5 Things YOU Can Do About "Flu" and "Cold" Viruses; Biggest Blog aBout Bugs in 2009 Xferred Here

This was originally a blog from October 2009, which in 2 years had well over 1,000 reads). I transferred it here in 2010 for the 2010/11 flu season so people could find it in the forums -- putting it in two different places since forums are organized by topics and this information has to do with influenza ('illness model') and overall wellness model/lifestyle.  

Now, September of 2011, we're now looking to the 2011/12 flu season and so I'm calling upon all the providers of information at Lumigrate.com to update/amend, or add to what is here!  I find it interesting to see the "adding on" of information and how things shift from one year to the next so am going to, for the time being at least, leave this as the multi-year 'stream' for people to follow.  I hope this information is read, embraced, and acted upon in terms of what YOU believe to be the way for YOU to go about the flu season and impacting or creating the wellness/illness level for yourself and those who YOU have influence with! With each provider who writes, their signature information allows you to ACT/link out to follow more about them or initiate utilizing them for individual consultations and products/services if you wish.

Please also realize how much impact YOU can have on 'health care reform' by reaching out and being an educator at one level or another to employees, family, friends, community organization members, other entities which do education and care about their productivity and availability through the winter season. IF information is good quality and something of benefit to providers to know about, the public/consumer taking that to the provider, who can then integrate that into their practice, is how Lumigrate hopes to have a significant and strong impact on health care in the long run.  Thank you for your assistance with that, if take action in that way as well as for your own health benefit. ~~ Mardy

It is mid October (2009) now and I'm hearing reports of MANY people ill with viruses: cold or flu.  I spoke with an ER provider last week who said they're seeing 3x the usual number of people and are frustrated by people coming in who didn't need to come into the ER because they had a cold virus or secondary infection from a 'cold', and not an influenza virus.  So for all: contact your local health department by phone or website if you wonder about the symptoms of influenza versus cold viruses and then what 'secondary' illnesses can happen that might need treatment if you chose to go that route (such as antibiotics).  Other clinics may have helpful websites:  Our local Primary Care Partners has a website that I was told was updated regularly about 'what we're seeing in our area (Grand Junction, Colorado), for instance.  

Let's get back to focusing on influenza (and cold) viruses.  So far what we are hearing is that H1N1 in it's current form (that has not mutated) is not being any more problematic to any one person statistically than the influenza viruses that go around every year.  There are a lot of people who have it and it does appear to be more problematic for younger than older people, which is unusual historically.  

There also are cold viruses going around, and the strategies below can work on your behalf for any type of virus.  If a person has a cold virus it is not appropriate to treat it with antibiotics unless it has gone into a 'secondary infection' such as bronchitis or there is a sinus infection; and then antibiotics are just an 'option' that is more from the 'conventional, Western medicine' aspect of health care (ConMed). There are many good resources online about ConMed you likely know if (WebMD, for instance).   CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) offers many additional things to consider which we focus on here as Lumigrate is about 'integrative medicine' and functional causes for wellness/illness.   Consult your medical provider and local health information sources (such as health department) if you have questions about any health related concerns, including influenza.

It's great if people read this BEFORE they get exposed, as these are somewhat preventative or you'll want to have them on hand.  Milton Hammerly, MD (who has taken down his website 'HealingPartners' as he is concentrating his professional efforts in a NEW direction related to hospital/medical administration and mediation), provided this information related to an article about influenza virus.  Since I can no longer give him the 'benefit' of linking to his website, I do want to deeply thank him for his input over the years; he was my FIRST 'integrative medicine' MD in Denver back in 1997 -- I'd read an article about him in The Rocky Mountain News (which is no longer in Business, The Denver Post is the only daily paper in Denver now), and he was extremely influential on how I went about health care from there forwards, and direction of my career path, which lead to my creating Lumigrate.com a decade later.  While I had done ConMed initially when getting CFS, I rapidly turned to CAM and excluded ConMed, and Dr Hammerly was the first to show me 'integration' of the two.  "Integrate" means to bring together, Lumen is to shine light upon, hence the word "Lumigrate".

Dr Hammerly wrote the following in an email to me:

"It goes without saying that the usual recommendations for good hygiene and preventive immunizations (if available, effective & safe) will reduce the likelihood of getting sick during flu season.  I'm glad to hear you're writing something that will share additional steps people can take to improve their odds of staying healthy this coming flu season.  ... Any self-care measures people can use to prevent or minimize illness could be very valuable. 

In the bigger scheme of things, self-care has an important role to play in health care reform.  Continuing down the path of passive treatments for illness, after the fact, is unsustainable and illogical."

The five interventions Dr. Hammerly suggests are:

1. Relaxation techniques lower stress response/cortisol and improve immune function
2. Vit D 1,000-2,000 IU per day compensates for the seasonal decline in sunshine we receive in fall/winter that reduces immune function
3. Umcka at the first sign of infectious symptoms to stimulate immune function, if there is no underlying autoimmune disease, shortens both duration & severity of symptoms*
4. Colostrum during flu season for passive immune support
5. It is also important to make sure you get adequate rest (7-8 hours of sleep per night) for optimal immune function.  Insufficient sleep has been shown to raise cortisol levels and lower immune function.**

Thanks, Dr. Hammerly!  Now, for people reading this, please help other people learn about this by forwarding this link to people, posting on your facebook, "Tweeting", PRINTING and taking to YOUR provider's offices to share with them and being part of the education process with the medical community, and good old-fashioned 'talking it up'!  Let's hope people stay as well as possible this flu season!  

Mardy's notes on the above from Dr Hammerly specific to the followers of Lumigrate, from my experience:

* Umcka is a homeopathic remedy and since the time of this original posting has been included in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), I am told by a resident who suggests it to people often "particularly for kids since it's homeopathic and cannot have side effects like other medications we typically suggest and prescribe". 

** Since sleep disruption is part of the fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome 'package', this would explain why the cold and flu seasons are particularly difficult for those who are on the spectrum for having these disorders.  In my opinion, if you're experiencing a lot of illness and that is not your 'baseline', you might want to take heed and realize YOU might be inching your way from wellness to chronic and disabling illness and look at the colds/flu as a blessing in disguise which alerts you to this and allows you to problem solve and reverse things and 'nip things in the bud', so to speak.  

Link to the previous/first blog about flu I wrote on Lumigrate.com: 

www.lumigrate.com/blog/news-coverage-h1n1-and-health-care-generally

Link to The Denver Post article by Nancy Lofholf, Western Slope Bureau Staff Writer:

www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_13284305

Link to Dr. Hammerly's website: {removed by Mardy, fall of 2011, website's no longer available, see explanation, above}