No Flu Season.
So recently, there has been lots of talk about ‘Flu Season’. People urging others to get the flu shot,
other people pleading with others not to. What is a holistic practitioner to do?
Typically flu ‘season’ is from October to May, with a peak in February.
Like ‘Fire Season’ there is really no set dates it all of the sudden starts and stops.
You can get the flu virus infection literally any time of the year.
In fact, I got a doozy of the flu in August 2017! I had to close the office for almost a week to recover,
but that is another story I will tell you later.
Influenza is a virus. Antibiotics do not work on a virus.
Influenza symptoms: Fever, dry cough, sneezing, fatigue, congestion... so what is the problem?
You usually die of a secondary infection, not the flu...
Remember, in 1918 (100 years ago) there was NO antibiotics, no antivirals, none of the common
chemical and technological conveniences we now have. In fact, many people in the United States
had no indoor toilets, or electricity. (The light bulb was barely 40 years old). Some accounts state
up to 100 million people died of this flu outbreak.
Today, even though the effectiveness of the flu shot is as low as 10% and possibly as good as 60%
they (‘they’ as in pharmaceutical companies, and health organizations) still keep saying it is not too
late nor too risky to get the flu shot.
Let’s take a look at the numbers. Just the math… New strains of shots are developed twice a year,
and sometimes they miss the mark on which strain would be active. In 2016-17 the CDC stated that
the effectiveness was 42%. But what you didn’t know is that many people use natural or alternative
methods (complimentary methods like herbs, vitamins, and home remedies) as well as had the shot.
How many of them are accounted for? None. Therefore the total effectiveness of the flu shot cannot
possibly be as high as stated.
The influenza virus is a living being.
Therefore it has the ‘will’ to survive and adapt, hide or get around regardless of our efforts.
you don’t believe that, just try and get rid of bed bugs, cockroaches, mice or even garden weeds.
You can see how difficult it is. The vaccination you get has either been deactivated or killed but there
is still something out there that is at work…
In 2016-17 the CDC reported that 34% of adults 18 years old to 64 years old got the flu shot
(some reports show 42 %+/-) so let’s see what that actually means.
There are 325,719,178 +/- people in the United States (last census, accounting for growth etc. to 2017)
28% under the age of 18, 15% over the age of 65… that leaves 57% between the ages of 18-65.
Accounting for about 186,659,951 people in that range… whew… (Almost done)… if 40%
(let’s be generous) got the shot. That is 74,400,000!
But wait… there’s more. About 83% of people in the age group (18-65) take supplements…
n the other hand… There are about 2% of those that got the shot that have a serious problem with it…
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (basically get paralyzed)
(Site for reference
: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/guillain-barre-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20362793 ) that is about 7-14 MILLION people… WHAT???? Check the math… Don’t freak out yet. There are many ways you can get this condition, including just having the flu… (Can we not win?) Only about 3% will die from GBS… well, too many indeed. That is, IF it is diagnosed and reported as GBS and not some other disease.
Other bad reactions to the flu shot can be found ad-nauseum all over the web.
But let’s take a step back. How can you not get the flu? Number one, stay away
from other people and all the things they touch, wash, don’t breathe, live in a bubble etc.…
c’mon you see the trend? We are closing the door after the horse has escaped.
OK, so what else? The CDC does not keep records on those that have died AND took the flu shot,
and most death certificates have no place nor ability to determine such cases. Largely they are
written in as complications of the flu. (Pneumonia).
But back to math… guhhhhh… Deaths from the flu last year were about 36,000…
Seeing that 40% got the flu shot, you are looking at about 12,600 that died even though they
got the shot. It is not a serious help. Commonly it is blamed on a different strain, co-morbidity etc.
However, we have to look logically and not so emotionally nor ‘scientifically dogmatic’
(I put the math in for those people.)
Taking all that into account, you will either get the flu or not, you will either die from it or not.
It is funny to me that when people get the flu and have had the shot it is always stated that
‘at least it wasn’t as bad as if you didn’t get the shot’ how the hell do you know?
Parallel universe travel!?
So, don’t get the flu! Anything you can do to help, helps your odds. So what can you do?
In Acupuncture and Oriental medicine there are plenty of ways to fight it. From exercises
(Qi Gong) to herbal stews, teas and patches to one of my favorites, CUPPING.
Cupping has been touted as ‘The Chinese Flu Shot’ but I hate using that term,
because it is not just China but all over the world that cupping is used. Cupping before or
during a flu season helps you fight it off naturally, and if you do get it, it does make you feel better.
No side effects!
Chiropractic for the flu? Well, no. Any chiropractic treatment for the flu itself is just a dumb idea.
Getting adjustments for general health is a great idea. It is a pretty well known among both
chiropractors and osteopaths that manipulations helped during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
Many cite really good results and even fewer deaths than allopaths. I don’t know how much of
it is myth and how much is truth. I cannot find any documentation, it has been mostly handed
down to osteopaths and chiropractors in story.
Getting adjustments does help the immune system as well as your own resilience to emotional,
mental, chemical and physical stress. Here is one example of how chiropractic manipulations
of the spine can affect immunity. https://www.danmurphydc.com/Rhodes_Flu.pdf
Wash your hands, cover your mouth, stay warm and dry, get good rest, eat good food, drink water.
Stay away from things that reduce your immune response; stress, cold, over work, alcohol, and other
vices. In other words, the best defense is a good offense. Stay well…
Also take plenty of Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) and vitamin D3 (it helps with hormone, and immune
factors that your body builds and needs to fight infections)
Physiology and practice guidelines for pneumatic cupping. I do explain a bit about
how it works.
Here is a recap: The cup is placed on the back usually, with an active infection you put more on
the upper back near the lung fields. The suction pulls the skin up and causes a negative pressure
vacuum. This draws the skin up and fluids out of their places; veins, venuoles, arterioles,
capillaries, interstitial spaces, lymph spaces, and intercellular spaces.
This fluid being brought into the ‘wrong’ place makes the body react with a response
of inflammation regulation, swelling, and new fluid flow into the area.
The flu is a respiratory dis ease process. It affects the whole body but the lungs are
especially affected. In acupuncture theory we say it is an invasion of cold wind or air into
the usually hot interior of the body. When this happens.
Recently, there is new info on the measles outbreaks in both Western United States as well
as in the central Phillipines (Visaya). Everyone wants to blame a few people who have not
been vaccinated when that is really not a correct stance. Remember when I mentioned that a
virus is a living being with a ‘will’ to survive? Well it wants to continue on and will adapt where
and when it can. For example, in 1987 in Texas an outbreak of measles occurred in a vaccinated
community. Statistics showed 99 percent of that population was vaccinated for measles.
Yet, NOT every non vaccinated person got the measles, and as many as 12% of the
students that were vaccinated came down with the measles. Of course, there is a waning
effect on all vaccines, but that cannot be determined and is not the reason for that and other
outbreaks. There are many conditions to consider not only in a community of people but also
in individuals, the environment as well as the season. This year, 2019 there have been just over
80 cases of measles reported (remember the population of the United States is over 300 million)
With the current vaccination rates around only 70% of the population, that puts about 100 million
at risk, but only 80 or so cases have been reported. Why?
Well, one reason is the general vitality and health of the individuals, the cleanliness of communities
compared to ‘the past’ and other factors such as improving treatment (even though typical treatment
is to rest and wait it out…)
This outbreak was both a battle cry for both pro vaccine people that simply wanted more vaccinations. (Often fueled by panic and well worded press releases from pharmaceutical bodies) as well as for the so called anti-vaxxers that claim all sorts of mishaps because of vaccinations.
We also have to look at the history of disease to determine the communal anxiety surrounding them.
The Flu was highlighted by the 1918 outbreak that did kill millions. Vaccines were not available then.
Diets were relatively terrible and sanitation was an issue for many in the United States. Remember,
most people were still rather rural and horses still outnumbered cars. Then there is measles, which
if you look back at the word ‘measles’ means pustule in old Dutch and eventually became
synonymous with Leprosy. Leprosy is a terribly disfiguring disease that caused many societies to
ban those infected to islands or areas away from the general public. We still have a hint of that panic
in us today. Leprosy (also known as Hansen’s disease) https://www.cdc.gov/leprosy/index.html is
from a slow growing bacterium, not a virus. It is highly contagious but much more treatable now.
Only about 60 cases were even reported in the United States in 2015. Again, it is largely due to better
hygiene, living conditions, diet and sanitation. There is and has been no vaccine for Leprosy.
There are many non-allopathic (that is the term for Western medicine doctors, allopath) treatments
for any ailment. Some are complete hooey, and some are well known and even studied. However,
one you can make money on is by far more studied and ‘verified’ than any ‘folk remedy’ or wives tale.
I would suggest using both. It is fine to use a screw driver to put in a screw but easier if you use an
electric one or a drill with a screw driver bit. Right? Use the best tool available, but don’t only rely
on that. There are far more risks in doing nothing than there are going to an allopath, getting a
medication and using the tried and true traditional remedies. It is the result you are after not the
process.
In the end, you are the one responsible for your own health. If there is an outbreak of something,
don’t go there. Stay healthy in the first place. Get the shots if you want, but don’t assume anyone
else should or has and don’t assume that it worked if they did. Having ‘blind faith’ is no more a cure
than doing nothing. Keep yourself healthy. That is the best start.
#virus
#fluseason
#flu
#flushot
#influenza
#vaccine
#antivaxer
#getyourflushot
#fightflu
#influenza
#measles
#health
