Sneezing, coughing, fever, aches and pains...
Worried about flu symptoms like these? As winter approaches, most of us are.
But this year, the flu seems even more alarming, thanks to increased health concerns about the H1N1 influenza strain, also known as the swine flu. Even though this strain doesn't appear to be particularly threatening, it has the potential to mutate into a more dangerous form.
The main question my patients have been asking is whether they should get vaccinated against H1N1 or against the regular flu.
This is not a simple yes or no answer. The guiding principle of functional medicine is personalized care, not the one-size-fits-all belief that everyone should have the same treatment. This applies equally to vaccines. There is risk and benefit to every medical treatment or procedure.
That is why in today's blog I want to review what you need to consider if you are thinking about vaccination, discuss some of the risks involved, and provide you with a comprehensive 7-step plan for preventing swine flu and staying healthy all winter long.
Should You Get Vaccinated?
The choice to get vaccinated is an individual one. Selective vaccination may be helpful for some groups of people--but not everyone. Here are the facts as I see them:
• The current strain of H1N1 is a generally mild strain of the flu. It sounds scarier, but, so far, fewer people have actually died from it than from the traditional flu. It may mutate but it hasn't yet. Pushing widespread vaccination on low-risk populations exposes them to unnecessary risks.
• If the H1N1 mutates, the current vaccine may not be effective against it.
• The studies on the H1N1 vaccine have been limited in the rush to market.
• The 1976 swine flu vaccine was linked to a serious neurological disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome, which causes severe (but usually temporary) paralysis.
• The government has agreed to protect vaccine manufacturers from any lawsuits due to side effects of the vaccine, otherwise pharmaceutical companies would not make it.
• The Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination for high-risk groups--not necessarily everyone. The key groups that would benefit most from the vaccine are healthcare workers, pregnant women, caregivers of children younger than six months, children and adults under age 24, and adults who have underlying medical conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes. If that doesn't describe you, you should think twice about having the vaccine.
• The multi-dose vials of the vaccine contain mercury as a preservative. If you are a pregnant or nursing woman I would insist on the single-dose vial, which does not contain mercury. Unfortunately, the number of mercury-free vaccines is limited.
For these reasons, I only recommend vaccination for high-risk individuals. But whether you get vaccinated or not, it is critical to support your immune system through natural means to help prevent the flu. Here are 7 simple steps you can take to do that.
7 Steps to Staying Healthy All Winter Long
This list of natural remedies was put together by all the doctors and nutritionists at the UltraWellness Center to help keep you healthy through the flu season:
1. Drink plenty of fluids, especially warmer fluids. With dry air inside and out, winter can be a particularly challenging time to stay hydrated. Consuming adequate fluids supports all your body's functions, including the immune system. Make soups and broths (from scratch with fresh vegetables, if possible) and drink them throughout the week. Drink herbal teas like ginger and echinacea daily. Keep a bottle of filtered water with you at all times. Avoid concentrated fruit juices and sweetened beverages, as the sugar content is harmful for the immune system. If you do drink juice, dilute it with two-thirds water.
2. Try a daily saline flush. Along with staying hydrated, flushing your sinuses with mild salt water helps to keep mucous membranes moist, which protects you from microbes. You can use a neti pot or easy-to-carry plastic bottles that come with saline packets to take with you to the office or when traveling.
3. Avoid simple sugars as much as possible. This includes sweet treats and desserts but also white flour and refined grain products, which turn into sugar quickly. Studies have shown that refined sugars can suppress your immune system for hours after ingested.
4. Have protein with each meal. Proteins are the building blocks of the body, including your immune and detoxification systems. It's important to eat organic, clean, and lean animal protein, as well as plant-based proteins (legumes, nuts/seeds), with each meal and snack.
5. Add garlic, onions, ginger, and lots of spices (oregano, turmeric) to your meals. Add these to your soups and vegetable dishes, as well as to bean dips and sauces. Garlic and onions offer a wide spectrum of antimicrobial properties.
6. Eat multiple servings of colorful fruits and vegetables high in vitamins C and A and phytonutrients, which support the immune system. Choose more leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower), peppers, sweet potatoes, and squash. Aim for 3 to 4 servings of fruits and 5 or more servings of vegetables a day.
7. Get sufficient sleep. We all know sleep restores and heals the body. Without adequate sleep, optimal immune function is next to impossible. Get in a better rhythm and head to bed earlier on dark winter nights; aim for 7 to 8 hours a night. Incorporating various relaxation and breathing techniques throughout the day to help with stress and allow the mind to rest is also very helpful.
Supplements for Immune Support
In addition to the steps above, I also strongly encourage you to take the following supplements to support your immune system:
• Vitamin D3: Adequate vitamin D status is critical for optimal immune function, which cannot be achieved without supplementation during the winter months. For accurate dosing, get your levels of 25 OH vitamin D checked. The ideal blood level is 50-75 ng/dl. Many of us need 5,000 IU or more of vitamin D3 a day in the winter. Start with 2,000 IU a day for adults, 1,000 IU for children.
• Buffered vitamin C: We've long known the role of vitamin C in supporting the immune system. Take 500 to 1,000 mg through out the day with meals and snacks.
• Zinc citrate: You can take an additional supplement or consume more foods high in this powerful immune supporting nutrient. Oysters and pumpkin seeds are the best food sources.
• Probiotics: Healthy gut flora supports a healthy gut, a major barrier against pathogens that is integral to the immune system.
• Fish oil (artic cod liver oil): This old-time remedy for good health and robust immunity still stands true. Arctic cod liver oil contains additional vitamin A and D for added immune protection.
• 1-3, 1-6 Beta glucans: Much research has shown that these compounds up-regulate the function of our innate immune system. This part of your immune system is the first line of defense against viruses and bacteria. It helps your white blood cells bind to and kill viruses and bacteria.
• Antiviral/anti-bacterial herbs: Many herbs have broad-spectrum antimicrobial effects or immune-enhancing effects. Formulas contain different immune boosters such as astragalus, echinacea, green tea extract, elderberry, andrographis, goldenseal, monolaurin, various immune enhancing mushrooms, and beta 1, 3 glucan.
• Cordyceps and other mushroom extracts: These possess immune-supporting properties. Look for supplements that that contain these, as well as zinc and vitamin C for a three-pronged approach to immune support.
By following this plan, you should enjoy vibrant health, all winter long.
Now I'd like to hear from you...
Will you get a flu shot this year?
Have you or a loved one gotten the H1N1 virus?
What immune-boosting measures do you swear by?
Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.
Follow Mark Hyman, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markhymanmd
Kathy Freston: Flu Season: Factory Farming Could Cause A Catastrophic Pandemic
The Hajj: A perfect storm for swine flu?
Bleeding Lungs and Tamiflu-resistance -Do H1N1 mutations make the swine flu ...
The whole H1N1 story and other CDC botches just reinforces my view of CDCs need for more systems (holistic) scientists and leaders
See my critique of CDC on my blog at http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com (scroll to one before current post)
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
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The US CDC, the Canadian PHAC and similar agencies around the world have done a pretty good job against H1N1. Their limitations have been the availability of vaccine and the ability of those who oppose vaccination (anti-vaxers) to confuse and mislead the public.
In Canada, the limitation on getting vaccine to the Canadian public fast enough was packaging capacity. GSK was able to start shipping bulk antigen a couple of weeks before enough vaccine was available to supply Canadians on the priority list. There wasn't a shortage of antigen because Canada chose to use an adjuvant that not only produced a better immune response but used only 3.75 mcg per dose of viral material.
I don't know if the US limitation was packaging or antigen availability. The US went with the standard 15mcg dose and produced a less effective vaccine. I'm sure US decision makers wanted to use an adjuvanted vaccine, but decided that it would be hard enough fighing anti-vaxer nonsense on thimerosal without the squalene adjuvant nonsense debate. One result is that while Canadian kids 3-10 will be protected by a single dose, US kids will need 2 doses spread 21 days apart to be effective.
So let's not forget what the anti-vaxers have done and will do. For every few thousand who are infected because they followed anti-vaxers advice, one will die.
This year I got the seasonal flu vaccine and
only took a glancing blow for 2-3 days after
traveling by airplane.
So when they get it right, I am very grateful not to
be laid up for a week feeling like I'm going to die
(or wishing I would die).
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/26/Swine-Flu-Vaccine-Physicians-Rejection-of-the-Injection.aspx
H1N1 VACCINATION
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99.9% of doctors aren't experts on infectious diseases, vaccines and virology. They don't need to be. That's why you should ignore what they have to say. Because you're using the internet (obviously) you can find out what the experts have to say.
If you think the experts in your country shouldn't be trusted, pick another country. I've looked at english language resources for a number of countries and the advice is pretty much the same. Get vaccinated if and when the vaccine is available. That's even true of Iran, which is importing 2 million doses and plans to build a local vaccine plant.
Flu Vaccination: Safe, effective and morally the right thing to do.
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Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, cellulose, silicon dioxide,magnesium stearate,Rutin
Hesperidin, Rice powder Gelatin, Glycerin (21% of which is glycine), Lecithin, Caramel Color
These are some of the ingredients in the pills and capsules Dr. Hyman recommends.
Do you know how dangerous magnesium stearate is?
http://www.drrons.com/beware-of-additives-in-supplements.htm
Do you know how they make Methyl Cellulose?
Methyl cellulose does not occur naturally and is synthetically produced by heating cellulose with caustic solution (e.g. a solution of sodium hydroxide) and treating it with methyl chloride. In the substitution reaction that follows, the hydroxyl residues (-OH functional groups) are replaced by methoxide (-OCH3 groups).
Prevent infection in the most natural way. Get vaccinated.
You only have to take a vaccine once a year. With your method, you have to take in much, much larger amounts of chemicals into your body. Have the effects of the chemicals you're taking in these pills been properly tested with epidemiological studies? How quickly do these chemicals reach the brains of children? How quickly do they leave? What are the breakdown products?
Until we've got proper studies of these chemicals, no one should give them to children.
Flu Vaccination: Safe, effective and the right thing to do.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml
Check out the story.
Several stories I read indicated very few had actually died from H1N1 based on the nasal swaps that were tested. They died from some upper respiratory infection. H1N1 can only be confirmed on the testing of nasal swabs. You can have all the symptoms of meningitis but no Dr. will treat a person for it based on symptoms. He/she will always require a spinal tap. If you didn't catch the virus you probably are immune because you have a strong immune system.
Would lit change your mind if there were 50 or 500?
Flu Vaccination: Safe for you, safe for your community
What has everyone scratching their head is that there seems to be no pattern as to who of the young people are vulnerable. The two that died had no known risk factors.
So, there are two that I know of who died of H1N1. No one, at least in this area, has been reported to have had adverse effects to the vaccine or to have died from it. You do the math. I didn't get sick caring for my children while they were stricken with H1N1, but I made sure that I also have immunity. You bet I got vaccinated.
Step 2: Go back in time and make factory farming illegal.
Problem solved.
My wife and I are very healthy as well as our daughter. Our daughter eats the same as we do and, at age six, has honestly never been to a doctor because of a cold. She rarely catches a cold and when she does it is most always mild and only lasts about 2 or 3 days. We do take vitamins daily and we choose our vitamins according to our needs. I hope all who reads this post will think about it and choose to eat healthier. Choose your own healthy eating habits and stick to it. It really does make a difference!
Swine Flu Cases Overestimated?
CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared: By Sharyl Attkisson
"In late July, the CDC abruptly advised states to stop testing for H1N1 flu, and stopped counting individual cases. The rationale given for the CDC guidance to forego testing and tracking individual cases was: why waste resources testing for H1N1 flu when the government has already confirmed there's an epidemic? "
Follow link to article & news conference with the head of the CDC Dr. Thomas Frieden, who apparently doesn't know what going on and has to be informed by Sharyl Attkinson.
Some people actually believe that big pharma creates and produces these things out of the goodness of their hearts, and it's all non-profit. LOL! We subscribe to several independent investment publications, and they all have been encouraing investment in companies that produce vaccines, citing large profits.
Surprise!
CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared
By Sharyl Attkisson.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2718-204_162-218.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
-8 Cases of Mutated H1N1 Flu Virus in China
-Dangerous Batch of H1N1 Vaccine Found
-Is China Cooking the Books on H1N1 Cases?
-CDC: "Nothing Typical" about 2009 Flu
-more