by Carl Balingit
on May 22, 2016
Crown Fountain, Millennium Park. Photo by Teacher Traveler [flickr.com/funfotofolio] under CC BY-SA 2.0
As the 2016 Rio Olympics approaches, I am reminded of saliva. This is for several reasons. Firstly, saliva has played a minor role in recent news on the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil. Though the outbreak started a year ago, health concerns about transmission are still highly relevant.
Secondly, in 2008, China campaigned to stop public spitting in Beijing prior to its hosting of the Olympics in order to varnish public opinion of its hygiene. But a similar campaign was initiated throughout China even earlier, in 2003, to curb spitting in an effort to counter the SARS epidemic. (China’s cultural habit of spitting may be from a lack of shyness about bodily functions—spitting being a natural way to expel phlegm.)
The Relation between Saliva and Zika
Regarding the Zika virus, there are mixed views on the risk of transmission through saliva. The virologist who was one of two to identify the first case in Brazil said [continue reading…]
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by Carl Balingit
on May 18, 2016
Photo by matteo motta [flickr.com/matmot] under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Because of snakes’ inclusion in the Chinese pharmacopeia, unscrupulous vendors may use it as an excuse to hawk “snake wine” (mostly, cobra)—commonly marketed as an aphrodisiac. It is most common in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam.
In your travels, resist the urge to pick up a bottle of snake wine as a souvenir, or even an aphrodisiac-infused night on the town (you’re more likely to get a hangover than anything else). It is part of an illegal wildlife trade.
Snakes in Chinese Medicine
In Chinese medicine, snakes are used not for sexual vigor but for other ailments. (Some alcohol extracts are used, but not as sold in Southeast Asian markets.)
The venomous krait (agkistrodon) is used for facial paralysis when there is blood stagnation. It can also be used for conditions that affect the skin.
Cobra bile can be used for coughs (not as a lubricant).
However—for Chinese medicine in the States—the use of snakes is uncommon because their import is mostly restricted. For snake species can be hard to differentiate, and some are on the endangered list. Besides, here we typically select from a very small fraction of the unique medicinals that are used in China, where the list of choices exceeds 5,000!
On Virility [continue reading…]
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