Nicotine and Menthol as Possible Treatments for SARS-CoV-2

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

I was wondering what brought about the quick banning of menthol cigarettes. It just seemed odd. 

Now I know. They are still trying to kill the black population, while making them think they are trying to help them.

The dots started to connect with this push to ban menthol cigarettes obviously.

Remembering how early in the pandemic they had cases of heavy smokers in China that did amazingly well after catching COVID in spite of comorbidities like age, weight and other conditions, I decided to revisit those reports. The response to these positive reports back then were that smoking is bad and has no medical value. So that story quickly disappeared from view, but the NIH still did studies on nicotine because they were amazed that it was beneficial in these numerous cases.

Now this menthol cigarette ban also had me remember that early on there were reports of people in India and elsewhere that were breathing the vapors of mentholated OTC medications boiled with water. That idea was also claimed to be harmful and was in no way a suitable treatment.

I don't recommend anyone start smoking menthol cigarettes as a treatment, prophylactic or otherwise. But if you get the COVID, you could use the nicotine patch in combination with a menthol rub if you want to see if this helps to reduce symptoms or keep you out of the hospital.

Menthol is extracted from the peppermint plant, mentha piperita. It grows wild out where I grew up, right alongside spearmint. If push comes to shove, and they get menthol banned altogether, folks can still get the menthol from the plant. Make a strong tea, put a towel over your head with the tea under your nose, and huff up those fumes. It's also a topical anesthetic - that's why peppermint feels "cool", because it deadens all sensation other than the sensation of cold. That's also why menthol cigarettes are less harsh. Some stores sell it as a growing plant around here - you can find it in the herb section at Walmart.

I'm going to work up the bed for an herb garden this year, and start the garden itself next spring, to grow various medicinal herbs close to the house. I'll have to go back to the old homestead and get wild plants or seed for the garden here. I'm looking at peppermint, spearmint, catnip (good for bad nerves and some stomach troubles), wild lettuce - the white latex from it works like opium for pain, but it's not quite as strong, and it ain't illegal or addictive - and a few other things.

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Found this growing wild in the low end of my garden, by the mulch piles.

Mentha arvensis, the corn mint, field mint, or wild mint

Uses
The leaves have been made into tea to treat colds or aid digestion.[12] They can also be eaten raw.[13]

Chemical substances that can be extracted from wild mint include menthol, menthone, isomenthone, neomenthol, limonene, methyl acetate, piperitone, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, tannins and flavonoids.[14][15] Mint extracts and menthol-related chemicals are used in food, drinks, cough medicines, creams and cigarettes.[15] Menthol is widely used in dental care, as a mouthwash potentially inhibiting streptococci and lactobacilli bacteria.

You can extract the essential oils with a still. I just bought a still last year, and it works pretty well (he he hee!).

Then we have this growing abundantly in the woods around here.

Gaultheria procumbens, also called the eastern teaberry, the checkerberry, the boxberry, or the American wintergreen, is a species of Gaultheria native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Alabama.[1] It is a member of the Ericaceae (heath family).

 An essential oil (known as "oil of wintergreen") obtained from the leaves contains methyl salicylate, which is closely related to aspirin and is an effective anti-inflammatory. This species was at one time a major source of methyl salicylate, though this is now mainly synthesized. The leaves, and the oil, are analgesic, anti-inflammatory, aromatic, astringent, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant and tonic. An infusion of the leaves is used to relieve flatulence and colic. The plant, especially in the form of the essential oil, is most useful when applied externally in the treatment of acute cases of rheumatism, sciatica, myalgia, sprains, neuralgia and catarrh. The oil is sometimes used in the treatment of cellulitis, a bacterial infection that causes the skin to become inflamed.

Both are good for tobacco processing, esp wintergreen for chew. Maple syrup, another of my hobbies, works well in my casing recipe when I process my home grown tobacco.