With autumn around the corner, the flu is too. This is exactly the right time to begin preparing your body to fight if off, says Leo Galland, MD, founder and director of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine in New York City and creator of www.PillAdvised.com. Dr. Galland urges his patients to amp up their immune power starting now.

Pre-Season Flu Fighters

There are easy ways to fortify your immune system before the various strains of flu start gathering strength. If you do this, you can greatly increase your ability to fight them off, said Dr. Galland. All of the following products are widely available in health-food stores, Whole Foods and the like:

N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). A metabolite of the amino acid cysteine, NAC not only helps the body fight flu, research shows that it also dramatically reduces symptoms in those who do fall prey. Italian researchers designed a study to weigh NAC’s effectiveness at reducing flu symptoms in older people (65 and older). One group began taking NAC supplements three months before the start of flu season and continued throughout the winter months, while the other took no special precautions. The group taking NAC had symptoms that were, on average, 75% reduced compared with those who did not take NAC. Other reasons NAC is helpful: It’s an antioxidant (said to be the master antioxidant, actually,) and a precursor to glutathionel.  Dr. Galland typically prescribes 1,500 mg of NAC daily, best taken between meals. Caution: Pregnant or nursing women should not take NAC — and, if you take nitroglycerin, you may find that NAC magnifies its effects and also increases side effects, including headache. Check with your doctor.

Zinc and selenium. These two minerals are immune system strengtheners and boost the protective antibody response to the flu vaccine. This is especially helpful for older adults, who are most likely to have low blood levels of zinc and/or selenium. Zinc and selenium supplements won’t help you immediately, as it takes several months for your body to build up effective stores, so begin taking them now, suggests Dr. Galland; he typically prescribes about 25 mg of zinc daily (with food to prevent nausea) and 100 mcg of selenium.

Vitamin D. Most people don’t connect the multipurpose vitamin D with flu resistance, but there is mounting evidence that people with healthy vitamin D levels get fewer colds and cases of flu. In fact, some experts speculate that the relative lack of sunshine in winter and our bodies’ resulting diminished levels of vitamin D contribute to the season’s numerous respiratory ailments. So, as the sun’s path sinks low in the sky, which is starting right about now, begin to buttress your vitamin D levels by taking 1,000 IU to 2,000 IU of vitamin D-3 (avoid D-2) daily. Caution: Consult your doctor first if you take digoxin (Digitek) for congestive heart failure.

Black elderberry. In the herbal category, Dr. Galland suggests purchasing black elderberry capsules or syrup to have at the ready if and when you begin feeling poorly. These contain flavonoids, including anthocyanins, that can bolster immunity and keep viruses from effectively implanting in mucous membranes. Dr. Galland says it’s not known for sure whether black elderberry helps prevent flu, but it will help reduce symptoms if you do get sick. He usually tells patients to take 750-mg supplements twice daily with food. If you use the syrup, check the label for dosage.

Tried and True Flu Fighters

Dr. Galland also recommends these time-tested, scientifically proven flu-fighting strategies…

• Frequent hand washing, one of the most effective ways we know to prevent flu.
• Regular exercise, but not too much, a moderate amount of exercise, 30 minutes a day, boosts immunity, while high-intensity exercise (90 minutes a day or more) actually suppresses it.
• A good night’s rest, research shows that about seven hours of sleep each night increases immunity.
• Reduced sugar, alcohol and fat in your diet, all are believed to have negative effects on immunity.

This year’s seasonal flu vaccine has been formulated to include protection against the H1N1 virus. So unlike last year, when the HINI shot was separate, only one shot is being advised for those who are getting vaccinated. Whether or not you should be vaccinated is a topic to discuss with your doctor, but in the meantime, you can get started on Dr. Galland’s four flu-fighting strategies as described above.

Source(s):

Leo Galland, MD, founder and director of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine, New York City. He is author of Power Healing (Random House). www.pilladvised.com.

Since last year’s H1N1 pandemic, the FDA has tried to stay on top of this year’s vaccines to avoid a second such debacle. This week came the announcement from the FDA that it had approved vaccines for the 2010-2011 influenza season in the United States.

This year’s seasonal influenza vaccine protects against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, which caused the 2009 pandemic. Last year because the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged after production began on the seasonal vaccine, two separate vaccines were needed to protect against seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu virus.  But this year, only one vaccine is necessary. Vaccines for the 2010-2011 seasonal influenza contain the following strains:

• A/California/7/09 (H1N1)-like virus (pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus)
• A/Perth /16/2009 (H3N2)-like virus
• B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus

Annual seasonal flu vaccinations should begin to be administered in September, or as soon as it is available, and continue throughout the flu season into December, January, and beyond. This time frame is flexible because the duration and timing of flu season varies from year to year. While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, generally the peak of flu activity is in January or later.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 5 and 20 percent of the U.S. population develops influenza each year, leading to more than 200,000 hospitalizations from related complications and about 36,000 deaths. “The best way to protect yourself and your family against influenza is to get vaccinated every year,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., acting director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

There is always a possibility of a less than optimal match between the virus strains predicted to circulate and those that end up causing the most illness. However, even if the vaccine and the circulating strains are not an exact match, the vaccine may reduce the severity of the illness or may help prevent influenza-related complications.

Seasonal influenza vaccines have a long and successful track record of safety and effectiveness in the United States and are recommended for children over the age of 6 months and most adults. Children who are 6 months to 8 years of age who receive a flu vaccine for the first time should receive 2 doses.

Vaccines will be available late this summer. Consult your doctor about the type of vaccine that is best for you and if there are any complications that would prevent receiving a dose.

It can be hard knowing whether or not statins will help you survive the flu season; we are going to attempt to clarify what will and will not help you.

Avoid the flu season now

At a recent meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, researchers in Oregon made a surprising announcement: Among patients hospitalized with the flu, those who took cholesterol-lowering drugs were less likely to die than those who didn’t take them. To me that sounded like a bit of a non sequitur… so I decided to learn more.

Daily Health News contributing editor Andrew Rubman, ND, told me he wasn’t surprised to hear about the results of the study, but that no one should interpret this as a reason to take a statin drug simply to prevent the flu. He pointed out that since profits are currently plunging for pharmaceutical companies, as statin after statin goes off patent, they would love to find a new revenue generator amidst this particular family of drugs. As we well know, these potent medications have equally potent and worrisome side effects. Dr. Rubman told me that there are far better ways to achieve the same immune-bolstering effect.

Anti-Inflammatory? Yes. Safe? No.

In the study at the Oregon Public Health Division in Portland, scientists analyzed data on 2,800 flu patients as part of the CDC’s Emerging Infections Program. They found that during the 2007-2008 flu season, of 801 hospitalized patients who had been taking statins to lower cholesterol, 17 (2.1%) died in the hospital or within the next 30 days. Of the 1,999 patients who had not been taking statins, 64 (3.2%) died.

This makes sense, says Dr. Rubman, since statins have an anti-inflammatory impact which may help destroy flu-infected cells. The problem is, many people on statins also experience troubling side effects, such as muscle pain and weakness, nerve damage, fatigue and memory loss. The longer you take these drugs, the higher the risk of these side effects. Additionally, as even the researchers themselves noted, there were some serious shortcomings in the Oregon study. It was observational rather than randomized and controlled,  it did not distinguish among different statin drugs and dosages, and results were presented at a conference rather than published in a more rigorous peer-reviewed journal.

A Better Way

By lowering inflammation, statins may incidentally strengthen your ability to resist the flu, yet there are smarter ways to do this. Dr. Rubman recommends that you enhance immunity, calm inflammation and stave off the flu the safe and natural way — follow a healthful diet, exercise regularly and get as close to eight hours of sleep each night as you possibly can. He also suggests the following:

• Use omega-3 fatty acid supplements. These strengthen immune function and guard against inflammation in your mucous membranes, where flu germs initially take hold. Doses of one gram daily of the combined omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid may be clinically effective.
• Go fish. Two to three times a week, feast on fatty fish from the ocean, such as wild salmon, herring, sardines and sablefish. These are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and low in contaminants, such as mercury and PCBs. Other good dietary sources of omega-3s are walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil.
• See your doctor. Your best bet is a physician who has training in and experience with supplements, and who can prescribe an anti-flu program to fit your individual needs. Supplements Dr. Rubman typically prescribes include vitamin C, vitamin D, antioxidants, zinc, elderberry, echinacea, goldenseal and NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine).

Whatever you do, don’t let drug companies scare you into taking powerful drugs with powerful side effects when safer alternatives exist. There are better ways to stay healthy this flu season and beyond.

Source(s):

Andrew Rubman, ND, medical director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.naturopath.org.

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