Your Best Protection Against Colds and Flu

Your best protection against colds and flu this winter is your own immune system! With the events of the last two years, you might be forgiven for not realising that you actually have an immune system whose job is to go after viruses and other invading microbes.

Have you noticed how many adverts on radio and TV are about illness and in particular this season’s germs?  Hearing all this bad news repeatedly spreads a fear of illness and the idea that we cannot do much about it.  If you realise that your body does in fact have an inbuilt defence system to protect itself against invading microbes, and that there is something you can do about it, you can be more at cause over your health this winter.

Your immune system is not just a single thing that goes up and down. It’s basic job is to distinguish between ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ and deal with anything it identifies as ‘non-self.’  It has different players which, like different soldiers in an army, perform different functions.  Th1 and Natural Killer cells are the surveillance troops that look out for and attack viral and bacterial threats. Th2 and Th-17 cells are trained to attack infections in the hollow spaces of the body - gut, sinuses, lungs, bladder etc.  T regulatory cells help control whether the immune system attacks or tolerates things in the body.  Trouble arises when any of these different players become become stuck in a  set response response. This is called T cell polarisation. The word ‘polarised’ means to move in one direction only.

A common stuck immune response I have seen in chronic illness is called Th-2 dominance.  This is where Th-2 cells get ramped up trying to respond to chronic infections with yeasts, moulds and parasites in the hollow spaces of the body like the gut, sinuses, urinary tract and lungs.  This heightened Th2 response reduces the effectiveness of Th-1 and Natural Killer cells which protect against viruses and bacteria, thus allowing latent infections like viruses to reactivate and become chronic. And then the clinical picture remains truly stuck until the right interventions are implemented.

Infections are key drivers of modern illness from cancers to colds.This is true for diverse diseases such as dementia, cancer, arterial disease, myalgic encephalitis, osteo and inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, autoimmunity in general, respiratory, eye diseases and much more. Therefore, the state of your immune system is central to your health. So what can you do to nurture it this winter?  

• If you already have chronic symptoms, get tested for chronic immune suppression with the CD3/57NK+ cell test with Armin Labs, a leading specialist infections lab in Europe but accessible to patients in the UK.

• Lab tests plus a good case history enable you to plot out an immune roadmap. You can then see of any components of your immune system are stuck in a  fixed response and see which components you need to support and which you need to modulate.

• Use natural substances from the medical literature to support the different players of your immune system. These need to be introduced in the right order, not all at once.

• Substances that support Th-1 cells include: berberine, sulforaphane, baicalin (Skullcap), ginger.

• Substances that support Natural Killer cells include: black current seed oil, andrographis, astragalus, reishi, Vitamin C.

• Substances that help reduce an excessive Th-2 cell response include: perilla, astragalus.

• Test and address chronic infections - includes systemic infections like Coxsackievirus, Epstein Barr Virus and shingles, localised infections and especially dental infections. Armin labs tests are excellent for this. The goal is to get infections to go to sleep again.

• Remove foods from your diet that cause useless inflammation.  Gluten grains, cows’ milk products and refined sugars are some of the most inflammatory foods.

• Follow a Mediterranean-style diet suited to your biochemistry (from your blood test results) that contains real, not fake, processed foods. Diet is the foundation of good immunity and health. You cannot build either on a standard western diet.

• Avoid refined sugars (this includes alcohol) as they feed infections.

• Don’t be afraid to use vitamin C in doses spread out through the day at the first sign of infection.

• Check your Vitamin D levels rather than guess at dosage.

• If you have an autoimmune illness, you must continue to do the right things that keep you from falling into the ditch. The goal is to reduce the frequency and severity of flares and to avoid false triggers.

• If you have active infections, include a retroviral protocol.  Retroviruses are the drivers of chronic symptoms. I recommend doing this with the Klinghardt protocol which contains three natural anti-retroviral agents.

• Combat mould in your home. A quarter of the population are particularly susceptible to mould infection which drives Th2 immune polarity.

• Limit your wifi exposure. Wifi makes all kinds of infections much more aggressive.

If you would like help with chronic symptoms, please contact the Good health Clinic to make an appointment. Please email the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com or ring on 07836 552936.