Stop Horsing Around

I try to limit my intake of news as quite frankly most of the stuff that is reported is sensationalist, geared to make you angry, sad, depressed and feeling useless.

I ask myself “Is this news?” when I have heard the same content over and over – fire, murder, natural disaster.

And I also ask myself “ Is there anything I can do…to help? To disrupt? To change? Most of the times, no, I can’t. And, if I can be impactful by donating my time or money then I will. But only then.

So what am I going on about? Well, I will tell you.

It’s the horse pills (and paste). The craziness around Ivermectin. A horse de-wormer, to be exact, that is now being touted as a way to prevent COVID-19, is causing a run on farm supply stores and pet stores, an increase in calls to Poison Control Centers and caused the FDA to tweet this message over the weekend "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."

That’s right. You are not a horse or a cow and this is not something that you should be self-medicating yourself with.

As a health coach, I do research on and test many of the protocols I might recommend to a client to try. That being said, here is the research on Ivermectin.

Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug used to treat both animals and humans for diseases such as Onchocerciasis (river blindness) , helminthiases(worms) , and scabies, commonly found in the tropics. Its also being evaluated as a deterrent to malaria, by killing the mosquitos that carry it.

It has been tested in vitro (i.e. petri dish) on COVID-19 viral replication however the tests were inconclusive due to the nature and size of the tests. There was no real measure of efficacy.

Back in April 2020, the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine sent a message out to its stockholders advocating strongly for only getting prescribed medicine from licensed professionals and legitimate outlets. They also noted as early as last year that there could be shortages of the Ivermectin anti-parasitic for legitimate and tested use on both animals and humans. And of course, to warn against fraudulent COVID-19 cure claims by online sources.

However it is safe to say that doses of Ivermectin for horses and humans are decidedly different and you can’t use them interchangeably between species.

Last year it was hydroxychloroquine and bleach to the rescue. And we all know that this was not the answer. And neither is Ivermectin. Leave it to the livestock.

There are no easy fixes. So, stop horsing around. Just get the vaccine* (now FDA-approved), keep wearing your masks when appropriate, and keep up the handwashing. These work.

The more we stick together the sooner we can overcome this. I urge you to not get caught up in the “crazy” that we see and hear on the media every day, but to research and judge for yourself whether or not these things make sense. You know your own mind; you know your own body. You are ultimately responsible for your own health and wellness. It is in your best interests to make an informed choice.

And try to limit your newsfeed time. You will feel less anxious for it.

Thanks for listening and putting up with my silly farmyard jokes.

*I know not everyone can get the vaccine due to health conditions that prevent it, but those that can should. This is not an ideology. This is not a political stance. This is science, plain and simple.