Tuesday, November 17 2009

MOST OF us have heard that frequent hand-washing is one of the best precautions we can take against communicable disease — though we may forget until we think we’ve actually been exposed to infection.

By this time, it may be too late — though you can still prevent yourself from spreading it to others. So it bears repeating: Regular hand-washing is probably the single most underutilised preventive measure there is. Of all the possible non-pharmaceutical, public health interventions for limiting pandemics, clean hands top the list! But don’t waste your time and money on antimicrobial soaps — they simply don’t work on viruses like colds and flu, and provide no added value over plain soap and water (plus they may be contributing to the spread of resistant bacteria).

Another easy preventive measure is to make your face a “no-touch zone.” Microscopic droplets containing viruses land on surfaces that we all touch, and if we bring them to our eyes, nose, or mouth without first washing our hands, those germs get into our systems. So if you touch your face a lot, you may want to break that habit — except, of course, after careful hand washing each and every time!

However, experts on H1N1 flu virus believe it travels mostly in airborne particles. So it’s crucial to everyone’s wellness to practice what Miss Manners (were she a medical practitioner) would call “good respiratory hygiene” or “cough etiquette.” This simply means covering your mouth and nose with a tissue (not your hand) when coughing or sneezing — then throwing the tissue away. You can also cough or sneeze into your sleeve at the elbow (again, not your hands).

Since you can’t rely on others’ good respiratory etiquette, you might feel anxious to shield yourself from the general public. But we don’t advise isolating yourself from society — you still need to live your life! It’s okay to go on outings, send children to school and daycare, use public transport, or travel by plane. Allowing a sense of fear to prevail isn’t good for your immune system or overall health.

By the way, masks and respirators may look cool and mysterious, but most of us are unlikely to derive much preventive benefit from them, unless we are being directly exposed to someone known to have influenza.

All joking aside, if the flu does occur in your household, you can still stay healthy using simple hygiene techniques.

Do keep your children home if they seem to be coming down with something or have obvious symptoms — likewise any adult! Tuck the sick person away from others and cleanse common surfaces (bathroom/doorknobs/kitchen) with straight white vinegar to keep the virus from spreading.

Continue to practice the standard precautions as well. If someone in your home has flu symptoms, wash their clothes and linens in hot water. Don’t forget to wash your hands after handling laundry or other materials used by anyone unwell, whether at home, at work, or out in public. Alcohol-based sanitisers can also be helpful when water is unavailable.

Meanwhile, there are lots of ways to strengthen your immune response so that flu viruses don’t get a foothold. Some essential principles to follow:

Food is medicine. The old wives’ saying (which no one can remember) about feeding a cold, starving a fever probably meant to give your body fuel to fight a cold, but let it use its own resources to deal with a fever. Some say the original adage was “Stave off a fever” — feeding a cold (and possibly also avoiding people with fevers) would safeguard you from fevers.

If nothing else, eating wholesome, home-cooked meals is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself year-round. It’s only natural that some foods shore up the immune system while others chip away at it. Some of this is as commonsense as chicken soup — but some fascinating new research is unveiling how certain foods and herbs support immunity and protect respiratory health — including chicken soup!

Warm fluids can be very beneficial in other ways, too. Sipping hot tea or gargling, whether with tea or with warm salt water, helps to make your mouth unfriendly to microbes and reduces your risk of contracting flu even after direct exposure.

Avoid inflammation promoters. Another simple way to limit your vulnerability to the flu is to avoid substances that suppress immune function or promote runaway inflammation — such as alcohol, tobacco, and sugar.

Likewise, excessive stress promotes inflammation and affects the immune system’s ability to respond. As we mature, our immune system function also drops off. Much of this is perfectly normal — and some stress is necessary for health and vitality. But chronic stress accelerates the normal aging process and may be a prime cause of immunosenescence — immunological changes associated with aging that hinder our resilience when challenged by viruses or bacteria. So anything that helps you minimize stress will also preserve your immunity.

Optimize your vitamin D levels. Connections between vitamin D insufficiency and infectious diseases go back to the 1800’s, when people noticed how tuberculosis patients improved when they traveled to a warm climate where they received more sun exposure. Today there is mounting research confirming this link, and molecular geneticists are studying vitamin D’s capacity to stimulate “antimicrobial innate immunity” to learn how it regulates the genes that control our innate immune responses.

While research on vitamin D’s ability to prevent colds and flu has turned up mixed results, this relates more to the dosage being too low. Generally, the more optimal your vitamin D levels, the fewer colds and flu you’ll experience. But this does not mean everyone should start mega-dosing with vitamin D capsules. Until your vitamin D levels are checked, you won’t know if you’re taking too little or too much. Disease prevention appears best when vitamin D levels are between 50–70 ng/dL.

Support your intestinal flora. It may seem strange to look to the digestive tract to prevent respiratory illness, but when you realize that much of chronic inflammation starts in the gut, it makes sense. One very simple way to support immunity is to maintain your microfloral balance through probiotics. Studies show that regular, long-term use of probiotic formulas reduces incidence, severity, and duration of respiratory tract illnesses and symptoms, including viral influenza infections. In one specific example, lactic acid bacteria have been observed activating the humoral immune system and protecting against flu infection by augmenting anti-influenza virus (IFV) IgG production.

Sleep! Adequate sleep fortifies the immune system and sleep deprivation taxes it, so we are actually programmed to sleep more when we’ve become infected! Specific subcomponents of infectious microbes — proteins, toxins, or genetic material — have been found to induce a sleep response. So, surrendering to the desire to sleep more when you feel something “coming on” is only natural. Researchers believe this intuitive mechanism can help lower the seriousness of your infection, or help you recuperate faster.

Exercise regularly (but don’t overdo it). A 2008 review of the literature shows regular exercise to be a true friend to our immune system, particularly as we age. Exercise offsets the diminished adaptive response and chronic inflammation that accompany aging in many women. So it won’t hurt you to keep up your morning walk, run, or bike ride, or continue going to the gym or the pool. That doesn’t mean overdoing it, though. Strenuous physical exercise — particularly if you’re not used to it — can compromise immunity by increasing stress hormone levels and pro-inflammatory signaling, possibly setting the stage for infection. And, if you feel symptoms of flu coming on, then it’s really time to listen to your body — slow down and rest until you feel better.