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Over the past few weeks, actor Samantha has been preparing episodes from her health and wellness podcast take 20In a free-flowing discussion with wellness coach and functional nutritionist Alkesh Sharotri, the episode features Samantha delving into her own exhausting health and wellness journey. A big part of this journey, prompted by her myositis diagnosis, has seen Samantha embrace several forms of alternative medicine, glimpses and benefits of which she has been eagerly sharing with her millions of followers. One such suggestion Samantha made recently regarding hydrogen peroxide nebulisation landed her in a heated online exchange with certified healthcare professional Dr Cyriac Abby Phillips, who goes by the online persona of The Liver Doc. What is going on between Samantha and Dr Phillips is essentially a real-life manifestation of the allopathy vs alternative medicine debate, an ideological divide that seems quite impossible to bridge. But what exactly is Samantha advocating and why does The Liver Doc want to send her to jail for it?
Hydrogen peroxide nebulisation, as intense as the name sounds, is actually a simple process. First of all, a nebuliser is a medical device that turns liquid medication into a mist that the patient can inhale. What Samantha suggested in her stories, as advised by her doctor and DRDO veteran Mitra Basu Chhillar, was to inhale a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and distilled water to treat a ‘common viral’. It seems the liver doctor liked the fact that Samantha positively advocated taking this instead of taking the usual medication.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) – whose findings were also cited by Dr. Phillips in his angry note to Samantha – hydrogen peroxide nebulization is “dangerous” and is not a way to prevent or treat COVID-19, whose key symptoms are very similar to those of a common viral infection.
Another diagnosis commonly associated with hydrogen peroxide nebulization is COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COPD is a lung disease that involves “restricted airflow and breathing problems.” However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not authorized hydrogen peroxide nebulization for any kind of medical use, reports Medical News Today. The same report lists the dangers of inhaling hydrogen peroxide: irritation of the nose, throat, and lungs, pulmonary edema, and a potentially fatal buildup of fluid in the lungs. Swallowing a solution containing hydrogen peroxide (as is the case with nebulization) can cause vomiting and irritation of the lungs and gastrointestinal system. The report concludes that tissue burns and strokes caused by gas embolism are other possible effects of inhaling and/or inhaling the gas.
Samantha has now responded to the liver doctor’s allegations with a formally written letter, in which she clarified that his advocacy for hydrogen peroxide nebulization was indeed good advice. She clarified that this advice was primarily for those who do not have the funds to constantly participate in mainstream medicine, with which her own experience has not yielded much results for her. While her note entertained the idea of engaging in a fruitful debate between Dr. Phillips and her own doctor to reach an amicable conclusion, she doubled down on her stance by sharing multiple links on her Instagram stories that also advocate the purported benefits of hydrogen peroxide.
Dr Phillips has already hit back at Samantha’s open letter, calling her a “serial offender” of healthcare misinformation, and also accusing her of playing the victim card.
As this controversy continues to rage on, it is pertinent to mention that one should avoid trying any health and fitness-related ‘hacks’ found on the internet, no matter what the name is. One should resort to mainstream or alternative medicine only after thorough consultation with certified health professionals.
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