Fear as a tool or weapon.....

When I was a child and first saw the movie 'Salem's Lot', I had nightmares for weeks afterward. Convinced that there was a vampire "living" somewhere in rural WV near my home and looking for me each night, I slept with crosses and even garlic to defend against the foul demon.

I learned two things: 1. Don't watch scary movies before bed while eating ice cream. 2. Garlic really stinks up your pillow case.

Mark Twain once said, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."  

Which leads me to the current fear being spread over a possible Avian Flu Pandemic. This fear has prompted a mass buying spree of antiviral medications from pharmacy shelves and a mad scramble for a vaccine against the H5N1 Avian Flu strain. The Avian flu has been around since 1961 and has had various outbreaks in bird populations many times between then and now. Since 1997 there have been several cases of bird flu in humans with exposure to infected birds such as chicken farmers, but no confirmed cases of human to human transmission. Disease pandemics occur worldwide about once every 25-30 years and with the last one being the 1918 flu pandemic, some say we are long overdue.

So if it's only obtainable from exposure to infected birds, why the fear of a pandemic? The answer is called antigenic drift and genetic reassortment. All viruses randomly mutate (antigenic drift) and the fear is that one of these random mutations will allow the strain to be transferable between humans. The other side of the coin is that viruses routinely trade useful bits of DNA (genetic reassortment) kind of like a viral flea market. The fear here being that the bird flu strain will find a flea market stall with the DNA strand that allows it to transfer between humans and bingo......... pandemic.

So why all the government attention to it now? Some say it's because part of the $2 billion dollars it would take to stockpile Tamiflu against a pandemic would go into the pocket of the company that developed it and consequently into the pocket of it's chairman of the board Donald Rumsfeld. A more likely answer is that 1. the avian flu has been spreading around the world. 2. a type of bird flu is what caused the 1918 pandemic. and 3. the strain has been infecting other species normally immune, including pigs, which has long been considered a "mixing bowl" for viruses transmitted between birds and people.

So there is a legitimate fear, but fear should be a tool for preparedness not a weapon for panic. So how do we defend ourselves? 

Well, first off, know that this years' flu vaccine offers NO defense against the avian flu. For more information on whether to have a flu shot, see my newsletter on this topic from last year and if you decide to get the vaccine, ask for the mercury free vaccine. Second, don't succumb to panic and throw common sense out the window by allowing passage of a vaccine bill that removes  liabilities for pharmaceutical companies on the vaccines they make. Third, don't go stockpiling Tamiflu because although some studies have shown it's effectiveness others have shown the opposite and exposed the problem of it causing worse viral strains (remember antigenic drift and genetic reassortment). Lastly, remember that the best defense against any disease is a healthy immune system. Different ways to boost immune system function include nutrition, exercise, hygiene, rest, washing hands ect. See our website nutrition page and click on the online store and see the group of vitamins recommended for immune system support.

Another good thing is chiropractic care. Chiropractic gained wide state support and recognition during the 1918 flu pandemic by showing that those under chiropractic care suffered lower mortality rates than those using traditional medical treatments of the time. 

So don't let the government use fear as a weapon to panic you into rash decisions. Relax, do your homework on the Bird flu, boost your immune system to fight whatever comes along, and stay away from chicken farms in southeast Asia. ;)

One final note, that garlic I talked about at the beginning of this article has been shown to have anti-viral properties as well as anti-bacterial. Seems like I was on the right track after all.

Laughter Therapy

This is an actual job application a 17 year old boy submitted at a McDonald's fast-food establishment in Florida... and they hired him because he was so honest and funny!

NAME: Greg Bulmash

SEX: Not yet. Still waiting for the right person.

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

SALARY: Less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be "Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing house Sweepstakes.

DO YOU SMOKE?: On the job no, on my breaks yes.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde super model who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: Yes. Absolutely.

SIGN HERE: Aries.