Re: melafix

[Kathy Olson <kathy@thekrib.com>]

Afraid I have to agree with Colin on this one.  We have lots of
medications derived from Herbs/Natural remedies, and there is a place for
them in Medicine.  However, too many people do think since they are
natural or a herb they are better and safe.  Not so...Colin had a nice
list and you can add to that Taxol from the Yew tree as the new main
chemotherapeutic drug in several regimens for different cancers.  Just in
case you do think these are safe we have now had at least two people come
in to the ICU with Herb/Homeopathic medicine side effects (and more than
that to the hospital). One
young lady (30's) had seizures, and then had washed out her kidney
gradient...it took us four days to stabilize her kidney's so they would
actually work again (concentrate urine), oh yeah she also lysed a bunch of
her muscle cells (in non technical terms).
It was quite an ordeal....and of course all we could do is stabilize her
until the herbs wore off...thank goodness it was days, not weeks or she
may not have made it.  So, beware, all plants/extracts have the potential
to be drugs, know what you are using, and follow directions (hopefully
someone has tested it before you).

Kathy (M.D.)


On Fri, 16 Jun 2000, Stuart Hall wrote:

> Chad Attlesey wrote:
> 
> > You can also go to http://www.petopia.com/ and do a search for Melafix.  Try
> > it, it is good stuff.  I used it to treat torn fins and infection with great
> > success.  I like it because it is a natural antibiotic and seems to greatly
> > accelerate fin repair and minimize/eliminate permanent damage.  Unlike other
> > medications, it doesn't seem to have any side effects or stress the fish
> > being treated.  It isn't snake oil.  No, I don't own stock in the company
> > either....
> 
> I want to make a quick comment here because Chad brings up an important point
> which happens to be a favorite topic of mine.
> 
> Don't be fooled into thinking something is better in any way, shape, or form just
> because it's "natural."  Without being particularly facetious, I can bring up that
> digitalis comes from the plant foxglove, and that atropine comes from deadly
> nightshade.  Aspirin first came from willow bark.  I can understand the motivation
> behind trying to buy natural products, but I have reservations about using tea
> tree oil in a fish tank.
> 
> My reasoning is this: tea tree oil is an effective, NONSPECIFIC bactericide; in
> other words, it kills bacteria indiscriminately.  Including, potentially, the
> biological filter.  I've read that people have used it to treat Hexamita spp.
> infections.  Sure, it might work, but so does metronidazole, and metronidazole
> does not hurt the biological filter.  Also, it's not generally recommended that
> tea tree oil be taken internally.  Who knows what the toxic dose would be for
> fish, anyway?
> 
> If you have a stubborn infection and you can properly isolate your ill fish in a
> treatment tank, then it might not be a bad idea to use something broad-spectrum
> like tea tree oil.  It may or may not have side-effects; certainly anecdotal
> evidence that it doesn't speaks well for it, but by no means do we have a
> significant sample.  Bear in mind that "natural" doesn't equal "safe" or "better."
> 
> Stuart
> 
> (Oh, I don't know, I guess it just pushed one of my buttons.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
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