted. However, a new more virulent strain is wondering around out there infecting very healthy people. It's called community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). The reason I bring this nastiness up is that I've heard about it now three times in unrelated circumstances which begins to make me nervous. I randomly called a good friend of mine the other day whom I hadn't spoken to in a little while, and he answered his cell phone in a hospital bed at Cedars-Sinai. He had become infected with this CA-MRSA and had been admitted to the hospital. He's okay now, but they had to fill him with rather harsh antibiotics that are playing hell with his system.

I'd like to ask some of the alternative medicine healers out there if they have developed a strategy for dealing with this evolving infection. The first form of CA-MRSA or toxic-MRSA was observed in Australia in 1992. Have Homeopaths or other alternative med

There is an article in today's LA Times Opinion section, (page M9) on this topic, "Superbug's killer cousin." It's written by Wendy Orent, author of "Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease."

I do not know about alternative treatments, as yet, and I don't know if antibiotics in the food supply play a role, but to be on the safe side, I would stay away from milk and meat products laced with antibiotics...for starters...and build your immunity with an overall healthy lifestyle.

Does your friend have any idea how he got infected?

So, now it's four unrelated times I've heard about this infection. It was the lead story on 60 Minutes tonight. Weird.

My friend got a sty in his eye that turned into CA-MRSA. He has no idea from where he contracted it, though his immune system may not be the greatest. He was in what I and future historians will call The First Oil War, what we've all come to know as the first Persian Gulf War. He's a veteran and he was a tank commander. Perhaps because of the depleted uranium (DU) they used or whatever else seems to have seriously afflicted so many of our veterans of that war, he sometimes has immunological issues. Not full blown Gulf War Syndrome, a condition probably caused by DU, but not great either. He's fine now, but the major antibiotics they had him on have messed with his system some.

Happy Veterans Day

Did anyone read The Hot Zone written by Richard Preston in 1994? Not only did it scare the crap out of me, but I was really struck by Preston's suggestion that these types of viruses (AIDS, Ebola, etc.) were the Earth's way of protecting and cleansing itself from the abuse of mankind. Between Avian Flu and now MRSA, I contemplate that that we are most likely due for another worldwide pandemic. Hopefully we will be spared the devastaion that occured during the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 50-100 million people in a year's time...

and all I wanted to talk about was the bunny, and peacocks...spk - sorry to hear about your friend. glad to hear he's OK.

lately I've been missing the peacocks in the arbolada. when I was young there were always a few homes in the arbolada raising peacocks and it was so magical to catch a glimpse of one. their eerie screams added to the "hauntedness" of the arbolada.

My "alternative" ideas on preventing any contagious illness are as follows:

Wash your hands regularly. I don't suggest antibacterial soap unless you think you've been exposed, but do rub vigorously.

Get plenty of rest.

Eat plenty of veggies and fruits and minimal meat, dairy and wheat products. Caffeine, sugar, alcohol (yes even wine) and recreational drugs (yes, even marijuana) also depress the immune system.

Drink lots of water. Divide your weight by two. Drink at least that many ounces of water per day. Diet coke does not count as water. Water counts as water.

Some people claim that taking digestive enzymes and/or probiotics (good bacteria) can help stave off infection. Both are available at Rainbow Bridge or on my website (www.ojaicolontherapy.com/store.html).

There is a lot of debate about the preventative use of things like Olive Leaf Extract, Echinacea, etc. I don't use them that way - I might take them if I get sick.

Chinese herbalists are great at building immune power. We have a great one here in town, Nathan Kaehler. (http://www.ojaihealers.com/nathan_kaehler_ma_lac/)

just went to OBC yesterday to drop off FedEx. Love the new complex. It is gorgeous and I think it looks welcoming and fits in with the look of Ojai.

hittin the road on an early spontaneous adventure to health and harmony.

so happy tgiving day everyone!!

Lucky you El Anonimo!

Wise decision.

PS I am waiting for my young niece to have her baby. Please, someone tell me, how can it almost be 2008, almost 40 years since my first cild was born (1969) and home birth is still not legal in Ojai!

I have lots to write about when this is all over!