Hi all,
since there seems to have been quite a few posts recently about flu, I have put a link below for everyone to look at on the NHS website about seasonal flu, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Hope this provides some useful information for people.
nhs.uk/Conditions/Flu/Pages...
Regards
Beverley (NRAS Helpline
I think it raises a few questions like should people go to see Dr if they have flu. I, immunocompromised and given that the flu vaccine doesn't cover the right strains this year, the last thing I want to do is to catch flu at the surgery. Wouldn't it be best if people with flu phoned Dr first to see if there's anything other than rest they can do?
If you take 5000 mg of Vitamin C a day in supplements - crystals in juice and liposomal C , I doubt anyone would get any type of flu. As for vaccine, I would not have it if you paid me. As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin C helps lessen oxidative stress to the body and is thought to lower cancer risk. High vitamin C foods include bell peppers, dark leafy greens, kiwis, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, peas, and papayas.
We all know eating healthily when immunosuppressed is important but would challenge that dosing up on Vitamin C would stop us contracting the flu virus. It may lessen the severity but I would never suggest anyone with a compromised immune system did not follow the advice of their Specialist or GP & not have the flu vaccine. It's down to choice in my view. nhs.uk/Livewell/coldsandflu...
The only thing I'd say nomoreheels , I mainly agree with you, is that choice is inappropriate in this situation. There are all sorts of social costs arising from refusing vaccine and I just think this lobby is irresponsible.
Unfortunately even though we have so much available to us nowadays to prevent the spread the worst of epidemics or diseases which we had prior to the vaccines being available some people still believe in & prefer the natural option, your example of the current US measles epidemic is proof positive. It just seems so short sighted & backward thinking to me yet I have to accept it's their choice, but that doesn't make it the right one & I certainly won't be preached to, we agree there. What does annoy me is the backpedaling & expecting the medical profession to treat them once they've fallen foul of the disease or virus they choose not to guard against once it's proven the natural treatments don't work. It must really annoy those treating them I would think, it would me. Suddenly excuses abound as to why it's required, that I don't agree with. They need to have full courage of their convictions, then let's see just how good the natural alternatives are! Some may work hand in hand but I would think many don't & this is where it becomes dangerous to dally in vitamins, supplements & herbal treatments without first consulting either Primary or Secondary care providers. I've yet to hear of anyone being so committed to not use medication in some form, even the most basic ones, & going so far as not to accept medical intervention eventually. I totally agree it's irresponsible, especially in the immunosuppressed but also where parents are making the decision not to inoculate children, criminal, but that is another point entirely.
My views may not be everyone's cup of tea but there we are. I have a voice!
I hope you can open this - if not I've the article somewhere else.. New york review of books
nybooks.com/articles/archiv...
I was able to open the link Cathie & reading it I was minded to go back to when I was a child, so about 48 years or so, & each weekend when I stayed with my Nan putting some pennies into the collection box held by a mannequin of a child in calipers for a polio society which was placed outside the entrance to Heywood market. They & the like are now collectors pieces which is as it should being that polio has now been 99% eradicated.
"Polio now survives only among the world's poorest and most marginalized communities, where it stalks the most vulnerable children. The Initiative's goal is to reach every last child with polio vaccine and ensure a polio-free world for future generations." WHO factfile.
I wonder what would happen if the alternative natural treatments brigade thought it better not to inoculate their children? Puts the fear of God into me.
Measles was once virtually eliminated too until pretty recently & we all know how devastating the complications arising from contracting it can be, absolutely no need in this day & age.
I remember that child statue thing too. Blinded by measles.
Here we go again. You're harping on again about vaccine against all the advice people are given ESP when they're immunosuppressed. There's an epidemic of measles developing in the us and that's down to people thinking they can manage without vaccine. Dangerous snake oil philosophy you're peddalling.
The thing is, many of us are immunosuppressed purely because our immune systems have already been in overdrive which has caused our original illnesses so we certainly don't want to boost our immune systems again! I had the flu vaccine this winter but unfortunately it didn't prevent me from getting flu. I certainly wouldn't advocate others not to have it - that is down to the individuals choice. And I will still have it next year and may well have the pneumonia vaccine too if Im able to as I've had pneumonia in the past and that was not fun. Moderation in everything, is my motto, so eat as well as I'm able but also listen to doctors advice, do my own research and then make my own decision without being browbeaten by either doctors or anyone else. Clemmie
Firstly in regard to people choosing alternative health methods consider this. Many must work or there would be no natural health products available, customers are not stupid - it don't work they don't buy. If they are using those methods they are not draining NHS resources - A & E, staffing, beds, drugs,transport.
Secondly there are thousands of medical papers on cases where vitamins, C in particular, and minerals have saved lives from cancer, heart disease,snake bites to name but a few. We can not remain ignorant of the benefit of natural medicine, people lived for thousands of years without drugs and had long lives and still do in the Himalayas for example.
Everyone deserves a choice of health care without being bullied into drugs and vaccines. The statistics show in most cases that it is those who are vaccinated get the disease more than those not. And as for polio etc as you say it is still in poor countries, why? because their general hygiene fails them just as it did here before indoor bathrooms and modern sewage disposal. Polio has also been cured by IV Vitamin C in the past.
Vitamin C is not made by our bodies, unlike animals, hence we need to eat fresh fruit and raw veg to give us a supply just as they had to eat citrus fruit on ships to prevent scurvy. Equally, our soils are depleted of minerals through not resting it and spraying with chemicals such that our food is not as good quality as it once was. we therefore need supplements for optimum health. I saw on a recording yesterday of Coast Australia where they showed the blood of a crocodile and the blood of a lady being compared after 1 day on a test slate having had a virus added to them and the result you could see clearly - the crocs blood cleared a greater part of the virus than the lady's blood did. Proved a point for me.
As for a compromised immune system stopping us taking a booster, that too seems odd and I am beginning to question even that. If an army goes into battle and the enemy gets greater, do we add to the army or suppress it to win the battle? With cancer the method is to fight it even to the point where it kills healthy cells! Where is the logic? For me I am boosting my system to fight RD with vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. I am off all meds and in no pain, I am stiff in parts but I was when on MTX, naproxen etc.,
Also I see some double standards in that doctors recommend Vitamin D in some cases and it is even put into calcium supplements and yet they do not seem to understand that Vitamin D3 for example if deficient can cause osteoporosis and if in excess can increase it. Plus it should be monitored, which it is not, after 2 months of taking for the reasons just mentioned. Also one must know that D3 is a hormone, so what about imbalances there? Just because the orthodox medics say take it does not mean it is right to do so, we must question them more and do our own research. D3 needs to be in the range of 50-70 nano grams per CC, is anyone aware of what range their vitamin D is within? Unlikely.
If anyone is worried about supplements then they need to worry about Calcium tablets! Calcium for one will not go to the bones without vitamin K2 to take it there! If it does not go to the bones then where does it go? To the breast, arteries, kidneys, eyes ? - yes! In a mammogram they look for calcification, in kidneys it forms stones, in the eyes it forms macular degeneration, in the arteries it hardens them. It does NOT harden bones. Magnesium increases bone density and reduces fractures! I was on calcium supplements for years, but no more. My femur is like eggshell and I have had 2 kidney stone ops, one an A & E case. I had an eye test 2 weeks ago and the optician said my eyesight had improved from one year ago and I am 61 ! 90% of the population have excess calcium, probably with all the cheese, milk and yogurts they down. Oh and it is added to white flour - 2% of flour is added calcium! Bio chemistry will tell you that calcium is only one of 12 main minerals in the bone and they are all in harmony, upset one and the balance is off.
Everyone wants optimum health for themselves,family and friends so let us not have a closed mind to what is out there to achieve it.
19th century - Barber surgeons & expected life expectancy for a man was 47 & a woman 50. Obviously diet, clean water & good sanitation, all have improved since then but so have modern medicines. We no longer have need to rely on potions & poltices any more & die young. I don't deny vitamins & supplements have their role in medicine but why choose not to take what science can provide when they are proven to be of benefit? How would you have liked to have been faced as I have recently with your husband or a close family member needing a life enhancing operation where they open their chest? What would you have used for anaesthetic, could they be out of hospital & recovering at home in 4 days with only the use of alternative treatments? Would you refuse an operation because they would not treat with alternatives to medicines? Would you take a medicine derived from a plant or herb? Just how far does your belief in vitamins & supplements go? Did you ever break a bone in childhood? I apologise for the questions it's just your post throws up many & doesn't tell me much I don't already know.
I am not against surgery, medicines,blood transfusions per say, golly I have had enough of that treatment in my life, 2 kidney stone ops, 2 knee replacements, hip replacement and still recovering from a Femur fracture. But I seriously feel there is a place for vitamins and minerals alongside main stream treatments. Ask the guy in NZ who had Leukemia, Swine flu and pneumonia if vitamin C has any value in medicine - it saved his life from being stopped on life support. If it was a choice between pumping chemicals into my sick body or vitamin C, I would try C first as it does not kill cells.
I'm aware we are hijacking Beverley's informative post, something of interest to the majority & includes recommendations from the NHS. As the thread has veered away from the original subject I shan't respond further as it's important information for each of us who should be aware of being protected against the most virulent strains of the virus this year. The mutated forms are causing an issue but if we've had this season's flu vaccine we've been advised that these strains will not be as severe if we do catch them. There are of course other reasons to follow recommended guidelines as included here nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinati...
If "snake oil" philosophy leads to killing Cancer then I am all for it! "High-dose injections of vitamin C, also known as ascorbate or ascorbic acid, reduced tumor weight and growth rate by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers, researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report in the August 5, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers traced ascorbate's anti-cancer effect to the formation of hydrogen peroxide in the extracellular fluid surrounding the tumors. Normal cells were unaffected.
Read more at: phys.org/news137087844.html...
I swear it is the best thing i had. Everyone round me has had flu and i do mean FLU. I for once is the only one who has not had it . So i reconmend every one get your flu jab. Xx Alison
I have scrolled up & read all replys. I do hope people on here do take advice from the poffesionals. As i said i have put off having my flu jab for many years but after being poorly last winter i gave in this year. Wish i had had flu jab before. Xx Alison
Hi Alison,
Well I hope it helped you this year. It is one of those jabs that seems to radically divide opinions.
Beverley
Nasal flu spray and metoject 
Timing of flu jab with methotrexate
RA and live flu vaccine
