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Another allergy season is upon us. The first colds threaten. Fall carb foods entice. The immune system is challenged. How should you feed it to best support its healthy function?
Vitamin D – 3000 to 5,000 IU daily for most adults is safe and effective for the prevention of flus and colds. No other supplemented nutrient has been as extensively studied as vitamin D. If you are low in vitamin D, fewer Natural Killer cells (NK-cells) are formed, and your innate immune defenses against viruses and bacteria become impaired.
Feed a Fever, Starve a Cold ?
A new study finds there is truth in the folk advice to "feed a fever and starve a cold". Researchers at Yale University looked at the effects of providing nutrients during infection. They found opposing effects depending on whether the infections were bacterial or viral. Mice with bacterial infections that were fed died, while those with viral infections who were fed lived.
We were surprised at how profound the effects of feeding were, both positive and negative," says senior author Ruslan Medzhitov, Professor of Immunobiology and at Yale School of Medicine. "Anorexia -- not eating -- is common behavior during sickness that is seen in people and all kinds of animals.
Brain scans show cause of seasonal affective disorder
Scientists say they have identified the underlying reason why some people are prone to the winter blues, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
People with Sad have an unhelpful way of controlling the "happy" brain signalling compound serotonin during winter months, brain scans reveal.
As the nights draw in, production of a transporter protein ramps up in Sad, lowering available serotonin.
The work will be presented this week at a neuropsychopharmacology conference.
The University of Copenhagen researchers who carried out the trial say their findings confirm what others have suspected - although they only studied 11 people with Sad and 23 healthy volunteers for comparison.
Using positron emission tomography (PET)Memory
One hundred forty-six volunteers were randomized to receive a placebo or an allicin-containing garlic supplement, one capsule daily, over a 12-week period between November and February. They used a five-point scale to assess their Health and recorded any common cold infections and symptoms in a daily diary. The active-treatment group had significantly fewer colds than the placebo group (24 vs 65, P<.001). The placebo group, in contrast, recorded significantly more days challenged virally (366 vs 111, P<.005) and a significantly longer duration of symptoms (5.01 vs 1.52 days, P<.001). Consequently, volunteers in the active group were less likely to get a cold and recovered faster if infected. Volunteers taking placebo were much more likely to get more than on
We are constantly surrounded by opportunistic would-be pathogens – fungal, bacterial and viral. Yet, most people, most of the time are not adversely affected by them. We fend off, neutralize or mitigate them thanks to what is referred to as an innate ‘immune system’. When a person expresses the constellation of symptoms commonly associated with a ‘cold’ or ‘flu’ it appears that a weakened immune system has allowed an aggressive pathogen – a hostile invader – to proliferate and compromise their health with characteristic results.
Conventional medicine and natural health view and treat cold and flu symptoms in entirely different ways. The conventional approach is to reduce the cold/flu experience to the invasive presence of a specific pathogen
Despite your best efforts, you still got hit with the nasty cold or flu bug that’s making the rounds. Don’t despair. Listen to your body: schedule time for some rest, and ensure that your body has the tools that it needs to heal you as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Homeopathy is a gentle, yet effective, system of natural medicine that helps the body to heal itself. Every patient is regarded as unique, as is every illness. Even within each patient, one cold might present differently to the next. This means that there is no “one remedy” solution for all colds, in all people.
As soon as you start to develop symptoms, take note of them: the obvious physical symptoms (nasal discharge, temperature, app
We’re back into the season of green grass once again, except not all of us are happy about it. If you’re one of the many people who suffer from sinus infections, then the sight of grass is your worst nightmare. Congestion, pressure pain and headaches are just some of the sinus related symptoms that people suffer from when they have sinus infection or inflammation. For a number of sinus sufferers there appears to be no end in sight, as the pain impairs their ability to engage in daily activities.
How is it affecting you?
Fortunately, there are ways to carry on with your normal life without those decongestants from drugstores. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. You have to look at all facets of your life and be prepared to make some lifestyle changes.
Beyond Echinacea and Vitamin C:
If you’ve had your fill of taking your child to the doctor’s office for upper respiratory tract infections or ear infections, you might want to see if it’s a lack of exercise, poor diet or too much body fat.
Echinacea, Vitamin C and a course of antibiotics are the ‘cure’. Albeit, these compounds have their place, but to really employ preventative measures, get your children exercising.
What research has shown
In 2003, Brock University researchers (Cieslak et al) in St. Catherines published an interesting study titled “Effects of ph
