Dawson70

Well it's that time of year again. Where we try to take extra precautions in our hand washing and avoid people that are sick. The CDC has predicted a mild season, however as I am typing this, my wife (Blonddie) is lying behind me moaning with back pain and been severly sick with the flu for several hours, including vomiting. My youngest had it yesterday and last night and seems to have a 24 hour duration.
Since there are 3 more people in the house, I can only sit and wait for the virus to take over my poor body and the two kids.
I don't think this is the "flu", but more of a stomach virus that has taken hold here. It sucks!
Anyone else "down" with the sickness? or had ir recently?

And why is it, that some people in the house get a virus.....but others to not?
We spend the same amount of time together but yet the virus picks and chooses.........

__________________
"I Finally Finished My Goal....You Can Too!

Yippie Ki Ya...

gh0ti

I was reading about the possibility of a flu pandemic in the near future. Apparently we are due (over due?) for one that could end up killing several million people. Apparently vaccines wont be enough to hold it back.

astrahl

Consider that most of those "several million" will be the infirm and immune compromised. The average person has little to fuss about. A healthy immune system and the easiest of precautions can save us.

st33lr4t

bah i work in a hospital and i do not get the flu shot and really never seem to get sick.

i'll stick with the...live a healthly lifestyle...and you shouldnt have to worry.

Willravel

Agreed. I really don't think much about flu shots too much. After all, they contain things like mercury, ethylene glycol (antifreeze), and aluminum along with the virus. Seems kinda silly to put things like that in your system. I'd rather do more sensable prevention myself.
As far as I'm concerned there are seven basic things you can do to avoid the flu.

1. Reduce your intake of caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated beverages and replace them with purified water with addition of organic apple cider vinegar added. Gross? You can barely taste it. two tablespoons per galon should work.
2. Reduce intake of refined white sugar, white flour, sweets, refined grains, and hydrogenated oils. That way the lymph system can concentrate on the real bad guys in the body.
3. Zinc! (ta dah!) In a majority of the studies that have been done during the flu season many people have prevented tthe flu by taking supplements of zinc. Zinc is one of the most pwerful immune stimulants and is a powerful anti-viral mineral. But be careful to avoid combining zinc and citris, as it can diminish the effectiveness of the zinc.
4. Eat as close to nature as possible. Raw fruits, vegetable, nuts, and seeds should help a great deal.
5. Eliminate stress. Stress can weaken your immune system quite a bit. To prevent stress I suggest reading a good book, listen to good music, or maybe even meditate (one time my mom walked in on me meditating, it was really embarassing...jk).
6. Colloidal Silver, Oxygenator and Oregano Oil: Colloidal silver has been around for hundreds of years and has been used as a natural antibiotic which promotes healing. It can also be used as a nasal spray and as eardrops. Oxygenator is a safe, stable, inorganic compound of oxygen and chlorine-containing products, in a colorless and odorless aqueous medium. Oxygenator is known to release chlorine dioxide (CL02), and the product has demonstrated efficacy as an anti-inflammatory, broad spectrum, bactericidal, fungicidal, as well as a virucidal agent. The Chemistry Literature verifies this triple-threat ability of CL02. Oregano Oil is a powerful germ and painkiller. An article published in Phytotherapy Research describes how oregano oil superceded anti-inflammatory drugs in reversing pain and inflammation and is nearly as powerful as morphine as a painkiller. The oil also possesses significant antioxidant powers. Furthermore, it stimulates the flow of bile, which greatly aids digestion. Keep these three products in your medicine cabinet at all times. (As with all supplements and medicines, please consult your doctor before using anything you may not fully understant. That's what doctors are for, after all)
7. Sleep. The bodt does most healing between sundown and midnight. Catching up on sleep doesn't work, btw.

BTW PLEASE WACH YOUR HANDS!!! Antibiotic hand soaps aren't here for show, people. They are here to prevent sickness.

Mephisto2

Didn't this already happen?

No wait...

That was a Stephen King book.



Mr Mephisto

alpo

If there is a flu pandemic, it will likely be due to a strain of the virus that we as humans have never seen before. Most of these viruses come from animals. When one mutates enough to infect humans, we see these outbreaks. The strain of flu that we see most years comes from birds. If a strain of the virus, in say pigs, mutates enough to infect humans, there may be a large outbreak. Since humans have not been exposed to a strain of flu from swine in quite some time, there is no built in immunity to it. It's a little complicated, but the potential is quite chilling. I think it is only a matter of time before we see another great flu pandemic that could wipe out millions worldwide.

As far as the flu vaccine, I recommend it to some of my patients, but not all. People over the age of 65, with lung problems, serious heart problems and front line healthcare providors should all get the vaccine. The vaccine does not contain live virus. It is an inactivated virus. The nasal mist is another story. I was unable to find any documentation indicating that the vaccine contains mercury, or any other toxic items.

As far as the suggestions listed above, they are all reasonable suggestions for being healthy. There isn't a whole lot of good peer reviewed data to support many of the things listed, but I think on the whole, avoiding a lot of bad for you food, getting enough sleep are all things that are good for you.

The one thing that I will whole heartedly agree with is WASH YOUR HANDS! You don't need to use antimicrobial soap. Plain old water and whatever soap is handy is more than sufficient. I won't get on my soap box about the over-proliferation of antimicrobial everything right now. Just use a little soap and water to wash them dirty old hands of yours . Doing that alone will drastically reduce your risk of getting sick.

Baron Opal

Yeah, what alpo said.

The big three are hand washing, sleep, and stress management. I usually counsel people against taking colloidal silver as argyria, while not life-threatening, is embarrasing.

Zinc lozenges have been shown to effective. The zinc binds to the surface of the virus and it can't grab onto your cells. Plain soap and water is fine.

That's about it.

alpo

You don't see argyria too often.

Baron Opal

No, but as we can see, its pretty damn distinctive.

Especially when they walk into your pharmacy asking for something for their skin. The son-of-a-gun let me gape for a couple minutes before he told me it was for his eczema.

He looks pretty blue. The one I saw was more gray.

Hmm, there it is. The cure for racisim. Just ingest enough silver and we'll all be the nearly the same color.

hokieian

Please don't use antibacterial soap. Regular soap will get as many germs off as antimicrobial soap without exposing any of those germs to antibiotics. If the germs are not exposed to antibiotics, they can never become resistant to antibiotics and many people's lives will be much easier.

BTW, I'm a microbiologist and hate it when people use antimicrobial anything just becaue of the name when regular old soap works just as well (and don't get me started on physicians prescribing antibiotics for things like colds or the flu, although awareness of this problem is much greater than it used to be)

astrahl

Excellent point. And since the flu is a virus, antibiotics don't help. Keeping your hands clean and washed will.