Healthwise Clinic Natural Health Blog

With all the current panic surrounding swine flu, what are we to do – Get on with our lives and hope for the best or hide away from the world wishing it would all go away?
Western and Eastern medicine have different perspectives on how best to deal with this issue. As a pharmacist and a practitioner of natural medicine we find that a combination of both approaches is the most effective way in fighting this pandemic before it gets out of control.
Both trains of thought would agree that prevention is better than cure. The campaign to CATCH IT, BIN IT, KILL IT aims to reduce the spread by encouraging good hand hygiene.
From a treatment point of view, western medicine suggests the best option is with the anti-viral tamiflu. This is currently available in England when you meet the symptom criteria. At this point you are given a reference number for a designated medical centre and your healthy friend collects it for you. Tamiflu doesn’t cure the virus but is believed to speed up the rate of recovery.
Chinese medicine, when dealing with an epidemic, takes the same initial precautions as western medicine but the treatment approach is where it differs. This is comprised of a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine to help the body fight off the virus naturally. During the SARS outbreak many people were successfully treated using herbal medicine made up of very strong anti-viral plants. This approach helps the body fight off the virus more efficiently and completely without side effects. The best approach of course is prevention and again herbs are used for this. There is a simple 3 herb combination that has been proven in clinical trials to be very effective in increasing immune function. This helps to protect against contracting the virus in the first place.
A few tips to protect yourself from the pandemic
1. Ensure good hand hygiene by washing hands after sneezing, coughing and after being in public places.
2. Follow the campaign “CATCH IT, BIN IT, KILL IT” by having a supply of clean tissues with you at all times. Use each tissue only once.
3. Keeping your immune system strong is vital. Try to get plenty of sleep, eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and try to avoid sugar and alcohol as they quickly weaken immunity.

By Philip Crilly and Andrew Loosely