A breakthrough in research for colds and flus

Staff

Published Wednesday, January 7, 2009

British researchers recently released the results of a three-year study of America’s Cup yacht racers and what they discovered will change the way we look at the common cold in the future.

During the course of the study, three quarters of the team had significantly lower levels of the bacteria fighting protein immunoglobulin A (or IgA) when they fell ill. The 38-member team all felt well at the time of testing, but had developed a significant vulnerability to infection. So, once one was infected, then the majority of the team became infected.

Based on the research gathered from this evaluation, British doctors have developed a simple saliva test that can now predict with a reasonable level of certainty that you have a imminent vulnerability of infection if exposed to a virus, based simply on a particular protein level.

Lead researcher Vernon Neville of Loughborough University said, “It’s entirely possible to use this to make tests for home use and a pharmaceutical company has contacted us with this in mind. A quick test every morning or every couple of days could indicate how you should take care of yourself over the following weeks.”

It should be pointed out that this was a limited case report and further research on a larger scale needs to be established.

Common risk factors should also be observed when entering into cold and flu season.

First is your age:

Children spend more time around other children and that fact alone produces more opportunity to encounter a virus. Children have not established a proper resistance and rely on immunities provided by their mother through breastfeeding.

Children who breastfeed tend to have healthier immune systems because mothers have developed immunities to several of the viruses that are floating around out there. Also, it is important to protect infants from exposure during breastfeeding periods, because nose breathing can become complicated if the sinus passages are plugged up.

If you are unable to breast feed, then colostrum (transfer factor) formulas can significantly improve the immune system because this is where the baby gets it jump start in developing its own immune system.

Second is your immunity:

Here is where you can increase your body’s ability to fight off viral invaders.

According to Dr. Matthias Rath, the body defends against viruses and bacteria through very simple methods. Since a virus is nothing more than genetic information, once it gets into a host cell, it reprograms it to do its dirty work. The host cell now excretes enzymes, which begin to dissolve surrounding tissue, collagen in particular. The amino acid lysine can help slow this process and supplementation with vitamin C will help restore the damaged tissues.

Dr. Rath also points out that vitamin C can only be absorbed and metabolized at a rate of 500 milligrams in a four-hour period, so it is useless to take more than that at one time.

If you have ever wondered when joints get achy during a viral infection, since collagen protects joints, here is your answer.

Also, too much vitamin C can also loosen your stool, so increase doses slowly. More is not always better, especially if you are not accustomed to taking vitamins. Much of Dr Rath’s research is based on his collaborative work with two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling (1901-1994) .

What about echinacea?

Well, it has been used for centuries by Asian cultures with great effect, but western medicine still has issue with it.

This could be partly due to the fact that here in North America and other industrialized nations, we need to have everything in a pill form. Well, that dramatically destroys its ability to do what it does best, and that’s clean the blood, stimulate the immune system and fight viral and bacterial infections.

So, if you’re going to use well-publicized herbal remedies, then use them as they were intended: fresh and in liquid form from the crushed live plant.

A word about zinc

The next one I want to cover is zinc. In short, if your peers are developing cold symptoms, then its time to start boosting your immune system and suck on some zinc lozenges, even if you feel fine.

Remember, by the time you experience the symptoms, your body has been fighting the infection for a few days. Remember, take zinc with food as it tends to cause nausea on an empty stomach.

The reason zinc is important in this particular illness is it is involved in absorption and metabolism of vitamins, carbohydrates and phosphorus.

Grandma’s cold

And lastly, I want to cover some of the experiences I had with treating my own grandmother when she developed a cold.

She established her initial symptoms on a Friday, about three days after going to the grocery store. I initially administered her homeopathic constitutional remedy. She had already been taking vitamin C and garlic capsules.

Then on Sunday I followed up with a very dilute tincture of herbs from the Amazon rainforest. By Sunday night, her comment was “I don’t know what you gave me but this time last year I was in the hospital with the very same thing.”

By Monday, she was back up on her feet and ready to go. It should be noted that she’s 88 and takes zero prescription medications.

So in closing, cold and flu season doesn’t need to keep you down for weeks on end. Given proper fluids to replace those lost due to mucus and dehydration, getting plenty of rest, rinse with saline solution in the sinus’ with as much salt as you can tolerate at the first sign of infection and give the body what it needs to fight viral damage, you will get through the ordeal in short order.

Dr. Thomas Coffman is the medical director of the British Clinic Health System, host of Integrative Medicine Radio, and author of various books “Homeopathic Psychology, “Ancient Egyptian Medicine” and “Managing the Spectrum.” Coffman lectures for the British Institute of Homeopathy in the United States and England.

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---