Strange remedies for illnesses have existed since the beginning of time. In late 19th century England, holding the key of a church door was supposed to cure rabies, and the touch of a hanged man’s hand could shrink tumors. The standard treatment for colic was to stand on one’s head for a quarter of an hour. To cure baldness, it was only necessary to sleep on stones.
When I arrived in Spain 50 years ago, I also encountered a variety of strange beliefs regarding health and wellness, many of which differed from my own.
For example, children with measles were supposed to wear red since this alleviated the disease. Standing in an air current was a sure way to catch a cold. Cold air was the direct cause of all respiratory illnesses even tuberculosis. Drinking cold water or eating ice cream automatically produced a sore throat, if not tonsillitis.
If all of those things were indeed true, then it was a miracle that I had survived my childhood in Miami where ice-cold drinks and Arctic air conditioning were an integral part of daily life.
At that time in Spain, olive oil was the miracle remedy that was used for just about everything from skin rashes and earaches to baldness. A sprig of parsley previously anointed with olive oil and inserted into the anus was a sure cure for constipation. I never even tried to argue about any of these things, especially with my mother-in-law. She was not going to change her belief system simply because she had suddenly acquired a foreign daughter-in-law whom she could barely understand.
Now, in Times of Coronavirus, olive oil has not as yet been proposed as a cure for Covid-19, but it certainly seems as credible as other remedies, such as herbal tea or camel urine. Finding a cure for coronavirus would be infinitely more lucrative than winning the lottery. And the proposed cure doesn’t even have to work. It just has to be believable. As P. T. Barnum’s once said, “There is a sucker born every minute.”
Coronavirus remedies are the new snake oil, a term generally used to refer to a substance with no real medical value. Snake oil, however, is quite undeserving of its bad reputation since in its original form, it was quite effective.
The real snake oil was brought to the USA by Chinese immigrants in the 1800s, when they were helping to build the Transcontinental Railroad. The product was made from the oil of a Chinese water snake. Rich in omega-3 acids, it helped reduce inflammation and was an effective treatment for arthritis and bursitis.
However, when Americans tried to make their own version, they botched it. Not having access to water snakes of the Chinese variety, they made the oil with rattlesnakes. Quite understandably, the potion did not have quite the same effect. In fact, it did not cure much of anything at all. Its popularity largely stemmed from the generous dose of alcohol added.
In the grey area between coronavirus snake oil and the Covid-19 cure (which still does not exist), are the drugs used to treat other ailments, but which are now being recycled for use against the coronavirus. The star of the show is currently hydroxychloroquine, especially now that President Trump has said that he is taking a daily dose of it as a prophylactic measure.
As those of us who listen to science are aware, hydroxychloroquine is a good treatment for malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been given to Covid-19 patients with mixed results. Sometimes, it helps, but other times, it does more harm than good. There is not one shred of proof that it prevents coronavirus.
For precisely this reason, some people might think that taking hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic is a foolhardy course of action, but they would be wrong. In reality, it is an admirable gesture, worthy of praise.
Up until now, no president in the history of the United States has ever risked his own health to fight on the (pharmaceutical) frontline of a war against such a deadly viral foe. That the most powerful leader in the world would participate in a one-man clinical trial of a drug that has potentially dangerous side effects is mind-boggling. This self- sacrifice on the altar of medical science can only be commended, and has no parallel in the modern world.
The American people, especially those who have yet to learn how to spell, should be made aware of the generosity of their president. It is difficult to imagine any other world leader capable of that level of self-sacrifice… certainly not President Pedro Sánchez of Spain.
The only points of comparison are Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who contracted Covid-19 and risked his own life for herd immunity, and President Bolsonaro of Brazil, who walks the streets unmasked, as if daring the coronavirus to attack him. For the moment, his strategy seems to be working, perhaps because of his self-proclaimed athletic prowess.
However, now President Trump has gone one step farther. He has taken the decision to ingest a daily dose of hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure. It is a selfless initiative, which one day might even make him a candidate for the Medal of Freedom, such as the one awarded to Dr. Fauci by President Bush.
If President Trump were Catholic, he might even be proposed for sainthood. The only major difficulty here would be evidence of two verifiable postmortem miracles. Other requirements for sainthood include an exemplary life of goodness and virtue worthy of imitation, having died a heroic death (martyrdom), or having undergone a major conversion of heart where a previous immoral life is abandoned and replaced by one of outstanding holiness. There may still be time for the major conversion of heart, but I would not put any money on the rest.
Even if sainthood is not in the mix (after all, one must be dead before achieving it), never has a president taken such a risk to save the world. According to my oldest son, who has administered hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients, it is a very strong drug that can wreak havoc on the liver and heart, and must thus be used with care.
Proof of the riskiness of hydroxychloroquine is its long list of daunting side effects, of which the president is doubtlessly aware. These include things like weight loss, which might be beneficial for him, and irritability, which he suffers from any way.
However, I wonder if he knows that hydroxychloroquine can also produce hair loss. That might be the deal-killer.
