Tips on Preventing the Cold & Flu

Flu Season is Upon Us 

There are many ways we can take action to prevent the cold and flu this season.  The key to not getting the flu this year is keeping your immune system in check.  

What’s the difference between the flu and a cold or upper respiratory tract infection?  

The flu symptoms generally start with a fever, chills, body aches and pains.  A cold usually starts with sore throat, cough and/or sinus congestion. A cold is due to a virus 95% of the time and the flu is a virus. Antibiotics do not work for viruses. Some of the best natural defenses for preventing the flu are the following:

• Keep your immune system in check by taking a good multiple vitamin with Vitamin A, Vitamin C,  Vitamin D and Zinc.
• Wash your hands frequently with plain soap and water.  Antibacterial soaps are unnecessary.  In fact, antibacterial soaps make us resistant to antibiotic medications when we really need them.
• Cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing to prevent the spread of the flu.
• Avoid sugar as much as possible.  Sugar depletes our immune system making us more susceptible to colds and flu.
• Get enough sleep. Make sure you get eight hours of sleep a day.  Not enough rest will deplete your immune system.
• Exercise regularly to lower your stress response and build up your immune system. 
• Eat garlic, ginger and onions regularly in your foods.  These foods naturally has anti-viral and antibactial effects.
• Oscillococcinum or Gripp-Heel are homeopathic remedies that can reduce the duration and severity of flu symptoms especially if taken within the first 24 hours of the flu.
• Influenzinum is the homeopathic alternative to the flu shot.
• Other anti-viral herbs that are beneficial on the onset of the cold or flu include astragalus, echinacea, ligusticum, schizandrae and elderberry.
• If you do catch the flu or cold consider not going to work or school to prevent the spread of this virus.  It is best to stay at home until the fever resolves.

Vitamin A works on building up our immune system and zinc has anti-viral effects.  If you are a person who gets the flu regularly you may be Vitamin D deficient. The founder of the Vitamin D Council, Dr. John Cannell first introduced the hypothesis that influenza is merely a symptom of vitamin D deficiency in the paper Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D, published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection two years ago, followed up with another study published in the Virology Journal last year. The findings were confirmed by a new study -- the largest and most nationally representative of its kind to date -- that involved about 19,000 Americans. It found that people with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu. You may want to consider getting your Vitamin D blood levels checked.

A  study written in the August issue of Pediatrics 2009 states that probiotics such as acidophilus and bifidobacterium taken daily can reduce the incidence of fevers by up to seventy percent, coughs and sinusitis by sixty percent. Probiotics are a great way to prevent both colds and flu in school children and adults.  Probiotics build up our immune system through our intestinal tract. 

Elderberry syrup has been shown to build up our immune system and prevent the flu.  A sugar free elderberry extract is recommended. 

At the Natural Pharmacy we carry many products for cold/flu prevention, anti-viral herbs for treating colds and flu’s, teas, cough syrups and drops and immune boosters.  These products are always good to have on hand in the cold and flu season.

Not sure if you have the flu or cold stop by our flu and cold clinic and get assessed and treated quickly so you can get back to feeling better and not spreading this infection to co-workers and family members.

 Dr. Deborah Wiancek  is a Naturopathic Physician who practices at the Riverwalk Natural 

Health Clinic & Natural Pharmacy.  She is a primary care physician specializing in allergies, dermatology, gastrointestinal problems, gynecology, menopause, pediatrics and chronic disease. 

Phone 970-926-7606 e-mail Wiancek@healthref.com.

Fifty Percent of all Cancers Can Be Prevented.

Researchers  at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) World Cancer Congress 2012 stated that 50% of all cancers can be prevented simply by following the steps of what is known in cancer prevention such as:

Don't Smoke.  Smoking causes 1/3 of all cancers.

Lose weight.  Obesity causes 20% of all cancers.

Eat well.    Improvement in diet could reduce cancer incidence by 50% 

Exercise. Increases in physical activity could reduce cancer incidence by as much as 85% in 5 to 20 years.

Eradicating the main viruses associated with cancer worldwide which include human papillomavirus and hepatitis B and C  could lead to a 100% reduction in viral-related cancer incidence in 20 to 40 years.

Screening for colorectal cancer can reduce mortality by 30% to 40%.

Epidemiologists have shown thirty years ago that tobacco, alcohol, diet,  lack of physical activity, and obesity accounted for more than half of all cancer.

United States Wastes 750 Billion in Health Care Cost.

Is More Care Better Care?

Wasted health care dollars included:

unneccesary services $210 billion,
mistakes and unneccesary use of specialist $130 billion,
excessadministration cost $190 billion,
too high prices $105 billion,
missed prevention opportunities $55 billion,
and fraud committed by patients, providers and payers 75 billion.

Arsenic Found in Rice

Consumer Reports found arsenic, a known carcinogenic, in 200 different rice products that are sold in grocery stores in the United States alone.

This was reported to pressure the FDA to set standards for safe food supplies.

Arsenic was found in baby cereal, rice cakes and bags of rice.

Arsenic is found in many of the soils where rice is produced.

Arsenic can also be found in water supplies.  

Running Less Than Twenty Miles a Week Better for Your Health than Long runs.

A new study in by Dr Carl Lavie (Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA) showed that the mortality benefits of running are best accumulated in shorter distances, specifically at less than 20 miles per week.   In fact, at longer distances, the researchers observed a U-shape relationship between mortality and running, with longer weekly distances trending back in the wrong direction, toward less mortality benefit.  

 Lavie stressed that the study is one of the largest to date, including data on more than 52 000 men and women participating in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS), results will likely vary among individuals with differing athletic abilities or different ages.   Running was associated with a 19% lower risk of all-cause mortality when compared with individuals who did not run.  Individuals who ran six and seven miles per hour had a significant 21% and 27% lower risk of all-cause mortality, whereas those who ran eight or more miles per hour had a nonsignificant 7% lower risk of all-cause mortality.  Running up to 20 miles per week was associated with a significantly reduced risk of death, with the largest benefit observed in those who ran between 10 to 15 miles weekly.   For those who ran 20 to 25 miles and more than 25 miles per week, however, there was a nonsignificant 10% and 5% reduction in all-cause mortality. 

Lavie noted that it is impossible to say definitively that more running is making the reduction in all-cause mortality go in the other direction, as it's possible that unmeasured variables might have influenced the results.  It's possible that runners might not be taking care of themselves in other ways.  Endurance exercise may also be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, or arterial stiffening.  For a cardiovascular protection thirty to forty minutes of running is better that ninety minutes of running.  This study is showing that more is not better when it comes to exercise.

Statins Associated With Fatigue

A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine of June showed that low energy and fatigue have been described by patients receiving statins in observational studies.  The study enrolled 1016 subjects (692 men; 324 women) with LDL levels of 115 to 190 mg/dL and no cardiovascular disease or diabetes who were randomized to simvastatin 20 mg, pravastatin 40 mg, or placebo for six months.

Results showed a significant adverse effect on energy and fatigue with exertion associated with statin use, which was more common in women than men. Both simvastatin and pravastatin contributed to this effect. The authors also point out that there was a significant relation between the reduced energy reported and actual activity, which could in turn lead to an increase in cardiovascular clinical events.

Other side effects of statin drugs include muscle pain, asthma, dementia and now fatigue.  I would question the use of statins in my patients.

What is Health & Wellness in Vail Valley?

What is Health & Wellness for the Vail Valley?

I was in southern India for the month of April and was impressed in how this country is approaching health and wellness.  India offers three different hospital systems to patients’ allopathic hospitals, naturopathic hospitals and ayurvedic hospitals.  The government is supporting the naturopathic and ayurvedic hospitals because these therapies work well for difficult cases. At the naturopathic hospital the patient is treated using all organic vegetarian foods, daily yoga, over fifty different types of hydrotherapy treatments depending on their condition, acupuncture, massages with non-toxic oils and other types of condition specific therapies. At the ayurvedic hospitals the patient is treated using specific types of foods according to their dosha such as pitta, kapha or vata.  They are also doing yoga at least three times a week and ayurvedic massages which use non-toxic oils infused with medicinal herbs depending on the condition. Ayurvedic medicine also uses panchakarma therapy an internal cleansing treatment using sweating, enemas, sinus washes, dietary changes, and herbal treatments.

These hospitals are using organic foods and many of them are doing there own farming. As a naturopathic physician myself our food is the basis of most of the chronic disease today.  In the United States studies are showing that one in two people are obese this includes Colorado which was one of the healthiest states in the country.  Allopathic medicine does not treat obesity very well unless you want to have your stomach stabled.  Our diet and lifestyle is responsible for diabetes, high cholesterol, heart diseases, one third of all cancers and high blood pressure.  Many people that I see claim their high cholesterol is genetic because everyone in their family has high cholesterol.  It’s not genetic it is because everyone in their family eats the same way.  Eating healthy is not easy for a lot of people because of their fast pace life style.  The majority of the people that I see do not really know what a healthy diet is.  We have become a society of processed, genetically modified and pesticide laden foods.  In turn, we have one of the worse health care systems in the industrial world.  It was refreshing to see India not following our footsteps and offering choices in health care.

In the United States in the early 1900’s there were twenty three naturopathic hospitals in this country in which patients were treated using a healthy diet, exercise, massages, hydrotherapy treatments, botanical medicine and homeopathy.  Then the pharmaceutical companies took over and now we have drugs that have become the fourth leading cause of death in this country.  It is sad to see that we are not taking charge of our health.  Granted as individuals we do need to be responsible for our choices. 

I find it interesting that the Vail Valley wants to become a health and wellness center.  But I see nothing being done to move in this direction.  A visitor can come here to these beautiful mountains which can be healing in themselves, exercise and have a massage in which toxic oils are used. These visitors can do this in any state.  What makes our valley so special besides the scenery?  If we want to be a health and wellness center we have to offer health and wellness.  By definition health is the general condition of a person’s mind, body and spirit meaning to be free of illness, injury or pain.  Wellness can have many different definitions the Foundation of Wellness Professionals defines it as care without drugs that can not only eliminate health problems but prevent them.  Health and wellness is about treating the cause of any illness so that a person can obtain Optimal Health.  By treating the symptoms’ of a health problem that problem will never resolve and the person will never obtain optimal health.  Our health care system needs to completely change its direction if we truly want to offer health and wellness.