(no subject)
Apr. 3rd, 2020 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynI've never had much of a sense of smell, not as long as I can remember. I mean, I have one. It's just not very good. I've had a functioning sense of taste my whole life, too, a better one than I think a lousy sense of smell would indicate.
I saw an otolaryngologist two years ago for possible 9/11-related sinusitis. He figured it was more likely to be allergies after several rounds of examination and testing. I did, however, mention the terrible sense of smell. He was severely puzzled by not finding anything that looked like a physical explanation for the phenomenon.
Mostly I mention this because a while back, like late February or possibly early March, I went to look for information on the best amount, formulation, etc. of zinc to use as an accompaniment to oral rehydration solution in the event of a dehydrating illness. The World Health Organization had noted that additional zinc supplementation resulted in better outcomes, at least in children and in adult cholera patients. There was a lot of information out there about zinc, especially since at the time people were still mostly going 'what do I need for cold and flu season' rather than 'OMGCORONAVIRUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'. I spotted an advisory about certain zinc preparations that left me surprised; apparently alt-med preparations of zinc solution that involve swabbing the inside of one's nose exist. And are very, very, very strongly not recommended, because of multiple patients reporting long-term to permanent loss of smell after using these solutions.
(Since they're billed as 'supplements' rather than 'medicines', the various forms of HEALTH FREEDOM legislation over the years have meant that the FDA can't actually stop people from selling the damn things. So long as the supplements include a disclaimer saying 'we're not saying this treats a disease, it just Supports Healthy Immune Function wink wink' they're in the clear no matter how much danger they pose to people via side effect. Thanks, folks.)
Anyway, I'd have skipped over that except that I remembered that sometime in the early 80s they stopped making pennies out of copper (it was a pricey metal compared to the value of a penny) and started making them out of zinc plated with the thinnest layer of copper they could manage and still keep the right colors. And that I shoved a penny up my nose when I was eight and wasn't able to get it out until I had gone into panic mode and cried for a substantial amount of time, thereby lubing things up and causing the penny to come shooting out, in the disgusting manner of many an eight-year-old.
I have no clue whatsoever if a single traumatic event that did not result in blood would be enough to cause a result like that, or if the penny in question was from one of the zinc years or an older one that was still copper. I need to see if I can find the reports on the folks developing anosmia after nasal zinc application and see what level of exposure they had.
Hope you enjoyed today's disgusting medical info unrelated to Covid.
I saw an otolaryngologist two years ago for possible 9/11-related sinusitis. He figured it was more likely to be allergies after several rounds of examination and testing. I did, however, mention the terrible sense of smell. He was severely puzzled by not finding anything that looked like a physical explanation for the phenomenon.
Mostly I mention this because a while back, like late February or possibly early March, I went to look for information on the best amount, formulation, etc. of zinc to use as an accompaniment to oral rehydration solution in the event of a dehydrating illness. The World Health Organization had noted that additional zinc supplementation resulted in better outcomes, at least in children and in adult cholera patients. There was a lot of information out there about zinc, especially since at the time people were still mostly going 'what do I need for cold and flu season' rather than 'OMGCORONAVIRUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'. I spotted an advisory about certain zinc preparations that left me surprised; apparently alt-med preparations of zinc solution that involve swabbing the inside of one's nose exist. And are very, very, very strongly not recommended, because of multiple patients reporting long-term to permanent loss of smell after using these solutions.
(Since they're billed as 'supplements' rather than 'medicines', the various forms of HEALTH FREEDOM legislation over the years have meant that the FDA can't actually stop people from selling the damn things. So long as the supplements include a disclaimer saying 'we're not saying this treats a disease, it just Supports Healthy Immune Function wink wink' they're in the clear no matter how much danger they pose to people via side effect. Thanks, folks.)
Anyway, I'd have skipped over that except that I remembered that sometime in the early 80s they stopped making pennies out of copper (it was a pricey metal compared to the value of a penny) and started making them out of zinc plated with the thinnest layer of copper they could manage and still keep the right colors. And that I shoved a penny up my nose when I was eight and wasn't able to get it out until I had gone into panic mode and cried for a substantial amount of time, thereby lubing things up and causing the penny to come shooting out, in the disgusting manner of many an eight-year-old.
I have no clue whatsoever if a single traumatic event that did not result in blood would be enough to cause a result like that, or if the penny in question was from one of the zinc years or an older one that was still copper. I need to see if I can find the reports on the folks developing anosmia after nasal zinc application and see what level of exposure they had.
Hope you enjoyed today's disgusting medical info unrelated to Covid.
