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Natural Solutions for Avian Bird Flu
San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
New research on oil of oregano shows it kills H5N1 in the lab.
By Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, Global Medicine Hunter
San Francisco, CA—Nov. 9, 2005) – One day you hear from the World Health Organization that the coming avian bird flu may kill up to 150 million; the next day, WHO issues a statement to not panic.
One minute the US government is stockpiling Tamiflu, the main drug used to treat flu symptoms in Asian hospitals; the next, researchers say that H5N1 virus is already mutating and building resistance to the drug.
Are you scared yet?
For over a year, we've been hearing predictions of an influenza that could outstrip the devastating one of 1918 that killed about 40 million during an era without globalization or jet travel.
Lately the international warnings to step up preparedness have nations looking at how vastly unprepared they really are. Epidemiologists continue to monitor for signs of the human-to-human transmission, the spark expected to ignite H5N1 from a relatively small number of human fatalities in Asia to a worldwide pandemic. As to whether WHO thinks avian bird flu will be the threat this winter, they're still shooting ducks in the dark.
So, what's a fairly-conscious, always-prepared, not-ready-to-die-of-blasted-flu health nut supposed to do?
Here's the latest round-up of educational resources among natural medicine advocates and conventional medical practitioners.
Current Status
As of this writing, the bird flu has killed about 70 people, mostly in Asia (Vietnam has the highest toll) and tens of millions of poultry and wild birds. Wild birds spread the disease from Asia through Russia, Siberia, Croatia and Turkey, and most recently isolated parts of Europe. As of this writing, a single infected parrot died in the UK and affected migrating birds have hit North America.
All of the monitored human cases have contracted the respiratory disease directly from tainted poultry, although there two isolated transmissions in Vietnam, but neither transmission went beyond one immediate family caretaker.
Symptoms
Unlike most common cases of influenza, H5N1 does not present with a classic runny nose or typical upper respiratory condition, but rather as a highly virulent, collapse of the lower respiratory tract with high fever, nausea, vomiting, and weakness. Bird flu in humans can kill roughly 50% of its victims, and in as short a time as 48 hours. Patients in spanned every age group from children, the elderly to apparently healthy 37-year-olds.
Treatment
Treatment to date has taken two courses: Tamiflu (oseltamivir) used extensively in Vietnamese hospitals, hence, the growing concern that a resistance is building since the drug may be overused for simpler types of flu infections. The second course is ranamavir which is harder to obtain and more effective in intravenous doses.
Who Gets What
If you're a government operative, first-responder, public health worker, you may be in line for a trivalent vaccine. But supplies are limited, and we don't even know if the vaccines (still in production) will be effective against a virus capable of rapid mutation. So far, most vaccination efforts have not been promising.
To Tamiflu or Not
Tamiflu is in high demand by countries, doctors and individuals trying to purchase it on websites, not all of them legitimate. Health officials debate the ethics of non-infected people stockpiling Tamiflu, while doctors in Asia report that its overuse, especially with milder flu strains, is responsible for a new Tamiflu-resistance.
Made from azide compounds in the star anise seed, Tamiflu is still the drug of choice among conventional medicine practitioners without a readily available vaccine. Tamiflu's patent, held by Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG, is good for another 16 years, but the drugmaker is being asked to grant rights to several countries to make a generic copy. Roche can't supply demand.
Just recently, Chinese government authorities have secured Tamiflu's production and warehousing from Roche. Other nations are negotiating with the patent holder for unrestrained production. Although Roche executives declared the drug to be too difficult to make, Taiwan was able to produce it within a week.
Your Global Medicine Hunter recommends:
First, bring down the fear factor. Even though H5N1 spreads like wildfire among poultry and wild bird populations, its spread among human has only occurred through handling sick birds. A Russian village with limited resources slaughtered over 3000 infected birds without a single reported human illness.
Before an outbreak:
1. Get some antivirals in your natural remedies cabinet. Olive leaf extract is a good one. So is LarreaX, made from a plant in the Southwest desert. Others rely on colloidal silver.
2. Regular flu shots? Well, I never get them, but my practice guidelines as a health professional insist that I recommend them for children and frail elderly. However, ask your doctor for on a flu shot that's not laden with thimerosol, a mercury preservative. If your body needs to fight a viral assault, it doesn't need an extra dose of metal toxicity in which to do it. The likelihood of a flu shot being produced in vast enough quantities is remote.
3. Appropriate avian bird flu vaccine? There currently is no commercially available vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. However, vaccine development efforts are taking place. Research studies to test a vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus began in April 2005, and a series of clinical trials is under way. For more information about vaccine development, visit the National Institutes of Health website.
My thinking on a bird flu vaccine:
Quantities for the general public will be slim, perhaps only enough for one in 150. The push to develop an appropriate shot specific for H5N1 virus is an almost impossible task. You have to have the right strain available from which to make the vaccine. Once that happens, it takes another six months to develop sufficient supplies. By then the curve of infestation and contagion has leapt off the page.
During an outbreak:
1. Avoid crowds. Avoid any face-to-face contact with someone with a respiratory ailment.
2. Wash your hands after any contact if an outbreak is in your region.
3. Hole up for a while. Got a cabin in the woods? An outbreak is not a bad time to take advantage of leaving the scene. I silently considered recommending this, and quickly realized how self-serving it sounds. Then I heard a top WHO expert say the identical thing. That should give you some idea of how serious we are taking this pandemic. Of course, this only applies to people with no role in emergency services.
4. Load up on Vitamin C. Buy powdered form and take one gram every four hours the first few days. Follow the guidelines of Vitamin C flush on the website of Natural Solutions Foundation by Rima Laibow, MD. (www.healthfreedoms.org)
5. Take a strong antiviral. The best research is on oil of oregano (carvacrol) by Cass Ingram, D.O., author of Natural Cures for Health Disasters. Journal of the American College of Nutrition reports that the substance, namely P73, can inhibit parasites, bacteria and fungi, while new research points to specific anti-H5N1 success.
New Research on Oil of Oregano
I interviewed Dr. Cass Ingram on my radio program last week, and he shared the groundbreaking research on oil of oregano in the form of Oregacyn P73 Respiratory Support. These capsules are taken 3 times daily and for extreme cases, 2 capsules every 1 to 2 hours.
According to Dr. Ingram, "the P73 didn't just hinder H5N1's growth in the lab, it slaughtered it" Ingram got a call from Vice President Cheney asking him if he stockpiles barrels of the stuff. "I don't stockpile oil—that's your job," was the doctor's blunt response.
The research is expected to be published soon in the Journal of Antiviral Research. I promise to keep you posted. Ingram noted that this is not just any oil of oregano, but a super strength form. "Plus it took 25 doses for the slaughtering to occur…H5N1 is one tough bug"
For mild cases of typical flu:
1. Load up on black elderberry extract, one of the best natural remedies for shortening the duration of a cold or flu. You can safely take 1 tsp four to six times per day.
2. There are several different Chinese herbs (Yin Ciao is the most popular) available now.
3. Cold-Fx has good science behind it. These tablets contain oligosaccharides from North American ginseng which activate natural killer cells and macrophages.
4. Oscillococcinum helps some people – but others have found no effect. It's one of those natural remedies that works some of the time for some of the people—kind of like conventional medicine in general. I found it works if taken early enough.
5. My friend and renowned nutritionist Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, recommends sage-lemon-garlic tea to limit the effects of tea. She flavors it with honey to get the steeped brew down. More of Dr. Lipski's wisdom at www.innovativehealing.com
Fever: Not all that bad
My thinking on fever follows the same lines as noted holistic doctor, Ron Hoffman, MD. Fever is the body's attempt to "cook" a pathogen and houseclean the system. If you suppress a fever too much or too often, you hinder the body's ability to ward off attacks. We now have data showing that mild cases of childhood infections that have successful resolution are often linked with fewer cancers later in life. The cutting edge of medical research is looking at this connection between our ability to conquer bacteria and virus naturally, and our capacity to detect and demolish cancer cells.
So if a fever is mild or low-grade (under 101 F) then climb in bed, rest and sweat it out for one night; it's likely you'll be better by morning. If you load up on cold and flu remedies and never let the fever do its clean-up work, then often the flu is prolonged.
If the fever climbs over 102, then by all means, control it with anti-pyretics such as Tylenol. Children can tolerate a slightly higher temperature than adults. Always stay well hydrated during a fever—drink plenty of juices and fresh water.
Counting on the Government: Unwise
I just attended the TIME Global Health Summit and heard from experts at WHO and CDC, along with scientists and health ministers from around the world. The general agreement was that the Bush avian bird flu plan of supplying 20 millions vaccine shots (when and if one is developed) was "too little, too late"
Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness said the country's waiting so long to address the threat of an avian flu pandemic is the "biological equivalent of not fixing the levees" in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina struck.
Another virology expert said that "Tamiflu will be worthless in no time; don't bother stockpiling it" Most of Big Pharma present confided that flu vaccine has not been an attractive endeavor due to low profit margins; the number of companies producing flu vaccine has plummeted in the last five years, according to Wall St Journal (11//8/05).
With all that doom and gloom and an "inevitable" pandemic predicted by WHO officials in Geneva this week, perhaps it's just best to use common sense: avoid crowds, wash your hands as if you had a case of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and go with the oil of oregano antiviral and other immune-boosting remedies like good nutrition, plenty of rest, and stress management.
Think through all your options carefully. If you've had good success with flu shots in the past, then keep up that regimen. However, the flu vaccine that will halt this pandemic in its tracks is yet to be made or tested. That's why Big Pharma is insisting on a waiver of liability—you won't be able to sue if the flu shot makes you sick or kills someone. That alone should give you pause, or send you to that cabin in the woods.
# # #
Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, is the "Global Medicine Hunter," a medical anthropologist, health author, and host of a nationally syndicated radio show on Health Radio Network. Reach her at mail@megjordan.com
By Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, Global Medicine Hunter
San Francisco, CA—Nov. 9, 2005) – One day you hear from the World Health Organization that the coming avian bird flu may kill up to 150 million; the next day, WHO issues a statement to not panic.
One minute the US government is stockpiling Tamiflu, the main drug used to treat flu symptoms in Asian hospitals; the next, researchers say that H5N1 virus is already mutating and building resistance to the drug.
Are you scared yet?
For over a year, we've been hearing predictions of an influenza that could outstrip the devastating one of 1918 that killed about 40 million during an era without globalization or jet travel.
Lately the international warnings to step up preparedness have nations looking at how vastly unprepared they really are. Epidemiologists continue to monitor for signs of the human-to-human transmission, the spark expected to ignite H5N1 from a relatively small number of human fatalities in Asia to a worldwide pandemic. As to whether WHO thinks avian bird flu will be the threat this winter, they're still shooting ducks in the dark.
So, what's a fairly-conscious, always-prepared, not-ready-to-die-of-blasted-flu health nut supposed to do?
Here's the latest round-up of educational resources among natural medicine advocates and conventional medical practitioners.
Current Status
As of this writing, the bird flu has killed about 70 people, mostly in Asia (Vietnam has the highest toll) and tens of millions of poultry and wild birds. Wild birds spread the disease from Asia through Russia, Siberia, Croatia and Turkey, and most recently isolated parts of Europe. As of this writing, a single infected parrot died in the UK and affected migrating birds have hit North America.
All of the monitored human cases have contracted the respiratory disease directly from tainted poultry, although there two isolated transmissions in Vietnam, but neither transmission went beyond one immediate family caretaker.
Symptoms
Unlike most common cases of influenza, H5N1 does not present with a classic runny nose or typical upper respiratory condition, but rather as a highly virulent, collapse of the lower respiratory tract with high fever, nausea, vomiting, and weakness. Bird flu in humans can kill roughly 50% of its victims, and in as short a time as 48 hours. Patients in spanned every age group from children, the elderly to apparently healthy 37-year-olds.
Treatment
Treatment to date has taken two courses: Tamiflu (oseltamivir) used extensively in Vietnamese hospitals, hence, the growing concern that a resistance is building since the drug may be overused for simpler types of flu infections. The second course is ranamavir which is harder to obtain and more effective in intravenous doses.
Who Gets What
If you're a government operative, first-responder, public health worker, you may be in line for a trivalent vaccine. But supplies are limited, and we don't even know if the vaccines (still in production) will be effective against a virus capable of rapid mutation. So far, most vaccination efforts have not been promising.
To Tamiflu or Not
Tamiflu is in high demand by countries, doctors and individuals trying to purchase it on websites, not all of them legitimate. Health officials debate the ethics of non-infected people stockpiling Tamiflu, while doctors in Asia report that its overuse, especially with milder flu strains, is responsible for a new Tamiflu-resistance.
Made from azide compounds in the star anise seed, Tamiflu is still the drug of choice among conventional medicine practitioners without a readily available vaccine. Tamiflu's patent, held by Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG, is good for another 16 years, but the drugmaker is being asked to grant rights to several countries to make a generic copy. Roche can't supply demand.
Just recently, Chinese government authorities have secured Tamiflu's production and warehousing from Roche. Other nations are negotiating with the patent holder for unrestrained production. Although Roche executives declared the drug to be too difficult to make, Taiwan was able to produce it within a week.
Your Global Medicine Hunter recommends:
First, bring down the fear factor. Even though H5N1 spreads like wildfire among poultry and wild bird populations, its spread among human has only occurred through handling sick birds. A Russian village with limited resources slaughtered over 3000 infected birds without a single reported human illness.
Before an outbreak:
1. Get some antivirals in your natural remedies cabinet. Olive leaf extract is a good one. So is LarreaX, made from a plant in the Southwest desert. Others rely on colloidal silver.
2. Regular flu shots? Well, I never get them, but my practice guidelines as a health professional insist that I recommend them for children and frail elderly. However, ask your doctor for on a flu shot that's not laden with thimerosol, a mercury preservative. If your body needs to fight a viral assault, it doesn't need an extra dose of metal toxicity in which to do it. The likelihood of a flu shot being produced in vast enough quantities is remote.
3. Appropriate avian bird flu vaccine? There currently is no commercially available vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. However, vaccine development efforts are taking place. Research studies to test a vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus began in April 2005, and a series of clinical trials is under way. For more information about vaccine development, visit the National Institutes of Health website.
My thinking on a bird flu vaccine:
Quantities for the general public will be slim, perhaps only enough for one in 150. The push to develop an appropriate shot specific for H5N1 virus is an almost impossible task. You have to have the right strain available from which to make the vaccine. Once that happens, it takes another six months to develop sufficient supplies. By then the curve of infestation and contagion has leapt off the page.
During an outbreak:
1. Avoid crowds. Avoid any face-to-face contact with someone with a respiratory ailment.
2. Wash your hands after any contact if an outbreak is in your region.
3. Hole up for a while. Got a cabin in the woods? An outbreak is not a bad time to take advantage of leaving the scene. I silently considered recommending this, and quickly realized how self-serving it sounds. Then I heard a top WHO expert say the identical thing. That should give you some idea of how serious we are taking this pandemic. Of course, this only applies to people with no role in emergency services.
4. Load up on Vitamin C. Buy powdered form and take one gram every four hours the first few days. Follow the guidelines of Vitamin C flush on the website of Natural Solutions Foundation by Rima Laibow, MD. (www.healthfreedoms.org)
5. Take a strong antiviral. The best research is on oil of oregano (carvacrol) by Cass Ingram, D.O., author of Natural Cures for Health Disasters. Journal of the American College of Nutrition reports that the substance, namely P73, can inhibit parasites, bacteria and fungi, while new research points to specific anti-H5N1 success.
New Research on Oil of Oregano
I interviewed Dr. Cass Ingram on my radio program last week, and he shared the groundbreaking research on oil of oregano in the form of Oregacyn P73 Respiratory Support. These capsules are taken 3 times daily and for extreme cases, 2 capsules every 1 to 2 hours.
According to Dr. Ingram, "the P73 didn't just hinder H5N1's growth in the lab, it slaughtered it" Ingram got a call from Vice President Cheney asking him if he stockpiles barrels of the stuff. "I don't stockpile oil—that's your job," was the doctor's blunt response.
The research is expected to be published soon in the Journal of Antiviral Research. I promise to keep you posted. Ingram noted that this is not just any oil of oregano, but a super strength form. "Plus it took 25 doses for the slaughtering to occur…H5N1 is one tough bug"
For mild cases of typical flu:
1. Load up on black elderberry extract, one of the best natural remedies for shortening the duration of a cold or flu. You can safely take 1 tsp four to six times per day.
2. There are several different Chinese herbs (Yin Ciao is the most popular) available now.
3. Cold-Fx has good science behind it. These tablets contain oligosaccharides from North American ginseng which activate natural killer cells and macrophages.
4. Oscillococcinum helps some people – but others have found no effect. It's one of those natural remedies that works some of the time for some of the people—kind of like conventional medicine in general. I found it works if taken early enough.
5. My friend and renowned nutritionist Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, recommends sage-lemon-garlic tea to limit the effects of tea. She flavors it with honey to get the steeped brew down. More of Dr. Lipski's wisdom at www.innovativehealing.com
Fever: Not all that bad
My thinking on fever follows the same lines as noted holistic doctor, Ron Hoffman, MD. Fever is the body's attempt to "cook" a pathogen and houseclean the system. If you suppress a fever too much or too often, you hinder the body's ability to ward off attacks. We now have data showing that mild cases of childhood infections that have successful resolution are often linked with fewer cancers later in life. The cutting edge of medical research is looking at this connection between our ability to conquer bacteria and virus naturally, and our capacity to detect and demolish cancer cells.
So if a fever is mild or low-grade (under 101 F) then climb in bed, rest and sweat it out for one night; it's likely you'll be better by morning. If you load up on cold and flu remedies and never let the fever do its clean-up work, then often the flu is prolonged.
If the fever climbs over 102, then by all means, control it with anti-pyretics such as Tylenol. Children can tolerate a slightly higher temperature than adults. Always stay well hydrated during a fever—drink plenty of juices and fresh water.
Counting on the Government: Unwise
I just attended the TIME Global Health Summit and heard from experts at WHO and CDC, along with scientists and health ministers from around the world. The general agreement was that the Bush avian bird flu plan of supplying 20 millions vaccine shots (when and if one is developed) was "too little, too late"
Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness said the country's waiting so long to address the threat of an avian flu pandemic is the "biological equivalent of not fixing the levees" in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina struck.
Another virology expert said that "Tamiflu will be worthless in no time; don't bother stockpiling it" Most of Big Pharma present confided that flu vaccine has not been an attractive endeavor due to low profit margins; the number of companies producing flu vaccine has plummeted in the last five years, according to Wall St Journal (11//8/05).
With all that doom and gloom and an "inevitable" pandemic predicted by WHO officials in Geneva this week, perhaps it's just best to use common sense: avoid crowds, wash your hands as if you had a case of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and go with the oil of oregano antiviral and other immune-boosting remedies like good nutrition, plenty of rest, and stress management.
Think through all your options carefully. If you've had good success with flu shots in the past, then keep up that regimen. However, the flu vaccine that will halt this pandemic in its tracks is yet to be made or tested. That's why Big Pharma is insisting on a waiver of liability—you won't be able to sue if the flu shot makes you sick or kills someone. That alone should give you pause, or send you to that cabin in the woods.
# # #
Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, is the "Global Medicine Hunter," a medical anthropologist, health author, and host of a nationally syndicated radio show on Health Radio Network. Reach her at mail@megjordan.com
St. John Group
San Francisco, CA
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