News and tidbits to enrich your health and your life.

Healthy Living Newsletter, Issue #2: Gardening for Stress Relief, Assorted Tips, Chronic Viral Infections
April 23, 2008

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Becky

My calendar keeps telling me that it's spring, and the new growth on the trees, the flowers blooming, would tend to validate that. Here in the Pacific Northwest however, it's hard to tell with our crazy weather! Snow, hail, rain... enough, already!

Still, some of us are getting out into our gardens, creating new spaces, and doing the ever-present weed pulling/control.

Gardening, even if done wearing rain gear and layers of clothes, can be a wonderful way of relieving stress. Had a bad day at work? Come home and pull those weeds!

I know that I can get overwhelmed thinking about everything that I want to accomplish out in my yard this year. The whole idea of gardening is to enjoy what you are doing and creating! So instead of looking at EVERYTHING that you want to get done, just pick one area at a time.

And be kind to your body - if you are not used to working out in the yard all day long, take it in small doses. Set a time goal - that you will work on that chosen project for 1/2 hour, 1 hour, or 2 hours. Then take a break - do some stretching, get up and walk around. Drink some water. Go do something else for awhile.

Or pick a realistic goal of how large an area that you can work in. Digging up sod to create new flower beds? Do a small section at a time. Weeding those flower beds that have been ignored for awhile? Again, decide how far you want to go, and don't go past that.

You might still feel sore at the end of the day. A good preventative measure would be to take a nice, long, hot bath with very generous amounts of Epsom salts added to it. The Epsom salts really do help to ease body aches and pains, more than just the hot water.

Of course, getting a massage the following day would help you feel wonderful, too. :o)

I've been in the process of thinking about writing an ebook, and wondering what I could possibly write about! What do I know?

Well I had to laugh at myself, as in the last week or so, I've given the same tips out to a number of people! Not that I want to create an ebook around these helpful tips, but it was a good reminder to me that we ALL know things that other people don't!

My sister has been telling me for years for we all have a book inside of us... maybe she was right. ;o) When it is something that we know, we think everyone knows it, that it is common knowledge. That's not necessarily the case, though.

Enough rambling... on with the tips that I've been giving people lately!!

After cutting an onion or garlic, if you run your fingers over a stainless steel knife (the one you used to cut them with) while holding it under running water, it will get rid of all the smells! I've been using that tip for years, and it works every time. Don't ask me how or why... just try it for yourself and see. I also don't know if a non-stainless steel knife would work or not.

This one I actually just discovered a few weeks ago, after eating crab legs dipped in melted butter at a friends house. I managed to get a couple of large butter drips on my brand new shirt! I used Shout gel on it first, and it looked like the stains came out, but once I dried it, they were still there. Oh great I thought... now I've really set the stains in! Then I decided to try Dawn dishwashing liquid. Since it's a good degreaser, I thought it might work. Presto-magic!! After putting a few drops on Dawn on the stains, and rubbing it in well, I washed the shirt again, and the stains were completely gone.

If you have some shirts with old stains on them, or acquire new stains, give Dawn a try!

Chronic Viral Infections

Ever wonder if past or recurrent colds, flu’s and viral infections could have cumulative effects? What could they cause? How can you diagnose them? What can you do about them? “Emerging infections” is a branch of medicine dealing with viral infections. A wide variety of common viruses may have long term consequences. Conventional medicine is focused on developing future vaccines while alternative medicine is focused on immediate treatments to improve your health. Even infections from childhood or the past can cause treatable problems later in life. Most of these infections are spread in saliva, droplets or body fluids shared via intimate contact, making them very common, but you wouldn’t know it unless tested.

Sub clinical or silent chronic viral infections are linked to a variety of problems. Adenovirus (causes colds and lung symptoms) is linked to obesity. Coxsackie virus, especially B strains (causes colds) may cause heart damage or pancreatic dysfunction. Chickenpox virus lingers in nerves for decades and may cause numbness, tingling and nerve irritation. Ebstein Barr virus (causes sore throats) may cause chronic fatigue. Herpes virus 6 (a common childhood cold) can settle into many organs, especially the liver, circulation and nervous systems. Herpes 1 & 2 (cold sores) often cause vaginal or urinary symptoms but nothing is found with standard tests. Cytomegalovirus (a common cold) can invade a wide variety of organs, especially the nervous system, or cause fatigue. Almost all of these are linked to cardiovascular problems.

Viral infections are diagnosed by drawing blood samples to check antibody levels. Antibody levels are tricky to interpret and paired samples over time are always best. When the samples are sufficiently elevated over time, the diagnosis is confirmed.

Viral infections tend to overlap or co-exist with certain bacteria, especially strep throat and mycoplasma (causes chest colds, asthma, bronchitis or pneumonia), so it’s a good idea to check antibody samples for these. These bacteria are linked to cardiovascular disease, kidney damage and lung problems.

If all this sounds far fetched, I learned it by reading the 20 years of solid research published by the University of Washington and The Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

If your tests are abnormal, what can you do? Conventional medicine believes there is no treatment for viral infections and hopes to develop vaccines in the future. In my experience, there is a sequence of treatments that can be helpful. This involves lifestyle changes and prescription drugs, supplements, botanical and other alternative medicines as needed. The first step includes supporting immune functions and/or protecting organs such as the liver or kidneys. The second step is to “flush out” infections. Chronic infections tend to be imbedded in various tissues, such as mucus, fibrin, collagen tissues, arterial plaque, sinus passages, lungs, liver, etc.. The next step is to suppress or kill bacteria or viral infections if they come out of their “hiding places”. The last steps include treating problems or symptoms that emerge while retesting antibody samples to adjust treatments as needed. Treatment is long term and it takes 1-6 months to see results.

David Overton, PA-C works at Natural Medicines & Family Practice providing integrated conventional and alternative care under the supervision of Dr. Richard Faiola, MD, ABFM. 360-357-8054 www.natmeds.net