Bloggadocious 222

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Cure May Be Worse Than The Disease?

Really?

We have millions of examples in history where the cure was worse than the disease.

A public health response to the Black Death

Less disturbing, if equally useless, were the numerous plague ‘cures’. Strapping live chickens around plague buboes or drinking potions laced with mercury, arsenic or ground horn from the mythical unicorn did not help. Nor did carrying sweet-smelling flowers and herbs or ornate pomanders to purify the air. But amid the chaos, the pandemic prompted more useful responses - early public health measures to be expanded and then refined in the coming decades. For the Black Death should not be seen in isolation. It was the main event, a big bang. But it was also the herald for waves of lesser plague outbreaks that appeared regularly until well into the 1700s.

bu·bo

/ˈb(y)o͞obō/

noun

plural noun: buboes

a swollen inflamed lymph node in the armpit or groin.

po·man·der

/pōˈmandər,ˈpōˌmandər/

noun

plural noun: pomanders

a ball or perforated container of sweet-smelling substances such as herbs and spices, placed in a closet, drawer, or room to perfume the air or (formerly) carried as a supposed protection against infection
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The first example that popped into my infertile mind was that of George Washington, who, according to some historians, died of his "cure," not the disease.

Yes! The father of our country was REALLY sick, but it wasn't until they bled him of 40% of his blood that he went to that big, Mt. Vernon plantation in the sky!

Then there were those "folk cures" my great grandma used. Like rubbing dirt on a wound, or axle grease and spider webs on a DEEP wound, or horse manure, if gangrene has set in, but ALWAYS drinking moonshine throughout the whole ordeal, to cleanse your innards!

Okay! President Trump said yesterday, that maybe shutting down the world's economy (AKA the "cure"), could be worse than the disease!

I see his point. If millions of folks lose their jobs, businesses, commit suicide, starve to death, kill each other over T.P., cannot produce food for the hungry, are prevented from having funerals and weddings, or Moose Lodge gatherings, or going to Disney Theme Parks, shooting the s%*t at the barber shop, and a million other things...is the "cure" worth it?

Of course, I'm too wishy washy to take a stand one way or the other, but I'm behind whatever has the best results in the end, which I hope I'm alive to witness.

In conclusion, I'm so thankful I'm not President Trump, Vice President Pence, Dr. Fauci, or any other person responsible for making the decisions that will determine the survival of America, as we know it!