O. of O.

As I mentioned in my last post...which was, ahem, only a few days ago, I got a bit desperate to try and get over our flus and colds.  So I bought... a bottle of oil of oregano.  It tastes awful but it works.  Hey isn't that what Buckley's uses in their ads?

We had first heard about oil of oregano a few years ago from my brother-in-law.  His immediate family had been using it to prevent illness.  I have to admit we were a bit skeptical.  He told us an extended family member had seen dramatic improvements in respiratory health after following a regime of oil of oregano. This piqued my interest.
 
Here are some of the purported health benefits of the stuff:  potent antioxidant, antibacterial (against 41 different strains), antifungal and antiseptic.  It is been known to treat respiratory tract, GI, skin, and urinary tract disorders.  Several websites claim it can treat the super bug, MRSA.  Since antioxidants have been known to kill cancer cells, it has some websites even claiming that it may prevent and/or slow progression of some types of breast cancer.  Even the Mayo Clinic is weighing in on it, admitting that there seems to be some antibacterial properties but that more studies need to be done.

We first tried oil of oregano when we went to China.  We had been told that getting a GI bug when travelling to China was a given for foreigners.  We did not get sick. (The boys got motion sickness during the plane landing in Shanghai, but none of us got a bug.)  We were very thankful for the many prayers that were spoken on our behalf in this regard.

As a result of taking the oil of oregano for the China trip, I got a really cool health benefit.  My very resistant strain of plantar's warts went away!  I had been treating them myself with various and pricey over the counter remedies for a good long while with no success.  I had visited my GP and she had tried burning them a couple of times with no avail either.  She then sent me to a dermatologist who had been treating me with a stronger form of liquid nitrogen biweekly for a few months.  The dermatologist then had upped the visits to weekly but they still kept growing back.  Finally, just before we left for China the dermatologist gave me a script to go get a medication at the Cancer clinic which she wanted to inject into the warts.  She gave me explicit instructions to pick the med up, keep it cool, and bring it to her within a couple of hours due to the short half-life of the medication.  I left the office thinking I wasn't really comfortable having a chemotherapy agent injected into my feet for something as harmless as a wart.  After all, Steph loves me warts and all!  She reassured me that since the dose was so small there would be no effects like hair loss, etc. A couple of days later we left for China, life got really busy for a few weeks, and when I had time to start thinking about whether or not I wanted to take the chemo drug I realized that the warts were all gone!

So yeah, I became a closet believer in the stuff.  It seemed a bit wacky but I thought, if it works why not use it?!  This brings us to this past December where I have only been sicker once... in high school with a pneumonia that required hospitalization.  I knew that should be going to the doctor.  My cough sounded like I was a chain-smoker with TB.  I had no time to visit the doctor.  So... I bought the bottle.  Steph and I feel much better now.  So thanks, M, although we doubted you, and maybe even mocked your crazy idea, we  now know you were onto something!

***DISCLAIMER*** Please don't use this information as a substitute for visiting a medical professional.  If you decide to buy the oil of oregano drops please don't use for more than a couple of weeks at a time.   Take a least a couple of weeks off the stuff before starting again.  It can be too much for your gastrointestinal tract and kill off the good bacteria.  As with many supplements, it can be tough on the liver if taken too often or in dosages that are too high.  Research it from reliable sources if you want more information.

I feel like I have just posted an informercial with the disclaimer at the end.  I guess many years of working in the healthcare field has taught me to always cover myself.