I recently received this e-mail form a friend regarding six steps everyone can take to prevent infection from seasonal viruses. The complete article follows:Six steps to preventing the cold and flu this season:
- Frequent hand-washing
- Hands off the face
- Gargle twice a day with warm salt water.
- Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water.
- Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C.
- Drink warm liquids whenever possible.
At Sustain Community Acupuncture we recommend:
At the clinic we recommend avoiding dressing too lightly as the weather cools down and even if we have been working out and feel hot, cover up quickly to avoid getting chilled. Additionally we recommend the liquid vitamin D we carry. It is completely tasteless and the dose can be modified to fit the whole family (1 drop for children 1 -10 and 2 drops for children 11 to adult)
I suggest you pass this on to your entire e-list; you never know who might pay attention to it and Stay Healthy because of it.
Vitamin D research:
“In the largest and most nationally representative study of the association between vitamin D and respiratory infections, people with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu. The risks were even higher for those with chronic respiratory disorders , such as asthma and emphysema.” The report appears in the February 23 Archives of Internal Medicine.
“A short while later, a group of scientists from UCLA published a remarkable paper in the prestigious journal, Nature. The UCLA group confirmed two other recent studies, showing that a naturally occurring steroid hormone – a hormone most of us take for granted – was, in effect, a potent antibiotic. Instead of directly killing bacteria and viruses, the steroid hormone under question increases the body’s production of a remarkable class of proteins, called antimicrobial peptides. The 200 known antimicrobial peptides directly and rapidly destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including the influenza virus, and play a key role in keeping the lungs free of infection. The steroid hormone that showed these remarkable antibiotic properties was plain old Vitamin D.” Read the whole article here.
Complete article on avoiding the cold and flu this season.
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist), having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial, etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).
The following message given by him; I feel it makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know.
The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.
While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications). Also, cough or sneeze only into your arm area, not on your hands.
2. ”Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe.
3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
Sustain Community Acupuncture offers wellness for all, naturally. Located in San Diego between the Hillcrest and North park Neighborhoods, Sustain Community Acupuncture offers affordable Acupuncture, Herbal Therapy and Medical Massage. For questions about this article or for a consultation please call 619.358.9508 or contact us here.