Chile Forum

patagoniax wrote:The giardia protozoa are found almost everywhere in Chile, certainly as far south as Tierra del Fuego, and animals along with poor human hygiene help to spread them to water supplies and crops. Giardia is very common in Latin America and Chile is no exception. There are studies that indicated that about a third of the school-aged children in Santiago (where the study was done) contained viable pathogenic giardia in their bodies. In children from 5 to 10 years old the rate was nearly 40 percent infected. The trends and rates for infection for children under 5 were partly attributed to an increasing number of these children in daycare facilities rather than home-care. Oddly enough, there are many clinics throughout Chile that are not prepared to diagnose giardiasis. And you may find that even if it can be properly diagnosed, the cost of effective medications in Chile is extremely high, perhaps the highest in Latin America. See the recent thread on "hideously expensive prescriptions " topic4655.html

Indeed...
g~j have been the unwitting hosts of such amoebae - more than once or twice...
...from the Northern Canadian Rockies to the Southern Patagonian Andes.
Goes by "Beaver fever" in g~'s old neck of the woods.
Not nice... not fun...

BUT - there is a VERY good, cheap (albeit Chinese) cure.
Huang Lian Su = aka berberine.
It IS available in the "West"... but might you have to search a bit...

So, for any who drink from those "pristine" mountain streams and rambling brooks...
Be careful of what you wish for...

Sort of hijacking the thread, but..

Berberine is a toxic alkaloid and can come from a number of sources. It is sometimes available in Chile under the name raiz de coptis or raiz de coptis chinensis.

The problem with coptis root as a source for berberine in Chile is that you won't know the level of toxicity or purity in what you buy. And in the wrong dose or in the wrong person, or when used with some other medications, berberine use can result in seizures. I've seen 200 to 600 mg/day allowable for berberine but unless you know what is in a "raw" source such as the way it is sold in Chile, it can be hard to determine how much you are taking. But yes, there is certainly evidence that in proper application it can be useful in treating some types of giardia. In Canada it was also used for treating diarrhea in animals.

This is a nit, but giardia are not amoebae as mentioned earlier, though this is a common misconception. Both are simple protozoans similar in some respects but their form of locomotion differs: giardia are flagellates and amoebae are not.

patagoniax wrote:Sort of hijacking the thread, but..

Berberine is a toxic alkaloid and can come from a number of sources. It is sometimes available in Chile under the name raiz de coptis or raiz de coptis chilensis.

The problem with coptis root as a source for berberine in Chile is that you won't know the level of toxicity or purity in what you buy. And in the wrong dose or in the wrong person, or when used with some other medications, berberine use can result in seizures. I've seen 200 to 600 mg/day allowable for berberine but unless you know what is in a "raw" source such as the way it is sold in Chile, it can be hard to determine how much you are taking. But yes, there is certainly evidence that in proper application it can be useful in treating some types of giardia. In Canada it was also used for treating diarrhea in animals.

This is a nit, but giardia are not amoebae as mentioned earlier, though this is a common misconception. Both are simple protozoans similar in some respects but their form of locomotion differs: giardia are flagellates and amoebae are not.

Hey... what's a little hijack... happens frequently...
As long as we endeavor to get back to topic, eh?

But yes... g~ (the zoologist) stands corrected
See what happens when relying on a fading memory in the spur of the moment...
Giardia is indeed a flagellate...
Them poor little amoebae just can't move around so well with their paltry pseudopodia
But an amoeba or protozoan in yer guts... either one - spells trouble

BTW... g~j have used berberine for "intestinal problems" (bacteria, protozoans, amoeba)...
Around the whirld for the last 12 years... nothing we have ever seen or tried works better - TYVM
Fortunately... it does comes in standardized pill form... if you can find it.
100mg. yellow tablets... take 1-3 (weight dependent) 2-3 times a day (300-900mg allowable).
Our Chinese stash is just about done... so we will look for said same here in Chile.
Thanx for the "raiz de coptis chilensis" source - others may want to search for it as well?

Oh... BTW...
Another very good herbal treatment for "intestinal problems" is Diarex
An ayurvedic medicine from the Himalaya Drug Company ...
We used this also to good effect in India... and this can also be commonly (?) bought in the west.

Hey... hijack or not... when someone is puking and shitting their guts out after drinking in one of those "pure Patagonian mountain streams"... it's always nice to know what the fix might be.
Happy homesteading to all... but watch what/where you drink

Well, Chile is a good country for enterpreneurs, particularly in the ecotourism industry. If you are planning to have your own touristic business, I bet this country has a lot of opportunities. For professionals this country is fine, I guess, but It isn't the core of the world and in some areas maybe backwards.

Plus of Chile?

Family oriented society.
People is focussed in developing and in the future. Poverty is declining. The country is progressing.
People love poetry, literature, art, music and other "useless" things.

Liabilities of Chile?

Distance. Here you are at the end of the world, literaly.
Competition and effort: here you have to work twice to achieve the same you can get in a developed country.
It isn't a perfect country as yet. You can find vagabound dogs, holed roads and many "imperfections" you don't see in a developed country.