(1)
The Real Reason Flu Hits in Winter — and how to stop it naturally
For centuries, people believed that people catch cold and flu in the winter because of the colder weather. But countless studies have debunked that myth. In fact, studies show that even in places where it’s warm year-round, people still get the flu during winter!
Why do people catch the flu in the winter? The answer to the riddle comes to us from the unlikeliest of places: a maximum security prison!
Back in 2005, the Atascadero prison in California was hit with a severe flu outbreak. Inmates from all over the prison got sick. Yet one ward was unaffected. None of the prisoners in that ward got the flu – even after they mingled with infected inmates from other wards!
Why didn’t the prisoners in that ward get sick? It turns out that the doctor in that ward was doing something the other doctors weren’t: He was giving the prisoners daily doses of vitamin D.
Yes, vitamin D. We’ve known for years that vitamin D protects you against a whole host of illnesses, including osteoporosis and cancer. But recent research shows that vitamin D protects you against infections, too. That’s because vitamin D stimulates your body to make a powerful germ-fighting substance called cathelicidin. And some scientists believe that cathelicidin just might be the most powerful natural antibiotic ever discovered!
It all makes sense. We know that our bodies make less vitamin D in the winter because there’s less sunlight. So the reason we get sick in the winter has nothing to do with the cold; it has to do with the fact that our vitamin D levels are lower!
Action to take: Arm yourself with the amazing protective power of vitamin D. During the summer, make sure you spend at least 15 minutes per day outside. And during the winter, spring, and fall, take vitamin D in supplement form. I recommend 5,000 I.U. ...
(2)
Then I thought of three mysteries that I first learned in medical school at the University of North Carolina: (1) although the influenza virus exists in the population year-round, influenza is a wintertime illnesses; (2) children with vitamin D deficient rickets are much more likely to suffer from respiratory infections; (3) the elderly in most countries are much more likely to die in the winter than the summer (excess wintertime mortality), and most of that excess mortality, although listed as cardiac, is, in fact, due to influenza.
Could vitamin D explain these three mysteries, mysteries that account for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year? Studies have found the influenza virus is present in the population year-around; why is it a wintertime illness? Even the common cold got its name because it is common in cold weather and rare in the summer. Vitamin D blood levels are at their highest in the summer but reach their lowest levels during the flu and cold season. Could such a simple explanation explain these mysteries?
The British researcher, Dr. R. Edgar Hope-Simpson, was the first to document the most mysterious feature of epidemic influenza, its wintertime surfeit and summertime scarcity. He theorized that an unknown "seasonal factor" was at work, a factor that might be affecting innate human immunity. Hope-Simpson was a general practitioner who became famous in the late 1960's after he discovered the cause of shingles. British authorities bestowed every prize they had on him, not only because of the importance of his discovery, but because he made the discovery own his own, without the benefit of a university appointment, and without any formal training in epidemiology (the detective branch of medicine that methodically searches for clues about the cause of disease). ...
1. Why the flu predictably occurs in the months following the winter solstice, when vitamin D levels are at their lowest,
2. Why it disappears in the months following the summer solstice,
3. Why influenza is more common in the tropics during the rainy season,
4. Why the cold and rainy weather associated with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which drives people indoors and lowers vitamin D blood levels, is associated with influenza,
5. Why the incidence of influenza is inversely correlated with outdoor temperatures,
6. Why children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get colds,
7. Why cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections,
8. Why Russian scientists found that vitamin D-producing UVB lamps reduced colds and flu in schoolchildren and factory workers,
9. Why Russian scientists found that volunteers, deliberately infected with a weakened flu virus - first in the summer and then again in the winter - show significantly different clinical courses in the different seasons,
10. Why the elderly who live in countries with high vitamin D consumption, like Norway, are less likely to die in the winter,
11. Why children with vitamin D deficiency and rickets suffer from frequent respiratory infections,
12. Why an observant physician (Rehman), who gave high doses of vitamin D to children who were constantly sick from colds and the flu, found the treated children were suddenly free from infection,
13. Why the elderly are so much more likely to die from heart attacks in the winter rather than in the summer,
14. Why African Americans, with their low vitamin D blood levels, are more likely to die from influenza and pneumonia than Whites are.
Nope milk won't cut it it just has synthetic Vitamin D and it isn't enough.
The effect of flu vaccines is modest at best and dangerous as they contain chemicals that destroy things we need.
(3)
British influenzologists have not been as infatuated with acquired immunity as their American counterparts. The roads first diverged between British and American virologists many years ago when three Brits (Andrewes, Laidlaw, and Smith) were credited with discovering the influenza virus; the Yanks thought Shope (who had earlier isolated the virus in pigs) should have had the honor. Then, in 1976, British experts warned the United States not to embark on the mass immunization of 43,000,000 Americans with the swine flu vaccine. The Americans ignored the British warning, which proved prophetic when swine flu failed to appear, but an outbreak of immunization related Guillain-Barre Syndrome did. The program was halted and the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) fired. For a fascinating set of papers on influenza that deals with these and other issues—available for free— go to the CDC website.
Need more?
(4)
Vitamin D 'can lower cancer risk'
Oily fish is a source of vitamin D
High doses of vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing some common cancers by as much as 50%, US scientists claim.
Researchers reviewed 63 old studies and found that the vitamin could reduce the chances of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancer, and others.
Experts said more research was needed to draw firm conclusions.
Charities cautiously welcomed the University of California study but warned too much vitamin D could harm the kidneys and liver.
The "natural" form of the vitamin, called D3, is normally produced in the skin after exposure to sunlight, but is also obtained from certain foods such as oily fish, margarine and meat.
The easiest and most reliable way of getting the appropriate amount [of Vitamin D] is from food and a daily supplement
Professor Cedric Garland
The research, done at the University of California in San Diego, looked at the relationship between blood levels of vitamin D and cancer risk.
Survival rates for Afro-Caribbean people with breast, colon, prostate and ovarian cancers are worse than for white people, possibly because dark skins are not as good at making vitamin D, the researchers said.
Ah here is a good tip, I have much darker skin for a Caucasian, maybe this is why I catch more colds than my husband, of course he also spends more time outdoors, he smokes outside. I believe wee are just catching up with an iceberg here and we'll find that Vitamin D also boosts our immunity to lots of other problems as well. I will have to add a vitamin D supplement to my regimen. I do know taking it will eliminate a lot of pain in joints and muscles and it's a great essential fatty acid so it's a antioxident. How can I lose?
(5)
Rationale: Vitamin D was used to treat tuberculosis in the pre-antibiotic era. Prospective studies to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on antimycobacterial immunity have not previously been performed. Objectives: To determine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on antimycobacterial immunity and vitamin D status. Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted in 192 healthy adult tuberculosis contacts in London, UK. Participants were randomized to receive a single oral dose of 2.5 mg vitamin D or placebo and followed up at 6 weeks. Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome measure was assessed with a functional whole blood assay (BCG-lux assay) that measures the ability of whole blood to restrict luminescence, and thus growth, of recombinant reporter mycobacteria in vitro; the read-out is expressed as a luminescence ratio (luminescence post-infection/baseline luminescence). Interferon-gamma responses to the M. tuberculosis antigens early secretory antigenic target-6 and culture filtrate protein 10 were determined with a second whole blood assay. Vitamin D supplementation significantly enhanced the ability of participants' whole blood to restrict BCG-lux luminescence in vitro compared to placebo (mean luminescence ratio at follow-up 0.57 vs. 0.71 respectively, 95% CI for difference 0.01 to 0.25; P=0.03) but did not affect antigen-stimulated Interferon-gamma secretion. Conclusions: A single oral dose of 2.5 mg vitamin D significantly enhanced the ability of participants' whole blood to restrict BCG-lux luminescence in vitro without affecting antigen-stimulated Interferon-gamma responses. Clinical trials should be performed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation prevents reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection.
You can take your vitamin D in Cod liver oil but, WORD OF CAUTION HERE: Cod Liver oil contains lots of vitamin A as well as D, if you want to get more D in your diet I suggest you buy the D-3 listed here with a coupon I was offered as a good customer of this most excellent company, I like their supplements because they are made in the US, are safe, and the least expensive I've seen anywhere. I will get no commission on this if you click it here; if it bothers you that I'm trying to make a living here.
and still takingCellPower™
and~4 essential minerals for diabetics
~SELENIUMhelps immune system,fights infection and aids circulation
~MAGNESIUMhelps to relax you, aids stress and muscle relaxing
~CHROMIUMimproves insulin sensitivity, and helps lower blood sugar.
~ZINC especially to help you heal.
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blessings
-----THE GARDEN GNOME
~~~Jokes and Inspiration~~~
Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.
-- Jane Wagner, Lily Tomlin in "The
Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the
Universe"
Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound
marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.
-- Tommy Cooper
There is only one thing a philosopher can be
relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other
philosophers.
-- William James
~~~
Computer Haikus – Part 3
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
~~~
The DVD player had conked out and we weren't able to watch the movie we'd rented. Then my husband had a brilliant idea: "Why don't we use the PlayStation?" We pushed all the buttons, but couldn't get it to work, so we gave up and went upstairs. We were reading in bed when our 17-year-old son appeared in our doorway.
"Someone left a DVD in my PlayStation," he said.
"We were trying to watch a movie on it," my husband admitted, "but we couldn't get past the parental control screen."
"What a shame," our son said as he smiled and closed the door.
~~~
My father was often away on lengthy tours of duty, leaving my mother to manage five kids by herself. While he was away we used to sneak into their room to sleep. So before shipping out one time, Dad reminded us to respect Mom's space and sleep in our own rooms. Upon his return, as he disembarked the plane with the rest of his unit, my brother ran up to him, jumped into his arms and loudly announced, "Dad, you're going to be so happy. While you were gone this time nobody slept with Mom."
~~~
One evening my new husband called to have me pick him up from work. Since I had never been on the military post before, I was a little reluctant, but I agreed to attempt the task. While I drove through the base, a young soldier in his camouflage uniform stepped out onto the street. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him, and the screeching tires attracted the attention of a nearby MP. I was in tears as the officer approached my car. "I didn't see him!" I blurted out.
"Well, ma'am," the MP remarked, grinning at me, "that's kind of the point."
~~~
During reservists' training, my commanding officer was briefing his colleagues on the battalion's mission. While he was highlighting the key objectives of our task -- serious business, aimed at motivating the troops -- he was suddenly interrupted by a ringing cell phone. The tune? "Mission Impossible."
~~~
During basic training one lesson stood out from all the others: Keep your mouth shut unless given permission to talk. But I didn't realize how well our instructors had hammered this point home until one evening when we sat down to eat. My table mate started her evening prayer with, "God, request permission to pray."
~~~~
Boarding a military transport plane, I noticed hydraulic fluid pouring from the tail section. "Excuse me," I said to a crew member. "Do you know the aircraft has a leak?"
"Yep," he said as he continued on his way.
"Aren't you concerned?" He shrugged. "Well," I asked, "how do you know when you're out of fluid?"
"When it quits leaking," he answered.
~~~
Have a perfectly splendid day, be Blessed and at peace, be content and you willbe doubly blessed.
Sources
(1)http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.ph via
Dr. Robert Jay Rowen newsletter see www.womenshealth.com
(2)https://secure.secondopinionnewsletter.com/newsletterOffer707/index.html?c=SODC07
(3)http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/newsletter/2006-oct.shtml
(4)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4563336.stm
A Single Dose of Vitamin D Enhances Immunity to Mycobacteria
(5)http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/200701-007OCv1
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