How to beat the flu

How to beat the flu:

Vit D3.
The vitamin D council suggests adults take 5,000iu/daily. Children take 1,000- 2,000iu/daily. Infants take 400iu/daily. Vit D3 has been shown to have more success at beating the flu than vit C. My fav brand is Carlson. It comes in a tasteless liquid that is easy for all ages to take.

Probiotics/Acidophilous.
Yogurt just doesn't cut it. It is recommended to supplement with different brands each time you finish a bottle so that you are ingesting a variety of strains. My favorite brands are: New Chapter, ReNew Life, Dr. Ohiras, Jarrow, Garden of Life and Good Belly.

Raw Garlic with a large meal. Adding it last to the meal so that it is not cooked, is best. Precaution: Garlic is a blood thinner. If you are on prescriptions, or about to have a surgery, speak w/ doctor 1st before adding large amounts of raw garlic to diet.

Do: Eat more RAW fresh fruits & greens. Why raw? cooking not only weakens the strength of the vitamins and anti-oxidants, it completely destroys the enzymes which are needed to digest the food properly. Think dark. The darker the more nutritious. Blackberries, Cherries, Kale, Spinach, etc.

AVOID: Sugar, Caffeine, Processed/Preserved foods, Canned foods. All these actually stress our bodies out and weaken the immune system.

From our Pediatrician...with Love

Photo: my idea,
Research: from our much adored pediatrician.

Read on!

Many people have called to discuss rumors they have heard about the H1N1 virus. Rumors create unneeded and unjustified fear. For instance, a mom called last week to state she heard 19 children died from H1N1 at the children’s hospital in Miami – very close to our community. This is not true. Nineteen children who died from the H1N1 virus were reported to the CDC during week 42 of the 2009 calendar year. This does not mean nineteen children died during this week alone – nineteen cases were reported. Remember, 70% of deaths in children are occurring in those with preexisting medical conditions.

Another rumor I heard was from a pregnant mom in my practice (she is an attorney and quite bright). She called me very distressed that her OB told her that 20% of pregnant women are dying from the H1N1 virus and therefore she should receive the vaccine. I looked into this for her and learned that 20% of pregnant women who are admitted to the ICU (not just the hospital) have died. Please know that less than 100 pregnant women with H1N1 illness have been admitted to the ICU since April. Again, the majority of these women who died had pre-existing medical conditions. For more information on what the local OBs are thinking about the H1N1 vaccine, read the Naples Daily News front page article from today. Several OBs are highly recommending the vaccine and one group of OBs (which includes the president of the Collier County Medical Society) is not even carrying the vaccine in their office due to safety concerns.

To keep you current and to avoid unfounded rumors, here is the mortality graph from the CDC for week 43 (released 2 days ago.) http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2009-2010/IPD43.htm. There were eighteen influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported. Fifteen of these deaths were associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection and three were associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype was undetermined. None of these deaths occurred during the 43^rd week of the year. All of the deaths occurred earlier in the year and were simply reported during this week.

Also, here is a link to the CDC showing the number of positive influenza cases by week. The orange color bar is influenza A (subtype H1N1) confirmed; the yellow bar is influenza A not sub-typed. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2009-2010/WhoLab43.htm. Week 35 is when school started so you see a corresponding rise in cases. Week 43 shows a decrease in number of influenza positive cases despite a huge rise in visits to the doctor for influenza-like illnesses since everyone is scared they have contracted the virus. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2009-2010/picILI43.htm. This is good news since so many people are going to the doctor and fewer are testing positive. This decrease in H1N1 positive tests is not due to the vaccine since this just became available in the last two weeks and with limited availability. This decreased trend is more likely due to a natural plateau of the illness as it moves through the population. You can see this in the laboratory-confirmed hospitalization rates by age for week 43. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2009-2010/EIP43.htm.