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Created: June 17, 2003
Latest Update: June 17, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
SARS, Folk Cures, and Illocutionary Discourse
Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, June 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.
This essay is based on an article in the Los Angeles Times on June 17, 2003: In an age of SARS, Koreans tout kimchi cure by Mark Magnier. The article appeared in the Style and Culture section of the Calendar, not exactly where you'd expect a report on SARS.I would like you to look particularly at how this idea of a kimchi cure was started. By a scientist, who did a search on the Internet.
"It is just a variation on fermented cabbage, garlic and chile peppers, but Asians are scooping up record amounts of kimchi, hoping Korea's national dish is really a wonder drug. . . ."Like kimchi itself, the science is, well, a bit tangy. Hong Jong Hoon, a technical consultant with the Korea Agriculture Development Institute, has played a key role in the kimchi surge by saying what many here quietly believe: The national dish is behind South Korea's almost complete lack of SARS.
"The theory was reported by the august Financial Times . . .
"Hong is quick to admit he's not a doctor. But he says he is a scientist knowledgeable about plant diseases and the ways of living organisms. His SARS research was done over the Internet, he says.
"Hong says he started at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, which cites a suspected causal link between SARS and the coronavirus. He then made his way to Stanford University's site, which lists — along with reducing stress, getting more sleep and frequently washing your hands — putting drops of garlic juice on the nostrils as a way to fight infection.
"Put it all together, he says, and you see why South Korea has had only a handful of suspected cases of SARS and no fatalities, despite its close proximity to China, where the virus originated, and to hard-hit Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"Hong concedes that many other countries make ample use of garlic in their diets, including Italy and China. But they cook their garlic; Koreans eat theirs raw in kimchi. His theory may be tough to prove, but that doesn't mean it isn't true, he says."
Sources mentioned by Hong, that could be some of those he found on his web search:
CDC:
What everyone should know about SARS
- What is SARS? Mentions the coronavirus in the last paragraph.
- How can I protect myself against SARS? Generally. Metnions hand washing in the first paragraph.
- What has CDC recommended to prevent transmission of SARS in households? Where there is an infected person in the home.
Stanford:
Information About Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). You'll find the recommendations Hong cites at the bottom of the file, under Commonsense recommendations for preventing transmission of colds, flu and other infectious diseases.World Health Organization (WHO):
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Note that the World Health Organization has a more structural approach, since its concern is to determine the aetiology of the disease and prevent its spread. Thus CDC and Stanford will offer more useful information for individuals in their concern for SARS.
Discussion Questions
- What are some of the things to which Hong's Internet search alert us?
Consider that people want information. We are more frightened by things we do not understand. Hong considers himself a scientist, and so able to research such questions and issues, even though he is not a doctor.
- What concerns do doctors have when lay people like Hong come to conclusions about the curative value of certain foods?
"It's a major concern with all medicine touted without being proven," said Dr. David Heymann, Geneva-based director general of the World Health Organization's communicable disease cluster. "There have been many different products and lots of proposals from different countries involving folk remedies. If they feel it's important, it needs to be studied."
Consider "spurious" results. That is there may be something in the food that does help, but without testing we cannot pinpoint the effectiveness. Or we could end up with the old result that water makes you drunk because scotch and water, whiskey and water, vodka and water, gin and water, all make you drunk, and what they all have in common is water.
- What would we need to study to understand whether kimchi is curative in this case?
Consider cabbage, fermentation, ginger, garlic (raw), chili peppers. But consider also the spiritual effect of believing in the salutary effects. Because the immune system has a lot to do with our vulnerability to such viruses, feeling safer might make us calmer and less stressed, and might just give our immune system a boost.
The primary medical concern is that if we rely on something that is not medically effective, we might fail to take actual medical precautions that are in fact necessary. There's a delicate balance here. Need for illocutionary discourse.
- Why do you suppose that the article mentions that kimchi as a cure was mentioned in the Financial Times?
"The theory was reported by the august Financial Times . . ." The answer probably lies in the word "august." I guess you might say that if a newspaper as prestigious as the Financial Times reports on the phenomenon, then it must be true? Refer here to the power of a celebrity or recognized authority to persuade opinion. (Attitude and persuasion theory.)
- Do you need to worry about getting SARS?
No. Look at the World Health Organization information to get a sense of how minimal risk to you in our local colleges actually is. The U.S. has not had an outbreak; there is no reason to fear that you'll catch it unless you really do have contact with someone who has been exposed. Probability of that very small. But it's a good idea to wash your hands thoroughly and often anyway. Maybe you won't catch the flu then.