Coronavirus spread: Foods that can help boost your immunity

 Anti-viral foods to boost immunity
Two positive cases of #nCoV19 or Coronavirus have been detected in India (one in Delhi and another in Telangana). While the accurate medical treatment is yet to be discovered to deal with this deadly virus, experts feel that in such cases,”Prevention is better than cure”.In this process watching your daily lifestyle activities and eating right can help a lot. It is important to include a few food items that are high in anti-viral properties and can create a shield around the body in protecting it against all odds. This piece of information talks about those necessary food items that can boost immunity and keep any kind of viral disease at bay.

How to boost your immunity?
According to Delhi based Dr Saras Salil, who runs his own clinic, " It is important to practice basic hygiene like washing hands using antiseptic hand wash. And while travelling use oil-based hand sanitizer. Apart from this, he suggests keeping your hands and fingers away from your mouth, eyes and nose. He mentions, “Food plays a key role in boosting your immunity and that’s why it is suggested to avoid consumption of raw foods including raw meat, raw egg, raw vegetables to safeguard the immunity.” Below-mentioned are a few basic food ingredients that are suggested to be consumed regularly to boost immunity.

Tulsi
Known for his anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties, Tulsi must be consumed daily to boost immunity. It is important to have it on an empty stomach. Have 5 tulsi leaves along with 3-4 peppercorns and 1 tsp honey to boost immunity.

Garlic
It is a powerful anti-viral ingredient that can be consumed raw, mashed or can be added to soups and salads. To make a simple home remedy, mix chopped raw garlic and cloves with a tablespoon of raw honey and consume alternate days. It's a fantastic way to boost your immune system.

Berries
Foods rich in resveratrol such as peanuts, pistachios, grapes, red, white wine, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, and even cocoa and dark chocolate are helpful to fight fungal infection, ultraviolet radiation, stress, and injury. They also protect the body against viral attacks.

Coconut oil
Avoid other variations of oil and use pure cold-pressed coconut oil or even have it raw. Lauric acid and caprylic acid present in it are essential for boosting the immune system against virals.

Ginger
Another ingredient that can help in keeping you safe is ginger. It has anti-viral properties, which when mixed with star anise and honey can help control the side effects. This concoction can be consumed 3-4 times a day.

Star anise
It contains shikimic acid that is used as a base material for the production of Tamiflu, which is used for influenza virus. It is super powerful as an anti-viral. All you need to do is take star anise and boil it in water and add it to your teas like green tea or black tea and consume twice a day.

Vitamin-C rich foods
Amla, red peppers, yellow peppers, oranges, guava and papaya are rich in vitamin C and have anti-oxidant and immunity boosting properties. You must have them daily for best results. 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Antibiotics make lungs vulnerable to flu by killing gut bacteria

The literal translation of antibiotic is ‘against life’. These medicines fight bacterial infections. Antibiotics kill bacteria in the body and also prevent them from replicating. It was discovered in the 1920s but was available over-the-counter only since the 1940s and it has since been used to fight many health conditions successfully. It led to increased life expectancy and reduced the fear of deadly infections.
 
However, due to overuse and abuse, many bacteria have developed antibiotic resistance. This is an alarming complication as it can increase fatalities in many diseases. Now a study says that antibiotics can leave the lungs vulnerable to flu viruses. This can lead to significantly worse infections and symptoms.
 
Antibiotics can put us at the mercy of the flu virus: Experts
According to researchers from the Francis Crick Institute, antibiotics affect the signals sent from gut bacteria that help to maintain a first line of defence in the lining of the lungs. They chose some mice with healthy gut bacteria and infected them with flu. They saw that around 80 per cent of mice survived. But, only a third survived when they were given antibiotics before being infected with flu. Researchers also saw that antibiotics wiped out early flu resistance.

This proves that inappropriate use not only promotes antibiotic resistance and kills helpful gut bacteria, but it may also leave us more vulnerable to viruses. This could be relevant not only in humans but also agricultural products and livestock since almost all farms globally use antibiotics indiscriminately. This study was published in Cell Reports.
 
Effects of antibiotics on the lungs
As with all medications, antibiotics too is known to have certain side-effects. It also affects the lungs by increasing the risk of pulmonary fibrosis. However, the situation is different for different people.

Certain antibiotics can cause a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. This can give you a rapid heartbeat and you may feel uneasy and restless. It constricts the airways, leading to difficulty breathing. Swelling of the throat may block the airways in severe cases. Fluid can seep into the lungs and this can lead to pulmonary edema. This is a life threatening condition and you need to consult a doctor immediately.

Overuse of antibiotics can also cause breathing problems suddenly or it can happen over time with long time use of this medication. But if you stop the medication immediately, you can prevent severe damage to lung tissues. However, in some people, it can cause lasting lung damage.

Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid), a commonly prescribed antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections, is being increasingly linked to both acute and chronic lung injury. Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (Bactrim), a sulfonamide-containing antibiotic used for bacterial infections, also causes interstitial lung disease.
 
Antibiotics and their effect on gut bacteria
It is very important to maintain a proper balance of healthy gut flora. But thanks to the anti-bacterial properties of antibiotics, our guts might not be as healthy as before and this can cause chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, asthma and gut inflammatory disorders. Thus, healthy gut bacteria improves overall health and prevents chronic diseases.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Steno Diabetes Center, Copenhagen, in a study, administered 3 antibiotics to young healthy men for 4 days. This caused an almost complete eradication of gut bacteria, followed by a gradual recovery of most bacterial species over a period of six months. However, even after six months, nine of the most common beneficial bacteria was missing. The findings were published in Nature Microbiology.
 
Importance of gut bacteria
Did you know that upto 1,000 species of bacteria are perfectly at home in the human gut? And, most of them help us live a healthy life. In fact, some of them help you survive.

Gut bacteria helps you digest foods like milk and fibre. It regulates your body’s immune function and helps control brain health. In short, it is essential for you to have healthy gut bacteria because it affects the body from birth till death by controlling digestion of food, the immune system, the central nervous system and other bodily processes.

A healthy gut bacteria can prevent irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. It has a positive effect on the heart and can help bring down blood sugar. It can also help to improve brain health by producing chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters. The gut produces the antidepressant neurotransmitter Serotonin .

How can we ensure healthy gut bacteria?

Healthy gut bacteria is very important for health and any imbalance between unhealthy and healthy microbes in the intestines may contribute to weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and other disorders.

More than 40 trillion bacteria have made your body their home. And, most of them are in your intestines. Though some of them can cause diseases, most benefit overall health. To ensure healthy gut bacteria, you need to eat a diverse range of nutritional foods. Go shopping for lots of fruits and vegetables. You can include raspberries, green peas, broccoli, chickpeas, lentils, beans and whole grains in your diet. Eat a lot of fermented and probiotic foods. Foods rich in polyphenols will also help.

Be sure to fuel your body with enough plant-based foods and cut back on fat and sugar. Also, limit your intake of artificial sweeteners because it can increase blood sugar by stimulating the growth of unhealthy bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae in the gut.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement 

Antibiotics can weaken flu defences

Antibiotics can leave the lung vulnerable to flu viruses, leading to significantly worse infections and symptoms, according to a study.

The research, discovered that signals from gut bacteria help to maintain a first line of defence in the lining of the lung.

When mice with healthy gut bacteria were infected with the flu, around 80 per cent of them survived. However, only a third survived if they were given antibiotics before being infected.

“We found that antibiotics can wipe out early flu resistance, adding further evidence that they should not be taken or prescribed lightly,” researcher who led the research said.

“Inappropriate use not only promotes antibiotic resistance and kills helpful gut bacteria, but may also leave us more vulnerable to viruses. This could be relevant not only in humans but also livestock animals, as many farms around the world use antibiotics prophylactically,” the researcher said.

The study found that type I interferon signalling, which is known to regulate immune responses, was key to early defence.

Among the genes switched on by interferon is a mouse gene, Mx1, which is the equivalent of the human MxA gene. This antiviral gene produces proteins that can interfere with influenza virus replication.

Although often studied in immune cells, researchers found that microbiota-driven interferon signals also keep antiviral genes in the lung lining active, preventing the virus from gaining a foothold.
“We were surprised to discover that the cells lining the lung, rather than immune cells, were responsible for early flu resistance induced by microbiota,” he said.

“Previous studies have focused on immune cells, but we found that the lining cells are more important for the crucial early stages of infection,” he said.

“They are the only place that the virus can multiply, so they are the key battleground in the fight against flu. Gut bacteria send a signal that keeps the cells lining the lung prepared, preventing the virus from multiplying so quickly,” he added.

To test whether the protective effect was related to gut bacteria rather than local processes in the lung, the researchers treated mice with antibiotics and then repopulated their gut bacteria through faecal transplant.

This restored interferon signalling and associated flu resistance, suggesting that gut bacteria play a crucial role in maintaining defences.

“Taken together, our findings show that gut bacteria help to keep non-immune cells elsewhere in the body prepared for attack,” he said.

“They are better protected from flu because antiviral genes are already switched on when the virus arrives. So when the virus infects a prepared organism, it has almost lost before the battle starts,” he said.

“By contrast, without gut bacteria, the antiviral genes won’t come on until the immune response kicks in. This is sometimes too late as the virus has already multiplied many times, so a massive, damaging immune response is inevitable,” he added. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                      FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                     https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Flu Treatments Explained

The government has just approved a new form of antiviral medication called baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) for people aged 12 and over. The drug is a single-dose oral medication and works by preventing the flu virus from spreading all over your body. Its creator, claims that it fights a whole range of flu viruses, including those resistant to other flu treatments and to bird flu strains.

Oseltamivir is available both as a generic version or under the trade name of Tamiflu. The latter was initially approved way back in 1999, and the government eventually approved a generic version in 2016. It's available in liquid suspension or pill form and is typically prescribed twice a day for 5 days. It can also be prescribed for flu prevention, in which case it’s taken once daily for seven days.

Zanamivir (Relenza) is a powder that’s inhaled, and the FDA has claimed that it is safe for children 7 years old and above, and is normally taken twice daily for five days. Finally, peramivir (Rapivab) is given intravenously, is safe for children aged two and over, and is administered once time for 15 to 30 minutes.
Who Are These Drugs For?
The people who should most strongly consider taking one of these new medications are:
• Hospitalized flu patients
• People who already have the flu
• People over 65
• Children under 5
• Pregnant women
• New mothers
• People suffering from asthma or organ diseases
• Obese people
• Diabetics
• People with weakened immune systems, such as from cancer, AIDS or HIV

What Side Effects Are There?
Patients on these antivirals typically report nausea as side effects. Other side effects may include headaches and common cold symptoms. When it comes to kids, Tamiflu has been connected to some psychiatric side effects. These could include irritability and occasional seizures. However, these symptoms normally go away when the drug is stopped.

How Effective Are They?
Your mileage may vary, but most professionals say that the drugs shorten the flu by around a day or so. The government approval of Xofluza was based on studies which compared it to a placebo and with oseltamivir (Tamiflu). In a particular study, which included over 1,000 patients, the median time to symptom improvement was around 54 hours with Xofluza and 80 with a placebo.

What Alternatives Are There?
Many people swear by home remedies, such as putting onions in your socks or consuming elderberry. Proponents claim that the onion's acidic compounds kill the nasty flu virus, while elderberry proponents claim that it eases symptoms. However, "there is currently no strong scientific evidence that any natural product is useful against the flu," according to the doctors.

"In terms of natural products, I don't give a recommendation for them," says a physician. However, he also notes that he understands that ''people often feel better doing something than nothing."

This is why the only alternative treatment that healthcare professionals usually provide are fever reducers such as acetaminophen, bed rest, and plenty of fluids.

Hydration is crucially important, according to a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine. "You frequently are so ill you have to rouse yourself from your bed of thorns and make yourself drink fluids. Water is fine, flavored or sparkling. Alcohol doesn't count. Coffee and tea don't count, they have caffeine [and are dehydrating]." This is a particularly important point since the Dr. says that "dehydration predisposes you to pneumonia," which is the last thing that someone with the flu needs.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                             https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                       FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

This ultraviolet light safely kills airborne flu virus:

Researchers have found that continuous low doses of "far ultraviolet C" (far-UVC) light can kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues.

According to the researchers, the use of overhead "far-UVC" light in public spaces could provide a powerful check on seasonal influenza epidemics, as well as influenza pandemics.

"If our results are confirmed in other settings, it follows that the use of overhead low-level far-UVC light in public locations would be a safe and efficient method for limiting the transmission and spread of airborne-mediated microbial diseases" said the lead author of the study.

Influenza virus spreads from person to person mainly through fine liquid droplets, or aerosols, that become airborne when people with flu cough, sneeze, or talk. 

This study, published was designed to test if "far-UVC" light could efficiently kill aerosolised influenza virus in the air, in a setting similar to a public space, the researchers said.

In the study, aerosolised H1N1 virus -- a common strain of flu virus -- was released into a test chamber and exposed to very low doses of 222 nm "far-UVC" light. 

A control group of aerosolized virus was not exposed to the UVC light. The "far-UVC" light efficiently inactivated the flu viruses, with about the same efficiency as conventional germicidal UV light.

"The 'far-UVC' light has a very limited range and cannot penetrate through the outer dead-cell layer of human skin or the tear layer in the eye, so it's not a human health hazard," the researcher said.
"But because viruses and bacteria are much smaller than human cells, far-UVC light can reach their DNA and kill them," the researcher noted.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

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Flu virus makes you 6 times more prone to heart attacks!

People suffering from influenza may be at six-fold increased risk of experiencing a heart attack, particularly in first seven days, warned a study emphasising the importance of vaccination.
The risk may be higher for older adults, patients with influenza B infections, and patients experiencing their first heart attack.

“Our findings are important because an association between influenza and acute myocardial infarction reinforces the importance of vaccination,” said the lead author.

“The study, combined with previous evidence that influenza vaccination reduces cardiovascular events and mortality, support international guidelines that advocate for influenza immunisation in those at high risk of a heart attack,” the author added.

In the study, the researchers identified 332 patients from 2009 to 2014 who were hospitalised for a heart attack within one year of a laboratory-confirmed influenza diagnosis.

They found a significant association between acute respiratory infections, particularly influenza, and acute myocardial infarction.
 
However, the risk was not as high with infection from other respiratory viruses.
As per World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates seasonal influenza outbreaks each year cause three million to five million severe cases and 300,000 to 500,000 deaths globally.

According to the researchers, flu season in 2018 has been unusually active and is still spreading in many countries.

While over 60,000 samples testing positive for influenza have been reported since monitoring for the virus began on October 1, a total of 30 children have died from in 2018 in a country, the Dr. said.

“People at risk of heart disease should take precautions to prevent respiratory infections, and especially influenza, through measures including vaccinations and hand-washing,” the Dr. suggested.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

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