The salts are to reduce irritation. Plain water is extremely uncomfortable in your sinuses, but saline is fine. As far as I know they do nothing to reduce contaminants in your water or harm bacteria.
Yes, the salt mainly is meant to reduce irritation.
Amoeba aren't bacteria, though. Both, however should be adversely affected by saline solutions because osmosis will draw water out of the cells, effectively killing these organisms.
Salt can be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine if dissolved in water. There are public swimming pools that make use of this because chlorine can have adverse effects on your health, such as causing irritation on both the skin and the respiratory system.
And yet the article mentions distilled OR saline, which definitely raises the question.
If I wake up feeling like crap, it is far easier to use a salt packet than to go to the store for distilled water. The article implies that is fine (but the article may be misleading)
Amoeba aren't bacteria, though. Both, however should be adversely affected by saline solutions because osmosis will draw water out of the cells, effectively killing these organisms.
Salt can be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine if dissolved in water. There are public swimming pools that make use of this because chlorine can have adverse effects on your health, such as causing irritation on both the skin and the respiratory system.