Flu Prevention & Self Help
Begin an Herbal and Vitamin Supplement Regimen
Use an herbal anti-viral, nasal rinse. A Neti-Pot with salt (non-iodized) or add some anti-viral herbs, can help rinse away a viral threat.
Get regular acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture will help to boost your immunity and balance.
Choosing less acidic foods raises the body's pH and makes you less susceptible to viral infection. (Fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of fresh juices, can help you stay alkaline.)
Wash your hands
Improve ventilation
Cover your mouth, use a face mask
Get a vaccination if you are in a target group
Avoid contact with someone sick during the first two to four days of infection
Do not share eating utensils and cups
Avoid crowds
Disinfect work and home often
Wash your hands. Rhinoviruses can survive up to three hours outside the nasal passages on inanimate objects and skin. If the infected person touches his runny nose or watery eyes, then shakes hands with another person, the virus is transferred to the uninfected person. If that person then touches his mouth, nose, or eyes, the virus is transferred to an environment where it can reproduce. One of the greatest and underestimated medical techniques of our time is… wash your hands often.
Improve ventilation. In homes and workplaces, use air cleaners. Ventilation is a great disinfectant.
Cover your mouth. “Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.” Dispose of tissues carefully (they may be contaminated with the virus.) Cover your mouth when you sneeze or, better yet, where a face mask in public. When you sneeze or cough, be considerate of others; if you are infectious wear a face mask.
Flu vaccination. If available, for Swine flu virus (H1N1) is an option, especially so for those who have a lowered immune response, (chemotherapy, etc.) such as the elderly. Also get vaccinated for the regular flu, so as not to get the regular flu in the same season of a possible swine flu (H1N1) outbreak.
Avoid contact with someone who is sick during the first two to four days of infection. Avoid close contact with someone who may have the flu during the first two to four days of their infection, when they are contagious and the virus production is at its peak. Work from home where possible, set up contingency plans now. Set up your internet access and access to work place networks from home.
Don’t share food, eating utensils, or cups with anyone, because this is another route for possible infection. To avoid getting sneezed upon or picking up the virus from contact, do not go to crowded places.
Disinfection. Use a disinfectant on door handles or surfaces that come into contact with the general public, at your workplace or your home. Cleaning environmental surfaces with a virus-killing disinfectant might help prevent spread of infection.
Self-Help Summary
Adequate physical exercise
Maintain a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and get enough sleep
Mouth and nasal neti-pot rinse
Watch out for fatigue, overwork, and emotional stress
Relax to avoid feeling overwhelmed
Stop smoking and drinking too much
Keep your neck and chest protected from wind, drafts and cold
Acupuncture. Get treatments to boost your immune system
Choosing less acidic foods alkalize the body
Start an herbal and vitamin supplement regime
Physical exercise increases our immune resistance and enhances our adaptability to the environment. Eating a healthy nutritious diet and getting adequate sleep also have been proven to increase our resistance to viruses. Watch out for fatigue, overwork, and emotional stress as these also are proven to make us more susceptible to illness. Use any stress-reduction methods (like yoga, massage or meditation) can help to keep your immune system strong.
Maintain a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and get enough sleep. Stay away from fast foods and refined, packaged, chemicalized food products. Fresh is best!
Stay rested, watch out for overwork, and try to reduce emotional stress.
Relax to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Relaxation and laughter helps keep the immune system strong.
Stop smoking and drinking too much. If you drink too much or smoke, consider stopping, as these habits can rob your body of essential nutrients and anti-oxidants that keep us healthy. Smoking and drinking alcohol deplete our respiratory and immune responses.
Keep warm. Keep your neck and chest protected from wind, drafts and cold. The Traditional Chinese medical perspective is that wind invasions make people more vulnerable to developing colds and flu and finally modern research may have found our why keeping your feet warm and dry may give us some protection from flu viruses progressing. According to the research of Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff, U.K.: "As soon as the weather turns cold, I keep my nose warm. The nose dries out in low temperatures or in dry air conditioning, and respiratory viruses become trapped and start to reproduce. We should all wear scarves around our necks and over our noses."
The reason for the upsurge of illness each winter is that cold viruses are much more prevalent than we realize. For every person with a cold, there are two or three who have sub-clinical infections - that is, they have the virus is in the back of their noses but they do not develop symptoms, and may never do so. The body's normal immune response keeps them in check. During the summer, this works well and relatively few people who harbor cold viruses develop full-blown colds. In winter, however, the cold weather outdoors causes the blood vessels in the lining of the nose to constrict, a reflex mechanism to save heat. This reduces the blood supply to the nasal lining where viruses can gain a foothold and become established. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) holds this same belief. "The effect of the cold is that it reduces the flow of white blood cells, the body's immune response, cutting off the troops to fight the infection. The cold also slows the flow of mucus in the nose which is needed to trap the virus so you swallow it and destroy it in the stomach," says Professor Eccles.4
Use an herbal anti-viral, nasal rinse. A Neti-Pot with salt (non-iodized) or add some anti-viral herbs, can help rinse away a viral threat.
Begin an herbal and vitamin supplement regimen.
Get regular acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture will help to boost your immunity and balance.
Choosing less acidic foods raises the body's pH and makes you less susceptible to viral infection. (Fresh fruits and vegetables, lots of fresh juices, can help you stay alkaline.)
*The statements contained in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.