The Annual Flu Vaccine Drive is On!

Oct 17 2011 Published by under Uncategorized, vaccination

The pressure is on! The annual push to get people to “roll up their sleeves” for the flu vaccine is making its seasonal reappearance.

I am not a fan of the flu vaccine, and discourage my clients from getting the vaccine. However, I do not believe that the alternative to getting the vaccine is to do nothing. Making the wise choice to avoid the unnecessary vaccine means making even wiser choices about your health.

 

Why I think the vaccine is a bad idea:

  • At best the vaccine is largely ineffective. Studies indicate that in children under 2 years old inactivated vaccines have the same efficacy as placebo, and in healthy people under the age of 65, the vaccine does not effect hospital stays, time off work, or death from influenza or its complications.

  • The fact that vaccines “wear off”, requiring annual re-vaccination, often with the exact same strain of flu serum, is admission that the vaccines do not actually work. Human immunity is life-long. Real immunity from the disease itself offers life-long immunity against that same strain of disease. It is questionable if the vaccine offers any true immunity at all.

  • Every vaccine (like any medicine) has risks associated with it. The neurological risks associated with the flu vaccine are severe. In 1976 there were more cases of Guillain-Barre  Syndrome (a crippling neurological disorder) reported after vaccination than there were cases of the swine flu that the same vaccine was supposed to prevent.

  • In December 2010 the flu vaccine specifically designed for young children from age 6 months to 5 years was blamed for unusually high incidence of febrile seizures in the same age population immediately after vaccination. While the manufacturer of the vaccine admitted to the higher than normal incidents of febrile seizures, they were not willing to admit to a causative link to the vaccine.

  • I am concerned about a disease-prevention strategy that involves toxic chemicals and virus strains that are grown on living tissue and/or genetically modified in laboratories, then inserted into the human body.

  • Flu shots contain some or all of the following vaccine constituents, none of which I believe belong in a healthy human being: ethylene glycol (antifreeze), phenol (aka carbolic acid – a disinfectant, die), formaldehyde (known carcinogen), aluminum (associated with Alzheimer’s disease and seizures), thimerosal (an mercury based preservative that is associated with brain injury and autoimmune disease), neomycin and streptomycin (antibiotics). Vaccines are often grown and strained through animal or human tissue such as monkey tissue, chicken embryos, embryonic guinea pig cells, calf serum – another ethical and emotional quagmire to get over in thinking about vaccine.

Why the FluMist is an even worse idea:

  • This is an alternative flu vaccine that is supposed to be for those who resist the vaccine due to needle-anxiety. It is being widely touted as a good choice for children in particular.

  • This nasal spray is more expensive than the conventional vaccination and is not covered by most provincial health providers here in Canada.

  • The nasal flu mist is a live vaccine, and those who have been “immunized” in this way are carriers of live virus for up to 3 weeks after the “vaccination”, making them likely transmitters of disease.

  • The list of people contraindicated for this option is long and quite concerning:

    • Anyone with asthma or reactive airways

    • People over the age of 60 (the same population we are told are most at risk from complications of influenza

    • Anyone with history of bronchial allergic reactions

    • Anyone with suspected immune deficiency diseases

    • Pregnant and nursing mothers

    • Anyone with chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, metabolic disease (including diabetes), kidney dysfunction, neurological disease

    • Health care workers who work with any of the above

    • Surely this list makes one reconsider the intelligence of getting such a vaccine at all.


Why?

  • I am not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but I do have to ask why these vaccines are so vigorously pushed onto the public.

    • $$$$$$: Sorry to be so predictable, but someone is making a lot of money off this business

    • FEAR: Mainstream medicine does not have a suitable model for addressing influenza outside the vaccination program. Witness films like the new blockbuster “Contagion” as an expression of the collective anxiety about a pandemic of influenza or some other infectious disease that mainstream medicine is ill-equipped for treating.

So, What’s the Alternative?

Optimal health, of course!

Infectious disorders affect the weak and the susceptible. Susceptibility is reduced not through a vaccination that weakens the immune system, but through healthy living – nutritious eating, regular exercise, sufficient sleep, supplementation that optimizes essential vitamins and minerals, stress reduction, and good hygiene. Pretty simple!!

You know most of this – but here’s a quick review of some of the essentials:

Nutritious Eating

  • Eat lots of plants in a range of colors –12-15 portions of fruit and veg daily, use fresh herbs and spices liberally

  • Eliminate refined carbohydrates – NO WHITE SUGARS OR CARBS!

    • Sugar dramatically reduces immune function

    • Eat at least 3 portions of wild, cold-water, mercury free fish weekly, or supplement with a fish based Omega 3 fatty acid.

    • Eat organic food whenever possible

    • Make sure all your meat is from grass-fed animal

    • Drink red wine in moderation

    • Limit caffeine

    • Avoid all artificial food flavors, colors, preservatives, additives

Supplementation:

  • Vitamin D—the sunshine vitamin! Necessary for all of us who live in northern climates. Get your 25HydroxyD levels checked next time you get blood work done. In the meantime – supplement throughout the winter – 4000-6000 IU daily for adults, 2000 for children, 800 for toddlers and infants.

  • Probiotic – an excellent way to keep your immune system operating optimally is to take a daily probiotic, especially through the winter months. You will find that you will have many fewer viral infections if you take regular probiotics.

  • Multi-Vitamin and Mineral supplement – get one from a reputable manufacturer, preferably one that is food-based. Do not buy inexpensive synthetic vitamins from big box stores – they are probably worse than taking nothing.

  • Vitamin C – increase your vitamin C intake through-out the winter. 2000 mg daily (taken in 4-500 mg doses) is a good maintenance regime, but you can increase that 3-4 fold if you are feeling under the weather. Vitamin C works miracles when it comes to keeping you virus-free.

Common Sense:

  • Allow yourself lots of sleep. Excessive tiredness is often your body’s way of alerting you to the fact that – big surprise – you need more sleep!! Tired bodies get sick more easily. Moreover, you need more sleep during the cold winter months – the weather acts as a physiological stressor and sleep is your time for recovery. Allow yourself a gentler, kinder schedule!

  • Wash your hands frequently.

  • Stay home if you don’t feel well. This alone could change the entire conversation around vaccination. Sick people belong at home – not at school, not in the work place, not on the subways and streetcars. Do this for yourself, and for those around you.


And if you should start to feel sick:

There are a number of natural health protocols for addressing acute illnesses such as the flu. Rather than repeat myself here I refer you to my blog on natural support and homeopathic remedies for the flu. However, if you take good care of yourself, chances are you will not need this advice, and certainly do not need the flu vaccine!

http://www.blh-homeopath.com/tag/flu/

 

 

No responses yet

Homeopathy for Flu

Jan 11 2011 Published by under acute illness, applied homeopathy

It’s January and the flu is here – with record numbers of people falling ill, according to news reports. There’s lots you can do to protect you and your family from getting sick this season.

 

PREVENTION
1.    EAT WELL — The best way to keep your immune function healthy is through diet.
•    eliminate all white sugar — This is probably the most important thing you can to for your immune system.
•    eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables – the phytochemicals and vitamins in fruit and vegetables act as excellent antioxidants – helping your immune cells fight toxins in your body.  In particular, use lots of garlic – it is a powerful immune booster that stimulates white blood cell multiplication, boosts natural killer cell activity, and increases the efficiency of antibody production. .
•    eliminate caffeine and alcohol  (or at the very least, reduce it dramatically). Green Tea is a fabulously healthy alternative to coffee and black tea – and will give you a gentle energy lift as well. Drink lots of water, with lemon juice preferably.
2.    SLEEP LOTS — Be kind to your body and listen to it – excessive tiredness may be your body’s way of alerting you to the fact that illness may be on the way. You need more sleep in the winter, you need more caloric intake to stay warm, and you probably need a generally gentler schedule
3.    WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY
4.    TAKE YOUR VITAMINS –  These are your daily essentials and will go a long way in keeping you from getting sick in the first place:
•    vitamin D — If you haven’t had your 25 Hydroxy D levels checked, ask your doctor to do so next time you have some blood work done. In the meantime, 4000 IU daily for adults and 2000 IU daily for children is a reasonable daily amount.
•     Vitamin C is crucially important in winter– I suggest at least 1000 mg daily for children, 2000 for adults, increasing that up to 4 fold during times of illness.
•    daily multi-vitamin (be sure Selenium is included as well as a good range of vitamin Bs),
•    Omega 3 fish-oil
•    Daily probiotic
5.    STAY HOME IF YOU DON’T FEEL WELL — I believe that we all need a bit of hibernation to get through these short, cold, harsh days. Be kind to yourself, and those around you.

HOMEOPATHIC FLU PREVENTION PROTOCOL:
•    Influenzinum 30 can be taken as a prophylactic three times weekly during the peak of flu season/ flu epidemic

AT THE FIRST SIGN OF ILLNESS:
start taking an immune boosting supplement – there are  ones to keep your body’s response vital.
•    “KI” Immune Defense consists of astragalus, shitake mushrooms, and olive leaf – a good combination. You can use products that have these ingredients, also Echinacea and Bee Propolis
•    Reishi mushrooms are especially potent immune boosters
•    Oregano oil is an excellent anti-infectious agent, one I recommend during times of suspected incipient illness, or during illness, but should not be used as a daily supplement over a long period of time. If you are taking Oregano oil, be sure you are also taking a probiotic or acidophyllus.
•    Finally, if you start to feel ill, increase your vitamin C levels and start taking supplemental vitamin E and Zinc to further boost immune activity.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDY FOR FIRST SIGN OF FLU:
Oscillococcinum 200: This remedy is sold as a cure-all for flu, but doesn’t work once the illness is established. Use during the prodromal stage (the time between the first appearance of symptoms and the development of fever or full blown illness) – once every 12 hours.  

IF YOU ACTUALLY CONTRACT FULL-BLOWN FLU:
Continue with accelerated supplement program, and sleep and drink fluids copiously. In addition, there are a number of homeopathic remedies that can be useful in helping you get through your illness quickly, with no long-lingering effects:
•    Gelsemium 30 – useful for flu with slow onset. Marked symptoms are extreme weariness and heaviness, chills up and down the spine, and general aching and soreness. Face looks dull, sleepy. Usually has an intense throbbing headache, with feeling of engorged, teary eyes. This remedy is also useful for weariness that lingers long after the flu is done.
•   Eupatorium 30 – useful for flu marked with violent aching, bone-breaking pains all over the body. This flu has a rapid onset, patient is very chilly with violent shivering and extreme sensitivity to draughts.
•    Rhus Tox 30 – slow-onset flu with generalized aching in bones and joints with extreme restlessness and inability to find a place of comfort. There is usually profuse sweating all over the body (except the head). Patients needing this remedy are usually better after some slow, gentle movement such as a walk. A bright red tip of the tongue is often seen in people needing this remedy.
•    Bryonia 30 – slow onset flu with generalized, aching pains. Any movement hurts – patients are irritable, hard to please, worried, and tend to grunt their responses. They often have a hard painful cough and intense headaches. They are extremely thirsty patients who want large quantities of cold drinks.
•    Baptisia 30—extreme flu symptoms with fast onset. Rapid prostration and general foulness. Every movement is agonizing. Patient appears scattered and confused. There is heavy, foul-smelling sweat and a deep thirst, although drinking water causes nausea.
•    Arsenicum 30 – Flu with gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhea. Marked chilliness and restlessness alternating with extreme weakness and collapse. Patient is generally terribly anxious about their condition. They are thirsty for small sips of water. Patient has a hot face and chilly body, craving warmth and fresh air all at once.

DOSING:
My suggested pattern of dosing is as follows: take one pellet of the indicated remedy every 15 minutes for 4 doses. Assuming there is an improvement, repeat a single dose of the remedy once the symptoms worsen – probably about every 4 hours. If there is no improvement in 24 hours, you may have the wrong remedy. Do not continue taking a remedy that is having no positive benefit for more than 48 hours.

Call your friendly local homeopath for help if you are not getting benefit from your own attempts at prescribing.  It can be rewarding to care for your own, but frustrating if you have not found the correct remedy.

No responses yet