HOW TO PREVENT COLD AND FLU
© Stephen J. Kristof (all rights reserved)
Beyond the flu shot, what else can people do to reduce the chances of contracting a common cold or any strain of flu? Here are some time-tested practices that can improve your odds of staying healthy.
(This is Stephen J. Kristof’s second article in a two-part series on the cold and flu. To see his first article, click HERE.)
A few years back, the media did an outstanding job of hammering the message that the H1N1 virus (or as we previously knew it, the swine flu) was teetering precariously on a precipice between something controllable and doom. With vaccinations, public education and preventative measures, it eventually faded away for the most part, just as the swine flu of the early 1970’s did. Grim conjecture that the virus would mutate into a far more menacing opponent was a scenario that, thankfully, never played out.
But what about the annual flu or garden-variety cold viruses? The flu can be and, for some - is - a deadly thing to contract. But for most healthy adolescent to middle-aged people, it is a tough virus to endure, but usually has no long-lasting consequences. Still, though, not really something anyone looks forward to. Fortunately, there are some things anyone can do to reduce the risk of infection. The best thing is that most of these practices are rather simple to do and easy to habitualize.
Some of these practices work on eliminating the pathogens, while others help boost people’s immunity to them.
How to Eliminate or Reduce Cold and Flu Germs at the Source:
#1. Wash Your Hands Carefully and Frequently
The hundreds of different viruses that are responsible for common colds and flu have engineered themselves for quick and effective transmission by way of physical contact. An infected individual sneezes or coughs into a hand, blows his or her nose or eats without utensils. That same hand that’s come in contact with saliva or mucous then transfers the pathogen to a vast array of surfaces, such as door handles, atm and retail store pin pads, telephones, shopping carts, currency, etc.
The unsuspecting victim touches multiple surfaces during the normal course of a work, school or shopping day and some of those surfaces will, themselves, host multiple live viruses. Washing hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water will go a far way in the war against becoming infected.
#2. Use Hand Sanitizer
Sometimes it’s not possible to wash one’s hands due to work or other personal circumstances. Imagine that you’ve just pulled-up to a drive-through window at a fast food joint (probably not the best way to stay healthy). You pull out your wallet to pay at the first window and hand the pubescent cashier a ten-spot. Just before you get your change, she blasts a crackly cough into her hands, followed by a sloppy sneeze. She then reaches for change and places it into your waiting hand. You drive up to the next window where another worker gives you your bag of nasties. You then drive off into the sunset, instinctively reaching for that first french fry, popping it along with the virus into your mouth. You know what’s next.
It’s true that overuse of antibacterial products and hand sanitizers can eventually make us less healthy. That’s because they kill all of the bacteria including the healthy ones and lower our immunity to the normal everyday germs to which we should have some resistance. However, there are instances (such as the fast food lane example above) when a sink, soap and water are unavailable and the hand sanitizer is the next best thing.
By the way, be careful about which hand sanitizer product you purchase. It’s probably not a good idea to try and save a few bucks by purchasing an unknown brand at some cheapo variety store. There have been reports that some of these products do not contain the necessary proportion of ethyl alcohol required to kill germs.
#3. Get Your Hands Off Your Face!
Make a conscious effort to monitor your involuntary or habitual hand-to-face contact through a day. Make a mental note each time you reach for your face. Most people who try this little experiment are absolutely astonished at how frequently their fingers come in contact with their mouths, nose and eyes, and they had no idea that this happens all day long, every single day!
The eyes, nose and mouth are the most common portals for cold and flu bugs, and it’s these particular orifices that serve as excellent breeding grounds for viruses to multiply. Keep the hands off the face and you multiply the chances of avoiding infection.
#4. Avoid Contact With Infected People
This one may be a lot easier said than done, particularly if your vocation requires plenty of human contact. However, your chances of coming down with a cold or flu obviously increase as you are in closer contact with people who are contagious. Even if you must be with them, you may have some control over proxemics.
Unless you are a caregiver within a residential or clinical environment, chances are that you can limit your proximity to people exhibiting cold or flu-like symptoms. Consider that there are acceptable distances for the different people in our lives. So-called “social distance” used for normal interaction in environments such as work and other public places is from 4 to 12 feet (1.2 to 3.7 meters). Anything closer than that and it is referred to as “personal distance”, moving as close as 1.5 feet (1/2 meter). That kind of proximity is reserved for close friends or family members.
A sneeze propels water, mucous, air and up to 100,000 germs at a speed of about 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour) up to a distance of 12 feet. An infected individual sneezes and you’re within the 12 foot or 3.7 meter footprint. Go ahead and breathe in that lovely concoction. Alternatively, you might want to hold your breath, turn your head in the other direction and/or move just outside the social zone (which by the way happens to end at that same 12 foot distance as the sneeze).
#5. Open Some Windows
In our zeal to conserve and make everything in our lives as energy efficient as possible, we’ve unfortunately thrown out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.
Let’s take a short look back along the time line of human history. Stop at a point not too far back in civilized history – stop at 150,000 years ago - and move back toward the present. From then up until just about 20 years ago, humans have had ample access to fresh, circulating, outside air in their homes, workplaces and gathering places. The very word “window” comes from an old English term, when “wind holes” were not only meant to let light into a room, but more importantly, fresh air.
Today’s homes and commercial buildings are designed and built to hinder the exchange of air with a 100 per cent air-tight seal being the practical and attainable goal. This certainly lowers the energy bill and reduces the carbon footprint. But it ultimately creates an unhealthy environment in which inorganic chemicals, gases, particulate and viruses are effectively trapped until they are inhaled and then, upon exhale, shared with one another.
If you work in an enclosed room but can’t open a window at your workplace you may consider bringing in a portable hepa air cleaner, if that’s permitted. This may help to reduce the viruses and contaminants that contribute to infection and disease. You’ll also breathe easier.
Best of all, though, if you still can, open some windows. People have been doing that for 149,980 years – and that’s just looking at recent history.
Ways to Boost our Immunity:
#6. Get the Flu Vaccine
We now have two types of flu vaccine to help with the fight. The regular seasonal flu vaccine is actually a composite of various dead or weakened (attenuated) flu viruses that are expected to cause the most problems in the coming flu season. These viruses mutate through the year and the vaccines’ effectiveness in an individual is suppressed as the year goes on. As a result, those who wish to be inoculated with a flu shot get the new version each year in mid-autumn to early winter. Couple that with the newly developed H1N1 vaccine and you may have upped the ante to the point where it’s a game the viruses can no longer play.
#7. Get Enough Sleep
That thing about human history has another undeniable fact. Human adults have always needed about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. The same goes for today, although a good night’s sleep may be far more important these days. Not only are we trying to keep up the good fight against viruses such as the H1N1; we also live in very stressful times.
The demands of today’s North American lifestyle are extremely tough. The old proverb, “May you live in interesting times” has been fulfilled with our very fast-paced, electronically supercharged, working harder, working longer, traveling everywhere style of living. Good sleep and enough of it is more important than it ever has been.
#8. Eat Healthy, Get Exercise
Enough said on this one. Eat fresh fruits and veggies. Get regular exercise. Go for walks outside. These are the building blocks of a healthy immune system.
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, have one or two in place of that processed food you were thinking of throwing down your gullet. The high salt, high fat diet consisting of overly processed byproducts that have questionable origins should be avoided at all costs.
#9. Drink Right, Don’t Drink Everything, Don’t Smoke
Drinking plenty of fluids can do wonders for the body’s immunity by stimulating various processes of elimination, which is a good thing. Having a glass or two of red wine with dinner can actually have a positive impact on immunity and cardiovascular health. Drinking too much alcohol, on the other hand, can have a sharply negative effect on one’s health, increasing susceptibility to various pathogens.
If you smoke, you are just asking for more frequent colds and flu with worse symptoms.
#10. Supplements Can Be Effective
A wide variety of supplements can support and stimulate the body’s immune system. Supplements such as Echinacea, vitamin C, zinc, selenium, plant sterols and sterolins, and well-balanced multi-vitamins can be very supportive. Consult an expert in natural medicine, supplements or health products to get specific advice on the dosage, use and interactions of such supplements. Also realize that some of these products can and will interact negatively or dangerously with certain prescription medicines.
Other natural foods and products have been used for ages to boost immunity. Garlic, raw honey and probiotics each have outstanding benefit when it comes to fighting or avoiding colds and flu.
#11. Learn to Chill-ax and Put Others First.
Walking around angry all day, holding grudges, becoming frustrated with life’s little imperfections and trying to control that which you can’t… It’s a way of life for a lot of people. It’s also a sure fire way to invite infection and disease to take root in your body.
Learn to take it in stride. Your mood, response to everyday situations and the way you interact with others are factors that have significant effect on your general health and your body’s ability to fight off infection. Forgive someone; forgive yourself. Improve your outlook on life, introduce hope into your mental self-talk and replace a negative or destructive focus with a positive one. Do good things for other people just because it’s your duty as a member of the human race. Make a sacrifice for someone else’s benefit because you like the way it makes you feel.
Doing these things will have an immeasurably positive impact on your overall health and immunity.
Check out Part 1 of this series, “What’s the Difference Between Cold and Flu?”.
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