Super Immunity (14 page)

1. Produce toxic substances, including carcinogens

2. Harbor a reservoir of bacterial invaders to create future serious infections

3. Produce digestive disturbances

4. Promote immune system dysfunction and autoimmune inflammatory diseases

5. Promote weight gain

Anyone who pays attention to health news knows that deadly bacteria are a growing threat to everyone. Hardly a week goes by without an antibiotic-resistant bacteria turning up and threatening a community. Over a hundred thousand people die each year of hospital-acquired antibiotic-resistant infections.

As mentioned earlier, antibiotics are part of this problem. They cause bacteria to mutate relatively quickly to develop resistance. These resistant bacteria can then transfer genetic material to nonresistant bacteria, causing them, too, to become resistant.

Let's look at how this resistance comes about. Exposure to antibiotics kills off susceptible bacteria, but some
not
susceptible forms survive and then replicate in high numbers. As they replicate, part of their gene sequence, including information about how they defeated a particular antibiotic, gets spread into the surrounding area. Bacteria can even carry
multiple
gene sequences, offering resistance to a number of different bacteria. These resistant genes are then excreted by the bacteria in packages called “plasmids” and picked up by other bacteria. It is as if other bacteria were being inoculated with protection from antibiotics, thereby building and spreading superbugs that outwit drug use.

Repeated use of antibiotics over time can set the stage for recurrent infections and turn what might have started out as a minor illness into a more serious disease with a virulent bacteria at a later date. If you take antibiotics when they are not indicated, you increase the likelihood that you will develop an infection later on when they will be necessary. The problem is that at that point, if an antibiotic is truly needed for a potentially life-threatening infection such as a bacterial pneumonia, there is a higher probability that it simply won't work.

People die daily from infections that would have been easily treated by antibiotics in the past. Today microbes are resistant mostly as a result of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics for viral illnesses. The proper use of antibiotics for serious bacterial infections is actually relatively rare compared to the improper use for viral infections when they are not indicated. Later, we will review when antibiotics are appropriate and should be used with a bacterial infection. Just remember that this occurrence is extremely rare.

Before moving on to reviews of current cold and flu remedies, it is important that we stop and evaluate the good news. We have well within our reach the ability to stay healthy. With the right choices, we can radically improve our immune systems. We can start today with nearly immediate, profound, and long-lasting effects.

Many people ill with a cold, bronchitis (bad cold with cough), sinusitis (bad cold with stuffed face), or pharyngitis (bad cold with sore throat), will look for over-the-counter pharmaceutical products or alternative remedies for relief. Plus, using a scientific-sounding medical term such as sinusitis or bronchitis does not justify using antibiotics and other drugs. They are still viral illnesses.

Plus, most of the options that offer a degree of symptomatic relief have risks and toxicities that make the marginal amount of aid they offer not worth it. Treatments focus on relieving symptoms (e. g., cough, nasal congestion), but as symptoms are lessened, the person stays ill longer. Over-the-counter cold and flu remedies are also ineffective (or reduce symptoms only very temporarily) and are not without significant risk.

The symptoms we experience with illness are the body's natural healing and protective measures. Suppressing these more often than not extends the length of an illness. This is true with fever reducers, decongestants, cough suppressants, and similar remedies.

So how do we relieve these symptoms? We don't; instead, we provide our body the necessary ingredients to do its job. This means getting extra rest, eating well, and letting the body carry out its immune functions without interference.

Listed below are some of the most common treatments for colds and flu, along with both their intended effects and their side effects:

Dextromethorphan is a popular cough suppressant. It is the active ingredient in many over-the-counter cold and cough remedies, such as NyQuil, Robitussin, Dimetapp, and others. Despite its wide use, it is not effective. In fact, a recent placebo-controlled trial in children demonstrated that those given the medication at night did not cough less, and they actually slept worse because of insomnia induced by the medication.
¹¹

Codeine has not been shown to effectively treat a cough caused by the common cold either. Although hydrocodone, a narcotic, is widely used and has been shown to be a mildly effectively cough suppressant, it has not been adequately evaluated in colds and has potentially serious side effects.

I was taught in medical school that it's a good thing these cough suppressants don't work, because if they did people would be in trouble. As we touched on earlier, cough symptoms are there for a reason: to upwardly mobilize the mucous, dead cells, and virus particles and prevent that mucous from settling down and plugging the airways. If cough suppressants were effective and truly interrupted that cough function, viral illnesses would turn into more prolonged and serious illnesses, such as bacterial pneumonias.

A Cochrane analysis of thirty-five controlled trials of antihistamines for colds and viral illness showed no evidence of significant improvement in the common cold; however, antihistamines did increase sleepiness.
¹²

Antihistamines, combination antihistamine/decongestant therapies, and even topical nasal sprays can modestly improve symptoms in adults; however, they do not enable a faster recovery, and the very slight benefits must be weighed against potential side effects.
¹³
Common side effects include headache, stomach upset, constipation, rapid heartbeat, weakness, dizziness, difficulty urinating, trouble breathing, and even anxiety. Many consumers assume these side effects to be from the infection, not recognizing them as drug-induced. Newer nonsedating antihistamines, designed to minimize that particular side effect, are likewise ineffective against a cough.

I would recommend using antihistamines only if you are uncomfortably awake at night and unable to sleep.

In general, medications may relieve a small amount of discomfort from fever but do not enhance recovery. In fact, taking medications to reduce fever may actually prolong the illness.
¹⁴
Fever is a good thing when we have viral illnesses, as well as all infections, because it increases the ability of the white blood cells to sop up and kill viruses and virus-infected cells. Fever is a positive sign that the body is fighting the infection. When we suppress fevers with medication, we counter our body's ability to fight the illness. In fact, in animal studies, as temperature goes up, viral “load” comes down. Treatment with antipyretics (fever reducers) also prolongs viral “shedding,” meaning that we are contagious, potentially passing the illness on to others, for a longer period.
¹⁵
Most important, according to a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the more we take these drugs, the worse we get and the longer we remain ill.
¹⁶
The use of aspirin and acetaminophen was associated with suppression of neutralizing antibody response and increased nasal symptoms and signs.

Certainly some ibuprofen at night, if discomfort is limiting sleep, may be appropriate, but it should be used sparingly.

Acetaminophen is more toxic than ibuprofen and is effective for only four to five hours anyway. It can cause liver damage even if taken in the recommended dosages, though in most of the documented cases of liver failure and death it was given or taken in a mistakenly elevated dose. In a person who is not eating or is vomiting or is dehydrated from illness, it can dramatically increase the potential for liver toxicity.

Acetaminophen is a significant cause of death in children, in part because it is such a common ingredient in fruity-tasting cold remedies. Children who help themselves to some extra cold medicine can put themselves in the danger zone. The risk of acetaminophen overdose in infants and children is exacerbated by the variable dosing schedules and the variety of formulations in the different products available. Many caring parents have unknowingly overmedicated their children, sometimes causing death, because they did not understand or follow the dosage recommendations.

In healthy adults, even a dose of 4 grams daily (the equivalent, typically, of eight extrastrength tablets) can cause liver function abnormalities; and lower, more standard dosages can cause digestive tract problems. Acetaminophen has also been shown to increase the risk of major cardiovascular events: heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and strokes. All patients, and particularly the parents of children, should be warned about acetaminophen use and taught about the serious risks associated with its use and overuse. For a drug with such potential toxicity, there is no reason to have it in the home.

Chicken soup has almost no effect on the common cold or other viral infections; however, eating lots of hot soup may temporarily lessen nasal symptoms. It certainly does not shorten the duration of infection, and in fact may even lengthen it via suppression of mucosal flow and white blood cell movement.
¹⁷

Overall, the important point regarding eating when ill is to eat lightly and avoid animal products (like chicken) that are more demanding to digest. In other words, make it vegetable soup over chicken soup. (See soup recipes beginning on page 214.)

Humidified Air or Steam Inhalation

Using a vaporizer or humidifier likewise has little or no effect on recovery from illness. Studies have shown that it has no effect on wheezing or coughing in croup, or on resolution of symptoms or accelerating recovery in the common cold.
¹⁸

Increased Intake of Fluids

“Drink plenty of fluids” is well-worn advice that is almost universally promoted by health professionals and family during illnesses. Surprisingly (given its pervasiveness), it has no basis in science. Certainly, dehydration can dry the respiratory mucosal surfaces and is important to prevent, especially when water losses occur from diarrhea, vomiting, and high fever. However,
excess
fluids (beyond replacement of losses) have no favorable benefits; there is no evidence that drowning in extra fluids improves resistance to viral infections or speeds recovery.

In short, there is currently no scientific evidence for increasing fluids in acute respiratory infections over and above the demands of thirst. On the contrary, some nonexperimental (observational) studies report that increasing fluid intake in acute respiratory infections may cause harm.
¹⁹
Outside of when it is replacing a loss of fluids, excess water consumption can have significant negative consequences. The key here is not to overly tax our body by asking it to do more than necessary.

Flushing the sinuses daily with salty water may improve symptoms somewhat in people with chronic sinus infections,
²⁰
but an analysis of all the studies done on this therapy for acute viral infections and the common cold shows no difference between treatment and controls.
²¹
That means subjecting your child to the discomfort of squirting water in his nose will not lessen complications or speed resolution of symptoms.

Homeopathic Remedies

Homeopathy (or homeopathic medicine) was developed in Germany more than two hundred years ago. The central homeopathic principle is that of “similars”—or “like cures like”—meaning that a disease can be cured by a toxic substance that produces symptoms similar to those of the disease or condition. Once a “similar” has been identified, it is diluted down so that scarcely any of the original substance can be detected in the product that is given as medication. Some believe that it is the “vibrational memory” of that substance that has healing properties.