The Times newspaper shared this article under a tag of red wine’s possible blood pressure benefit (caveat: sufficient intake of the molecule for lowering BP requires 1,000 bottles/day). This line is less nonsensical… “by oxidising a protein called PKG1a in the blood vessel wall.” The free radical worm* turns.

The previous post considered hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as destructive to viruses. Speculation attributing perplexing conditions to common herpes viruses eg h. simplex HSV or h. virus 6 in Alzheimer’s or hypothyroidism/Hashimotos is supported by the lab. Indestructability of HSV by the free radical hydrogen peroxide wasn’t long ago explained by discovery of catalase in the virus, perhaps only mitigated by increasing peroxide levels. Now consider this study of HBOT treating drug resistant bacterial infections where 3 weeks of the meds had failed.

Prior to meds, inflammation marker CRP (C-reactive protein, normal level<1) averaged 7.7, after meds 7.1, and after HBOT 0.8! The world faces a Superbug crisis, by virtue of our greed. Offshore manufacture of antibiotics in China and India creates free availability of drugs, and poor sanitation ie no toilets lets Antibiotic Microbial Resistance spread rapidly. Oxygen as a drug may eventually have to be used, eh? The running cost of an oxygen concentrator is ~7c per hour. Iran, Israel, and Turkey are researching the applications – unfettered by pharmaceutical industry control. Another microbe: the fungus, treated here at Alfred hospital and described in a glowing press release. Did you note that the idea came from a googling family member, not a medico?

Industrial cleaners tackling toxic contamination such as that left by meth labs, hoarding & rat infestation, etc use unattended free radical generators to bomb the bug: peroxide and hydroxyl. They’ll kill you, too… and yet your body’s processing of oxygen makes these, more so if an excess of oxygen is supplied. Needless to say, the Diving & Hyperbaric Medicine faculty of the College of Anaesthetists refuses to correspond on such matters. An investigative journalist’s report on their commercial allegiances gives a clue as to why meds are seen as the only answer.

*In Shakespearean times the ‘worm’ meant dragon. Apt analogy for fire-breathing monsters when one such oxidant is hydrogen peroxide (rocket fuel).