H1N1 FLU PREVENTION
November 6, 2009
It is evident that the Swine (H1N1) flu virus at present is hitting hard and most everywhere with alarming speed in the United States. There are several simple measures you can do to protect yourself. Besides good hygiene of handwashing, avoiding high density crowds and people around you who are coughing (you can also wear a face mask in these situations), there are some simple remedies to be tried. There is reasonable evidence that the so-called “statin” drugs (like Zocor, Crestor, Lipitor, etc.) have significant effect on reducing the inflammatory effects of viral agents. This is a nice benefit for those who are already on one of them, whether you start one just for this purpose is something you should talk to our Doctor about. My personal inclination is that people should use them only if none of the other available measures are helping. (Some patients, like myself with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome – CFIDS, and other disorders that affect the immune system, should not take statins.)
Other measures that are proving to be significantly helpful in reducing, if not preventing, the H1N1 flu effects, include relatively high doses of Vitamin D. It should be safe for any adult to take at least 2000 IU daily without any problem. A lot of people are using higher doses – around 5000 IU daily, which in some studies has been shown to virtually eliminate viral infections. If you have kidney problems or would like to take more than 2000 IU per day, I would ask your physician to order a Vitamin D level. The correct test to obtain for this purpose is called 25(OH)D. Vitamin D has powerful immune-enhancing effects (suppressing inflammatory cytokines, activating our “innate immune system” by modulating gene expression that govern production of virus-killing compounds called antimicrobial peptides [AMP] that line our respiratory tract.
Furthermore, an extract of Artemesia absinthium, called Wormwood as sold by Medi-Herb, is an herbal supplement that has powerful immune effects to inhibit the replication of viruses. This class of compounds, called Artesmesins, seems to inhibit the tougher herpes virues, and retroviruses such as HIV and the newly discovered XMRV (now suspected to be the likely primary cause of CFIDS), along with the H1N1 virus.
Additionally, a food supplement called Inosine has been used to halt viral replication and their effects. Specifically, if you have been exposed to the Swine virus, and especially if you are having flu symptoms, you can take Inosine 500mg (1 capsule) two times daily. If necessary and you are becoming more ill, you can ramp up to 1500mg two times daily and this appears to alleviate the symptoms. You can obtain Inosine (Pure Encapsulations product) from “the store” on this website at Restore Health Products. Obviously, if you do become ill you should contact your physician.
Tamiflu is the pharmaceutical agent that is being reserved for severe cases of swine flu. |
