Last night as I was flipping around the channels I ran across Larry King on CNN talking to Dr Andrew Weil about health and specifically about the Swine Flu.

For anyone that has not seen or heard Dr Weil, he is a very interesting guy. He is not a big fan of drug companies, is really interested in alternative medicines and therapies and has the research to prove his point. And he really has the hippy look to him.

Anyway Dr Weil mentioned that Astragalus is available in health food stores as a capsule and that he would be taking it starting soon to avoid the Swine Flu (H1N1). Also he was very clear that to avoid any flu that you should do the following:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after using it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you do get the flu (or any contagious illness, for that matter), stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

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Tags: Andrew Weil, Bird flu, CNN, contagious illness, cough, H1N1, health food stores, Larry King, Swine Flu

Flu season is coming and around my town there are clinics setup everywhere for people to get vaccinated against the flu.

One of the stories that I hear every year is how the people that develop the flu vaccination did not correctly figure out what strain of flu will be coming this year and this year is no exception. News stories are all about sensationalizing the stories that they have and every year I hear this “should you both getting vaccinated” Well yes of course you should get vaccinated against the flu.

Another story to watch out for is the urban legend that the flu vaccine actually gives you a small dose of the flu and this will teach your body how to dight it. The idea being that your body should fight of this small flu and you will be protected. Well this just is not the case anymore. Actually the flu vaccine is just a synthetic, dead virus that will teach your body with no downside at all. No it will not give you the flu.

Finally one story that I heard this weekend from the public health nurse was that in the event of a flu pandemic, the bird flu that we have been talking about the last couple of years,  the number one  prevention will be hand washing. As we wash our hands we break the cycle of bacteria and washing your hands will be the best way to stop the chance of catching any viruses this winter.

Tags: Bird flu, flu pandemic, flu season, flu vaccination, flu vaccine, prevention, public health nurse, vaccination

Today being Halloween and with two little kids I thought I would just drop a bunch of links to health news for you to check out at your leisure.

A new sex study was released which found nothing new as far as I see although others may believe that it is more interesting than I think (I have no idea why I don’t write more about sex issues on this blog…should I?)

Here in Canada Kentucky Fried Chicken has announced that it will be cutting trans fats from their chicken. To bad that they are two years too late and that the yummy chicken is really more poison to your arteries than food.

A new strain of H5N1 otherwise known as bird flu has been found in china. Flu season is just about to get started so I guess we will see more of these kinds of stories and the whole health industry is holding it’s breath for bird flu to become a pandemic with so few people in the third world being protected against it.

And finally. I am a sucker for reading about the craziest diets and the Diet Blog today has an article about the OXO diet. You know what OXO is it is those little salty spice cubes for making soup. apparently one man found that they were a good meal replacement and he has lost weight with them. Of course this will work and is a very cheap meal replacement, but remember there are no nutrients in an OXO cube either

Tags: Bird flu, China, food, Halloween

The Avian Flu is all over the news these days and I am amazed how so many people are not taking it seriously. Sure we all get flus every once in a while but this strain of the flu is much worse than usual flus.

Bird flu is an infection caused by avian influenza viruses. These flu viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them. The latest strain of the Avain Flu is designated H5N1 virus has been a flu that has mutated over the last few years and is now to the point of being passed over to humans and actually killing people. The US CDC has a page with some useful information about the flu and where it has come from.
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Tags: antibiotics, appropriate medical services, avian influenza, Avian Flu, Bird flu, fever, first aid, health insurance plan, health system infrastructure, influenza, medical evacuation services, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, other infectious, pharmaceutical advances, recent travel, stopping disease, travel health kit containing basic first aid, U.S. consular officer, U.S. Department of State, UK Health Agency, United States, US CDC