Just exactly when is the flu season? As the CDC stated, in the United States, flu season occurs in the fall and winter. While influenza viruses circulate year-round, most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, but activity can last as late as May (1).
Why is that? The WebMD believes many things play a role in making the flu more common in the winter, which includes (2) :
- The virus lives longer indoors in winter because the air is less humid than outside.
- While it is alive and, in the air, it’s easy for people to inhale it, or for it to land on the eyes, nose, or mouth.
- We spend more time indoors and have closer contact with each other, which makes it easier for the virus to spread.
Since we have a better idea about the “flu season”, it’s time for us to read in between the lines to understand more. As stated, the viruses circulate “year-round” but are just more active during winter. In other words, day in and day out doesn’t matter what seasons or months, viruses are always out there and ready to latch onto us. What’s, even more, is this not only applies to the virus but it also applies to bacteria, parasites, and yeasts. So, what does that translate to? Does that mean we must take medication, antibiotics, antifungal, antiviral substances every day to combat them? I sincerely doubt it.
Here is another fun fact. Even with all the medical interventions and advancements, we will never outduel the evolution of these microorganisms because of their intelligence and fast adaptability. If that’s the case, why not take a step back and examine our precious immune system, which has been working for us since human existence.
If you investigate the most recent data of the Corona Viruses incident, the last I read (2/25/2020 6:00 pm) was 80,598 people got infected, 2712 death and 28110 recovered globally. Studying closely into the death number you will find the majority of the number lies on ages 55 years or above with pre-existing conditions top with cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes (3). The fatality rate for non-pre-existing patients is ONLY 0.9%. In another word, the best defense against any microorganism out there, in my opinion, is non-other than enhancing and boosting our own immune system. It is obvious that we need to take care of our body daily so we can be ready for any opportunistic attack from these micro-organisms, which includes eating healthy, resting plenty, exercising regularly, and taking supplements daily. And now research has also shown compelling evidence of how chiropractic can potentially enhance the immune system as well. One of the studies showed a single adjustment can increase immune system signal interlukin-2 significantly which translates to a stronger immune system (4). In a different study, it showed spinal adjustment can increase the count of neutrophil which is part of the white blood cells. The last study worth mentioned here is by Selano et al, “The effect of the specific upper cervical adjustment on the CD4 counts of HIV positive patients.” The conclusion of this study was after 6 months of chiropractic adjustments, the HIV positive patients’ CD4 (part of the immune system) has raised tremendously.
In summary, we are not alone on this planet. The living microorganism is around us all the time. It is in our best interest not to outduel them but work with them synergistically. The best practice is to keep one’s immunity at the optimum at all times, so we can worry less about the flu season and enjoy life more. I hope this article finds you well and ease any worry you might have about the current virus situation.
Yours in health,
Dr. Alan Wu DC
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season.htm
- https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/qa/why-is-the-flu-more-common-in-the-winter
- https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/
- https://chiromt.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-1340-16-5
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1373431
- https://chiro.org/research/ABSTRACTS/Effects_of_Specific_Upper_Cervical_Adjustments.shtml
he heel or in the arch of the foot.
Specific Chiropractic Care
Canola oil has been widely used because it has been token as the new alternative “healthy” oil and is less expensive to other vegetable oils such as soy, cottonseed, safflower and corn oil. It is said the canola oil contains no saturated fat which can potentially clog up your arteries. However, the science has stated otherwise. The science literature stated by ingesting a single dose of 71 mg of Canola oil per day would increase your triglyceride level by whopping 47% compared to medium chain fatty acid such as coconut oil. (1) In addition, an article released on Dec. 14th, 2017 from Psych Central stated there are strong associations between consuming canola oil and weight gain, decrease working memory and increase Alzheimer. (2)
Here are more facts about it:
Recently a new patient was referred to me because of her lower back discomfort during cycling. She is a 27 years old female athlete with good diet and exercise regiment. During the consultation, she told me her MD was about to put her onto cholesterol lowering drug because her cholesterol test came back higher than 200 from her last blood test. She doesn’t want to take mediation and also doesn’t want to have heart attack, she asked me what to do. While I personally don’t have the power(outide of our practice scope) to prescribe OR take her off medications, what I can do is giving rightful information to educate her as well as rest of the community. Here is a great article about cholesterol myth written by Dr. Ronald Grisanti DC, the director of Functional Medicine University:
Historical Uses: The leaves of the melaleuca tree have been used for centuries by the aborigines to heal cuts, wounds, and skin infections. With twelve times the antiseptic power of phenol, it has some strong immune-building properties.
There is a strong correlation between pelvis imbalance and joint degenerations, especially in the hip, knee, ankle and spine.
ith carbohydrates? Besides the benefit of the intake fat, here are three other take away from this articles.
Research have shown probiotics can enhance nonspecific cellular immune response characterized by activation of macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, and the release of various cytokines in strain-specific and dose-dependent manner. In other words, they can detect and destroy foreign objects such as viruses and bacteria. It has also shown taking probiotics could improve the gut mucosal 
On Guard Blend Oil!
In this study, seventy-six asymptomatic subjects were randomized to receive an upper thoracic (upper mid-back) spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustments) with cavitation (sounds) or without cavitation, or were included in a control group. All subjects had their blood drawn before, 20 minutes and two hours after the intervention. Production of IL-2 in mononuclear cell (key element of immune system) cultures was activated with staphylococcal protein A (SPA). Induced secretion of IL-2 increased significantly in manipulation with and without cavitation.
/or degeneration) and pain. Here are the fact
