We are encouraged, told, demanded of, to get a flu shot each year. And yet....is there any scientific proof these work? Or perhaps better worded, is there any proof they do more good than harm?
I have never had a flu shot, but I did grow up getting sick alot. Not with flu's all that much, most of it was sinus issues, such as colds. I have not had a flu in many years, because now I know full well how to avoid them.
So with the question of "Do Flu Shots Work"? we should look at a compilation of these studies on children first.
In a review of more than 51 studies involving more than 294,000 children it was found there was “no evidence that injecting children 6-24 months of age with a flu shot was any more effective than placebo. In children over 2 yrs, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the flu.
~Reference: Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children." The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2 (2008)
Not in children with asthma: in a study of 800 children with asthma, one half were vaccinated and the other half did not receive the influenza vaccine. The two groups were compared with respect to clinic visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations for asthma. CONCLUSION: This study failed to provide evidence that the influenza vaccine prevents pediatric asthma exacerbations.
~Reference: “Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for the prevention of asthma exacerbations.” Christly, C. et al. Arch Dis Child. 2004 Aug;89(8):734-5.
Not in children with asthma (2): “The inactivated flu vaccine, Flumist, does not prevent influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma…In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than children who do not get
the vaccine.”
~Reference: The American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference, May 15-20, 2009, San Diego
Not in adults: In a review of 48 reports including more than 66,000 adults, “Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6% and reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day (0.16) days. It did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time off work.”
~Reference: “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults." The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 1(2006).
Not in the Elderly: In a review of 64 studies in 98 flu seasons, for elderly people living in nursing homes, flu shots were non-significant for preventing the flu. For the elderly living in the community, vaccines were not (significantly) effective against influenza, ILI or pneumonia.
~Reference: “Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 3(2006).
So what should a person do? If we cannot rely on the medical system's expertise(?) on keeping us healthy, how do we actually avoid issues like the flu?
These are a few of the methods I use, which work extra-ordinarily well.
1. Get plenty of Vitamin D, without overdosing when taking it as a supplement. Vitamin D is known to prevent the flu. The best source is direct sun, between the hours of 10am-2pm. Notice in the summer time, the only ones who may get the flu are those who do not go outside enough to matter. So far no one apparently has been able to overdose on Vitamin D made from exposure to the sun, and yet, it is possible to overdose on supplementation. Regular testing of Vitamin D in the blood is important.
2. Eat raw natural foods, preferably organic. Why organic? Because organically grown produce should be(this will not always be true) free of genetically modified organisms that Monsanto puts into our food supply without our knowledge or consent. There has been zero safety testing done on genetically modified foods, in any country, that I can find. Organically grown also should be free of pesticides and herbicides; VERY dangerous chemicals that are absorbed into your foods, which in turn, are put into the body, where they tend to remain. Ever wonder how a person becomes toxic? Besides, according to several university studies, organically grown foods have far more nutrients than commercially grown. Or perhaps better said, would be: Organically grown actually has nutrients.
Raw foods have live enzymes, critical to your health. Raw foods will give you more energy, increase your metabolic rate and help you attain the proper weight if desired, allow you to have better attitudes/dreams patterns/skin color and tone/clearer vision/much less candida and fungal issues.
3. Utilize therapeutic quality aromatherapy. Certain essential oils are known by the medical societies of most countries to be extremely valuable, such as Lemon oil, which is known to not only alkalinize the blood, but also increase the white blood cell count to help fight off illness. Lemon oil has different components than Lemon Juice. Either one also has remarkable grease removing properties. Cinnamon Bark oil is a powerful immune stimulant as well, plus it is a circulatory stimulant. This is all completely verifiable if you choose to look it up. Being an Aromatologist, with over 13 years in this field, I have a fairly good understanding of how very valuable the tool of aromatherapy actually is. Pharmaceutical drugs cannot compare to the positive power of therapeutic quality aromatherapies.
4. Avoid dairy when possible, especially pasteurized dairy. It is not good for you, no matter what any dairy industry or government tells you. In my terminology, dairy does NOT include goat milk.
5. Keep a positive attitude. This is far more effective than you might be able to imagine, not only for mental health, but for physical health as well. The more negative ones thoughts, the more likely one is to develop any health issue such as colds and flu.
6. Do meditation. If you don't know how, or what it is, or have scoffed at it in the past, you might give it a shot. Is it going to hurt you? Of course not. What it will do for you, provided you give it the opportunity, is allow you to clear your mind, balance the energies of the body, present insights to you that you may have never thought possible, and in many cases, completely reverse so-called
"irreversible" diseases. If you have doubts about meditation, key into Google:
The Maharishi Effect. This will show you the power of group meditation. Just your own can meditation can do similar.
No comments:
Post a Comment