Questions on Homeopathy and Influenza

I've had a few questions related to homeopathy and influenza. I have to admit that I am not an expert in homeopathy, just a believer. My family and I are now under the care of a homeopath. While everybody in our area was lining up in the cold for hours while swearing and cursing at the inefficiency of the government in planning these vaccination clinics, I got my three little pills without waiting, mixed them with water and had everyone in our household take a teaspoon of the mixture. We'll go back for a second dose of it in January and repeat the process. Everybody around us at work, at school, at church and in the neighbourhood either had the vaccine or where sick but none of us had any of the symptoms exerted by so many. We didn't miss work, we didn't miss school (to the regret of at least one member of the family), and we go on with our normal business.

All of that for about $20.00 Canadian.

I can't tell you how it works, but it does. If you want more on homeopathy and influenza check this web site: www.estayhealthy.com

For the person who wants to get rid of the Tamiflu already in her body, I would suggest you contact my homeopath if there isn't one in your area. Her name is Karen Jonas, check the web site for contact information. You can mention my name and my blog she will be happy that someone contacted her through this means.

By the way, I hate needles and not having to go through the pain of a vaccine is an added bonus to be considered.

No hoax there.

Alain Normand

H1N1 treatment options: Tamiflu, Relenza, homeopathy

Ken, a colleague in the field of emergency management, has been corresponding with me over the last week and was asking about Tamiflu and Relenza. I offered my advice and he collected the responses, assembling them into a Q&A format then posted this on another blog. You can find this at http://canucksem.wordpress.com/. Thanks Ken.

I did mention amongst other answers that my preference for treatment is with homeopathy. If anyone is looking for more information on homeopathy, I have a number of links posted on a section of the web page for my book "The Return of the Spanish Lady: The 1918 Influenza is Back". You can link to it here: homeopathy

Stay healthy.

Alain

Flu is from pigs, I told you so!

While the rest of the world was looking at the Avian Flu as the source of the next pandemic, I indicated in my earlier blogs that the scientific facts all went against that theory.

Basically, when pigs fly then you might have a pandemic emerging from an Avian Flu.

I guess I can now look back and say "I told you so!". In fact, the only theory of mine that was wrong was the country of origin. I thought this would come from East Asia just like the previous influenza pandemics, but it cames from Mexico instead. To check out my predictions and other aspects of the risks related to influenza, check back on some of my previous post.

The real questions is: what now? My answer, do not panic!

In Canada we have 4,000 deaths during the flu season every year. In the States, there are close to 30,000 deaths. Even with 113 deaths in Mexico, one in the US, and over 1,200 people infected worldwide, we are still far away from the level of risk the annual flu represents.

The problem resides mainly with media. They are blowing this out of proportion. I ave to admit that we are all a bit guilty of pushing the media in that direction. We all long for sensationalism in the news. Good news is boring. Disasters are attractive. We have to remember that media is a business and they have to make profit. To do so they need people to watch, listen, and read. This in turn drives the cost of advertisement up.

We all have to take a step back and put this epidemic into perspective. Don't let the hype get to you. Consider good health habits, eating well, sleeping well, exercising, and generally building up your immune system. Then make sure you regularly wash your hands to reduce the spread of infection. Wash surfaces you work on such as your desktop, but also clean your computer keyboard, your telephone handset, and anything else that could have been handled by someone else.

For now that is the only precaution you can take. If this gets worse, and it probably will, then you may want to consider increased precautions, but I'll leave that for a future blog.

In the meantime, stay healthy.

Alain Normand

Avian Flu is dead! Don't buy Tamiflu.

Not much action lately on the Avian Flu front. I guess old news doesn't interest the media any more. The World Health Organization does continue to monitor the Avian Flu situation in countries where it is still occurring. See the results here. Unless you're in China, Egypt or Vietnam, it seems you have nothing to fear. For the rest of the world, avian flu is dead.

Or is it?

The pharmaceutical companies involved in making the various antivirals, namely the Tamiflu and the Relenza, may have seemed to slow down on their propaganda. The reality is that they are going at it from a different angle now. Most organizations that were scared into stockpiling antivirals during the 2003 to 2005 fear campaign are now being approached because the stock they purchased then has reached it maturity date. These "pro-active" organizations now have old stock on their hand that they will have to discard and replace by new stocks.

For those companies who invested and are now faced with a loss of the investment, particularly under difficult economic conditions, it may time to revisit your position.

What pressured you to buy into this plan in the first place?

Was it:

• Media pressure?


• Internal pressure from union groups or staff?


• Direct pressure from the pharmaceutical companies?

Either way, before buying again you should consider what has been provided before.

1 - Avian Flu has still not been proven to be able to mutate into a form that will allow human-to-human tranmission. Unless you are in the poultry business, your chances of contracting the avian flu are almost as high as that of being hit by a meteor.

2 - Test have shown that not only the antivirals are ineffective, but they have many side effects i.e. liver problems, dementia

3 - The only people working to make use of antivirals mandatory are those that benefit directly from the sale of the products. For more on this and the Rumsfeld swindle see the blog called Life Through My Eyes: The bird flu hoax.

Once again as I write this, I want to include a caveat. The risk of influenza pandemic is real. History has shown that this kind of of situation occurs on a cyclical basis. We have had three major and three minor pandemics in the last century. Read some of my previous posts to find out more. Also go to this site to get more on the impacts of pandemics.

As I have mentioned before, medication isn't the solution, building up your immune system is. So how do we build up our immunity to influenza? Common healthy living practices:

• Develop or maintain good eating habits
• Have lots of sleep
• Exercise
• Reduce stress
• Stop smoking
• Get regular medical check-ups

When viruses are around then a few more good habits need to come into play:

• Hand washing
• Cough etiquette (sneezing in your armpit instead of your hands)
• Social distancing (staying three feet from the person you are talking with0
• Sanitation (cleaning your keyboard, phone or workspace before and after use)
• Encouraging a practice to stay home when you think you are ill

If you are one of the decision-makers in a company that has to look into restocking of anti-virals, my recommendation is, don't waste your money. Invest instead into an HR Emergency Plan. If you don't know where to start for such a plan, send me a note and I'll provide you with some information, free, no catch.

On the flu look-out,

Alain Normand