Now, the vague information given on the amoeba states that it exists in fresh water. The article states that the man who died had the amoeba in his house water supply, and got it from the neti pot.
It also states that you should only use distilled or sterilized water in a neti pot, but from the wikipedia article on the amoebas, it states that these nasty things can flagellate in distilled water, which makes me think that using it won’t affect it at all.
But, to use a neti pot, you put in a saline solution into the water.
My question is: shouldn’t the saline solution affect the amoeba? If they only are able to exist in fresh water, shouldn’t the salt packet keep them from eating your brain when you use the neti pot?
I fully admit I might not be understanding all of this whole matter.
Did they edit it? I don’t see anything in the article proper about neti pots, except for one comment.
Edit: ah, on Googling I see that the first victim mentioned is stated elsewhere as to have used a neti pot, and did not go in water. Dunno - perhaps the amoeba doesn’t like to inhabit salty water but isn’t necessarily immediately killed by it?
the organism may not live in salt water. though is the amount of salt (for neti use) and the time it is in the salt enough to kill it? very likely that is not the case. distilled water is boiled at the time it is made, if sealed it could be safe for some time. easy and safe is to boil water you intend to use in the pot and pour into a clean container, cover it and let it cool to room temperature
Well, it’s not “salt water”, it’s “saline solution”. By which I mean it’s not a salty sludge in the neti pot, it’s approximating the same salt content of your body. Your body is saline solution, so I’d say that if the amoeba is happy enough living inside you and making you sick, then it would be happy in a saline solution in your neti pot. Now, if you’re supersalting the neti pot water so it burns your sinuses when it’s flowing through, then yes, maybe that would be enough to kill it.
But just because it’s a freshwater organism doesn’t mean a short visit to a salty environment will instantly kill it.
many organisms reproduce when stressed, the adult may die (or go dormant) but the seeds, eggs or spores will remain viable. when the conditions return for adult viability then the organism growth starts again.
you could boil water as needed or maybe every other day storing it sealed in a refrigerator. boiling removes the chlorine from tap water which could be irritating.
So if you add it to already distilled water, it will transform. But the process of distilling water involves boiling it & condensing the steam, so distilled water that’s been sealed since distillation should be free of ameobas and almost any other microorganism.
So it’s not that distilled water will kill the amoebas, it’s that distilled water won’t contain the amoebas to begin with.
Still though, the inconvenience of using anything other than water straight from the tap in the Neti pot against the incredibly low odds of the ameoba being present leads me to the decision to take the risk.
Thanks for translating. I understand now. Now everything is in place.
As far as the probability goes, I know it is low that I would get this, but I am in Kansas, where especially this summer, we have had very hot weather, and our water supply comes from the local reservoir which could be a good breeding ground for these amoebas.
And, after having had a very nasty summer long “rash” from wading in a shallow, warm lake in full algae bloom, I have a distrust of fresh water bodies.
It’s like the difference between cleaning yourself by using a wet washcloth and cleaning yourself by taking a nice long hot shower with decent water pressure and the scrubber/loofah/washcloth of your choice.
If you don’t trust your local water supply to be free of amoeba-type organisms, use distilled water in your Neti pot.