User talk:Alana

Alana meet Tracy

Hi Alana, another wiki User (Tracy) wants to put a couple of questions to you about your NA and TTO protocols, so I’ve suggested that she uses the wiki to do this because it allows wiki Users to communicate with one another via the email addresses they signed up with, without actually revealing those addresses to anyone. Only the wiki software knows what these are.

I’ve sent a message to Tracy, telling her what to do to contact you this way, and you should be able to read my message to her here: http://helminthictherapywiki.org/wiki/index.php/User_talk:Tracy You can also write on her Talk page, if you want to, after hitting the “Edit” button at the top right of the page.

Once you've finished your message, add four tildes (~), which the wiki will replace with your name, as a signature, after you’ve hit the “Save page” button.

If Tracy sends you a message using your Talk page, you can reply to her on this page, after hitting the "Edit" button.

If you want to remove any messages, once they've been seen, just re-enter the page using the "Edit" button, highlight/delete the comment, and hit "Save page". John (talk) 03:48, 18 September 2017 (UTC)

Clarification of Your Incubation method for TTO and NA

Hello.

I have read through your TTO protocol (thank you very much for creating such detailed document for the wiki) and just need a bit of clarification about your incubation protocol.

Question 1 - I understand that many use Sarah's method for incubating NA but would like to know what your practice is, please.

Question 2 -have you ever found a research paper about incubating TTO? I suspect not as you have included it in your thorough cited sources. I just wanted to double check.

I am going to attempt to incubate and process my own TTO and was hoping I could get this bit of clarification.

My background. I have been using TSO and NA and TTO to keep Crohn's Disease in remission for the past 11 years and have experimented with them to see what works best and TTO and TSO work best for me. TSO is prohibitive because of its cost and fortunately, TTO has worked very well for me. I also use NA for its systemic effect and I think it works well as an added buffer against autoimmune response activation, in general.

John Scott suggested I contact you. So here I am. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Tracy (talk) 19:17, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

Testing

I'm checking to see whether you get a notification of this message, Alana.

John (talk) 02:30, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

Hi John. I'm responding to your message. I received an email notification. Tracy (talk) 16:33, 3 October 2017 (UTC)

Hello John and Tracy

This is just confirming that I'm now able to use this forum. Alana (talk) 21:20, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Hi Alana & John! This is wonderful.

Alana, Thank you for your input so far. Your protocol is wonderfully detailed. I am currently making a list of all the materials I will need and referencing it with the materials at the lab. Fortunately, the bio-hackers that formed and created the lab space are keen adventurous university grad students and researchers at a local hospital, making access to reagents and other medical grade supplies possible.

It should take couple more weeks to get underway, I need to order a few things - 20 micron nylon mesh is expensive!

Hydrometer question: Can I use a hydrometer for brewing? I would like to if I can because I brew kombucha. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0735B5YND?psc=1

Tracy (talk) 21:49, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Chefast Hydrometer

Since I haven't used this brand of hydrometer before I needed to take a quick look at the protocol and be sure that this hydrometer covered the full range of densities discussed in the paper. If it did then I don't see that there should be any problems. So https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0735B5YND?psc=1 says, "Measuring specific gravity from 0.99-1.17" Sorry, but you need to be able to go up to 1.270 for the Sheather's solution. In the paper I list "Wards Natural Science Specific Gravity Hydrometer 1.00 - 2.00 model." (I also just now realized I mistakenly included one that wouldn't have worked. "150879 Specific Gravity Hydrometer, 1.00–1.20, 0.002 divisions (see graphic 2J)") Alana (talk) 22:08, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

I'm glad I checked. The "Wards Natural Science SGH 1.0 - 2.00 it is! Thank you. Tracy (talk) 22:14, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Hydrometer selection

Alana, would you like to remove the unsuitable hydrometer from the materials list in your protocol? If you click on the "[Edit]" button next to the heading, "Lab Equipment", you'll be able to locate the relevant text in the source code and remove it. John (talk) 23:07, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Editing MediaWiki markup

Here are some references to help you with editing the site. The Cheatsheet covers most of the things you're likely to need, and you may be able to find examples of things you want on other pages on the site. If you hit a problem with the markup, just message me on my Talk page: http://helminthictherapywiki.org/wiki/index.php/User_talk:John

Cheatsheet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Cheatsheet
The simplest possible guide to writing MediaWiki: https://www.sjbaker.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_simplest_possible_guide_to_writing_MediaWiki
The Missing Manual: Editing for the first time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikipedia:_The_Missing_Manual/Editing,_creating,_and_maintaining_articles/Editing_for_the_first_time
Help:Formatting: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting
Links: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links
Lists: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Lists
Images: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images
Citations: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite
Quote box: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/131049/whats-the-easiest-way-to-add-a-quote-box-to-mediawiki
Tables: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables

John (talk) 22:56, 13 October 2017 (UTC)

Evil Hydrometer Removed!

Thanks John. That process went quite well. Alana (talk) 18:35, 14 October 2017 (UTC)

Clarification on larvae sterilization

Hello, I was just reading about incubating and had a few questions.

"The larvae are forced to migrate through a 3 inch layer of activated charcoal"? 3 inches is a lot! Is that really activated charcoal and not just normal charcoal?

"they are removed by placing two layers of fabric"? like an old t-shirt? the actual incubating instructions mentioned gauze, but I guess fabric is better since it can be washed and reused and doesn't have to be cut and carefully laid each time

"The sample is washed in buffered saline solution by agitating them mechanically for twenty minutes. The larvae are extracted from the saline by pipetting them from the surface (they float in saline) and are then placed on the surface of a piece of filter paper. They are submerged and flushed ten times using a solution of Chlorohexidine 0.2% by weight." So are they washed in saline solution, Chlorohexidine, or the buffer solution linked below, because the buffer solution looks like a huge effort to prepare! 3 inches of charcoal and flushing 10 times also sounds a bit over the top. And how can you even be sure that you pipette all of them up when you can't even see them??

Is any of that really necessary? What's the bare minimum you absolutely need to do to insure safety when giving NA to someone else, as far as supplies, process, and blood/stool tests?

Mäuschen (talk) 21:25, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Skin Infections

While a skin infection always is a possibility, I've been self-inoculating for about 10 years and haven't had any infections. For the first 5 years I was inoculating every 6 months, and for the last 5 I've been inoculating every year, which adds up to about 15 inoculations. Using the Alana protocol, the NA crawl up through the soil, gauze, and into the cork. Then I've simply been collecting the larvae from the cork, storing them in water, and then using them after sterilizing my skin with alcohol (and then letting it dry). I've never used any of the materials or methods you mention.

These organisms have been infecting people for probably millions of years, and they have evolved to have a symbiotic or at least a commensal relationship with their host. The reasoning is if they harmed their hosts then their genes would be selected against. So they have evolved, at least somewhat, to avoid doing this. For example, they shed their outer layer of skin when they enter the upper layer of your skin, which also sheds the bacteria that might be on them.

Although there could be reports of infections I'm unaware of, I've never heard of this happening to anyone in the community. You might check with others in the DIY culturing community and see what their experiences have been. And I've never run across any reports in journal articles or texts about people who live in underdeveloped areas having such issues. But perhaps I simply haven't run across them, or such infections haven't been reported from the field. So I don't know what the actual odds of an infection are. If you can't find any reports in the helminthic community or the related literature, I suppose the next thing to look at for estimating the risks would be looking at various closely analogous species of helminths that frequently infect non-human animals, and see what the relevant veterinarian literature might say about the possibility of skin infections.

I suspect that these companies have to be extremely careful because they're justifiably concerned about liability. If something ever did go wrong, even coincidentally, think about what it would be like to go into court and try to defend yourself. You'd want all the ammunition you could get.

Alana (talk) 19:31, 20 April 2018 (UTC)

the human hookworm, Necator americanus

the ova (eggs) of the human whipworm, Trichuris trichiura

the ova (eggs) of the porcine (pig) whipworm, Trichuris suis

a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

The active immature form of an insect, or an animal such as a helminth, which develops from an egg and eventually transforms again into its adult state.

Symbiosis is a close, long-term relationship between organisms of different species. Helminths are obligatory symbionts because they depend entirely on their host for survival, and they are also ectosymbionts because they live on their host’s body surface, albeit the inner surface of the digestive tract. The species used in helminthic therapy are also mutualists.

Commensalism is a relationship between two organisms where one benefits from the other without affecting it.

Do-It-Yourself. Literally to bypass the professional and do it yourself.

An intestinal worm which grows large enough to be seen with the naked eye when mature but which is microscopic when administered in helminthic therapy. Wikipedia:Helminths