LifeStart Seminars

Avoid Colds and Flus Naturally

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: David DeRose MD (Host)

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Series Code: LIF

Program Code: LIF000011A


00:28 Welcome to "Avoid Colds and Flus Naturally."
00:31 I'm Doctor David DeRose, a board-certified
00:34 specialist in internal and preventive medicine.
00:37 I'm here to help you master another
00:41 very important medical subject. I say "another," because
00:45 this is one in a series of presentations called
00:49 LifeStart Seminars. I'm glad to have you with us
00:54 for today's presentation. It was the fall of
00:58 2014, and a contagion was sweeping
01:02 America. The contagion wasn't infectious disease.
01:06 The contagion of fear, the Ebola virus,
01:10 was on American soil, seeming to spread
01:14 indiscriminately. At least, so it appeared.
01:17 The experience caused me
01:19 to write a book, Evading Ebola:
01:23 Decrease Your Risk of Infection,
01:27 Fare Far Better if Exposed.
01:30 At the heart of that book was something
01:33 fundamental about all infectious diseases.
01:37 We can be exposed
01:39 to serious viruses, but can remain unscathed.
01:45 That very theme
01:47 comes front and center as we speak now
01:50 about a more common illness:
01:53 the common cold. There's another common illness:
01:57 influenza (commonly knows it as the flu).
02:01 There was a great irony of the the
02:04 Ebola outbreak of the United States
02:06 and throughout the world
02:09 (at least in United States terms).
02:11 We are surrounded by
02:13 more lethal illnesses that seem to cause us
02:17 relatively little consternation.
02:19 We're speaking especially about colds.
02:23 The viruses that cause them typically
02:26 don't do too much in the way of devastation.
02:30 There are some 200 viruses
02:32 that attack the upper respiratory system.
02:35 If you look at the data,
02:38 we experience (in the United States alone)
02:40 some one billion infections a year.
02:45 You're saying, "One billion! There aren't that many
02:48 people in the United States."
02:49 If you look at children, who are most at risk,
02:52 some are experiencing 6 to 10 (or more)
02:55 episodes of colds per year.
02:58 The average adult may have 2 to 4 colds a year.
03:02 Yes, it hurts our productivity.
03:05 We may be feeling under the weather. Many of us
03:09 seem to just try to fight through it
03:12 and go about our daily lives.
03:14 the problem is, although
03:17 some of the viruses causing the common cold
03:19 are relatively innocuous. Others
03:22 are not so.
03:24 We all know what a cold looks like:
03:26 runny nose, sneezing, sore throat.
03:28 Maybe there's a dry cough, headache or mild fever.
03:32 Typically the symptoms last a
03:34 few days to a week, maybe two.
03:37 That's the common cold.
03:38 An example of one of the viruses causing colds
03:44 are the adenoviruses. This is a family
03:48 of viruses that commonly
03:51 cause the common cold.
03:53 They can do more than that.
03:54 They can cause croup,
03:56 or bronchitis in the lower respiratory tract.
03:59 Adenoviruses can also cause intestinal symptoms.
04:03 They can affect the eyes, the bladder,
04:06 and can even cause neurological disease.
04:10 A cold may seem innocuous.
04:15 If our immune system is unhealthy or compromised,
04:22 a virus that causes the common cold
04:26 can cause devastating effects. If we
04:30 turned to the next viral illness that we're
04:34 bringing under sharp focus in this
04:37 presentation, we come to influenza.
04:40 Influenza is a true killer disease.
04:42 Some 3,000 to 50,000 die in the United States each year.
04:48 It depends on the severity of the influenza strain
04:52 making the rounds. Flu actually also
04:55 gains entrance in
04:58 similar ways as the cold. We'll speak more about that.
05:01 The incubation period (the time from exposure to
05:06 becoming clinically ill) is generally two to three days.
05:09 You can actually transmit the influenza virus
05:12 before you're ill.
05:14 Classic symptoms are
05:16 respiratory (like the cold), only more severe.
05:18 You can have a very high fever,
05:20 severe muscle and joint pains.
05:23 It can last a number of weeks.
05:25 There is actually no such thing as the "stomach flu."
05:31 Usually that term (when someone uses it)
05:33 refers to food poisoning,
05:35 something that we call gastroenteritis.
05:37 We will talk about that some more. Gastroenteritis
05:42 sometimes is caused by viruses,
05:44 other times by bacterial infection.
05:49 The focus of this presentation
05:51 is to help you avoid
05:54 colds and flus naturally.
05:57 What does that look like? How do we avoid
06:00 colds and flus naturally?
06:02 Before we talk about that, let me highlight one thing.
06:05 Whether you develop a cold or the flu,
06:09 there are complications that can arise that
06:12 are not just related to the virus itself.
06:17 You can have severe pneumonia,
06:21 sinus infections, or secondary infections.
06:25 Once you get the cold or flu,
06:27 your immune system is knocked down further.
06:30 You can then pick up something else.
06:31 Just keep this in mind. These are not
06:33 innocuous diseases, even though
06:35 you may have had them many times,
06:38 never experiencing anything
06:42 too devastating. Whether it's Ebola,
06:45 colds, or flu,
06:47 there's a common denominator we need to talk about.
06:49 The common denominator is something called
06:52 inapparent infection. It's at the heart of my book,
06:55 Evading Ebola. It's at the heart of this subject
06:59 of how we can be exposed to colds
07:02 and flus and not get sick.
07:06 If you've not been a regular visitor
07:10 to our programs, the
07:13 LifeStart Seminars,
07:16 I want to let you know about
07:18 some important things that can
07:19 help you as you're following along
07:21 with this presentation. You can pick up some
07:25 additional free information.
07:27 If you go to our website, lifestartseminars.com,
07:30 you'll find excellent resources. First of all,
07:33 we have a study guide that goes along with this
07:35 presentation. Maybe you've already picked it up.
07:37 You may be viewing this with a
07:38 group, and it was handed to you in advance.
07:40 That's wonderful.
07:42 If you're watching this for the first time,
07:44 not familiar with how LifeStart Seminars work,
07:46 make sure you go to the website,
07:48 lifestartseminars.com,
07:50 and get that free resource.
07:52 The second free resource that we have
07:54 is an e book.
07:55 It's a short book that actually walks you through
07:59 the paradigm that we will be
08:01 embarking on in a few minutes.
08:03 It talks about
08:04 natural strategies to deal with illnesses. In this case,
08:08 it's how to decrease risk of viral infections
08:11 like the cold. and the flu. That paradigm
08:15 is summarized in a one-word phrase: LifeStart.
08:22 The "L" stands for Liquids,
08:25 the proper choice of beverages and other
08:27 applications of water.
08:29 We talk about Interpersonal Relationships ("I").
08:33 We talk about the "F," which is Foods (nutrition).
08:36 "E" stands for Exercise.
08:38 We're going to see that
08:40 all these things have a role in helping us
08:42 prevent viral illnesses, or fend them off.
08:45 We may not be able to go into
08:46 deep detail about all them.
08:48 I'm trying to walk you through the construct,
08:50 just to help you see.
08:51 Even if you've heard it before,
08:52 all these things apply to viral illnesses as well.
08:55 That's "Life." "Start" is a mnemonic as well.
09:00 It's an acronym, a type of memory device.
09:03 Each of the letters in the word "Start" also
09:06 represents a
09:08 natural remedy that can help with viral illness.
09:11 The "S" stands for Sunlight.
09:12 "T" is for Temperance.
09:14 "A" is Air.
09:15 "R" is for Rest.
09:17 "T" is for Trust in Divine Power.
09:19 Let's bring us all together.
09:22 You can get the e book and other free
09:25 resources on the website.
09:27 We have advanced resources for extra study.
09:30 You can purchase my book, Evading Ebola.
09:34 You can purchase DVDs on this and related
09:37 programs, as well as resources from other
09:41 health professionals. Back to the topic
09:44 of inapparent infections,
09:46 just what is an inapparent infection?
09:51 This is when a person is infected
09:54 with a virus, but never gets clinically ill.
09:59 They look fine, maybe a little fatigued.
10:02 They don't look like they have the flu,
10:05 but they're infected with influenza.
10:07 I'll give an illustration that ramps up these stakes,
10:14 as we're talking about these
10:16 viral illnesses. I want to tell you about one called
10:19 Eastern equine encephalitis.
10:22 If you live in the western United States
10:23 and never travel out east,
10:24 you can rest assured. E.E.E.
10:28 (Eastern equine encephalitis)
10:30 is pretty much confined to the Atlantic
10:32 and Gulf Coast states.
10:34 You're not going to expect to find it in California.
10:36 Having said that, there is a Western
10:39 equine encephalitis. As you guessed by the name,
10:42 this is a virus that can affect horses,
10:44 but also humans.
10:45 If humans are infected,
10:46 they can get very sick
10:48 and develop encephalitis, a brain infection.
10:52 "Encephalitis" literally means
10:54 "inflammation of the brain."
10:55 You can get a terrible headache,
10:57 high fever, chills, vomiting.
10:59 In fact, if you know much about Ebola, it's
11:03 sounding a lot like that virus.
11:06 Eastern equine encephalitis
11:08 can cause disorientation,
11:10 seizures, coma. You can die.
11:13 Thirty three percent of people
11:16 who develop clinical
11:18 Eastern equine encephalitis infection die.
11:21 Those who survive
11:25 have serious or significant brain damage.
11:28 You may ask, "Why are we talking about this?
11:31 Why isn't there a huge
11:33 outpouring of fear about Eastern
11:35 equine encephalitis?" The reason is that
11:38 there are only a few
11:39 clinical cases each year.
11:41 Most of the people
11:42 infected with this mosquito-borne virus
11:46 never get sick.
11:49 They have an inapparent infection.
11:54 Did you know the same is true about
11:57 the Ebola virus?
11:58 With some serious viruses,
12:03 like the Ebola virus in West Africa,
12:06 70 percent of the people with it die.
12:09 Research indicates that many people in Africa
12:15 have inapparent infections,
12:16 have the Ebola virus, but never get sick.
12:19 This was a classic study from Gabon Africa in 1996.
12:23 Twenty-four had contact with Ebola patients,
12:26 each directly exposed
12:28 to highly infectious materials
12:29 (feces, vomit, saliva, sweat, and blood).
12:32 Not one of those 24 people became sick.
12:36 Researchers checked these individuals for infection.
12:42 They found that 11 of the 24
12:45 had been infected with the Ebola virus,
12:47 yet never got sick.
12:49 Why am I talking about Ebola
12:52 in the context of colds and flus?
12:54 I'm trying to help you see something.
12:56 We may think certain viruses are innocuous,
13:00 and others are dread illnesses.
13:02 What I'm trying to help you see
13:03 is, when it comes to viral illness,
13:06 many viruses
13:08 can cause severe, life-threatening complications.
13:11 This mean some cold viruses, for sure the flu.
13:15 While we are afraid of Ebola,
13:20 viruses like Eastern equine encephalitis and the flu,
13:24 claiming lives and causing serious infection.
13:31 I'm trying to give you some good news,
13:33 though it may seem like I'm being morbid.
13:37 You can come into close proximity
13:40 with serious, even lethal viruses.
13:42 Whether it's Ebola, Eastern equine encephalitis,
13:45 or influenza, you don't have to be infected.
13:49 Remember that study in Gabon.
13:52 Twenty-four individuals, intimately associated,
13:55 and 13 of them did not get infected.
13:57 Even if you do get infected,
13:59 or a virus gets a foothold in your body,
14:02 you have the potential to fight it
14:03 without ever getting sick.
14:05 That is good news. It applies
14:08 not only to serious illnesses, but also
14:12 to colds and flus.
14:14 Hopefully you're hearing how potentially
14:16 very serious these are.
14:19 What researchers found with Ebola is the same
14:22 that we're finding with colds and flus.
14:26 The key is the person's immune system.
14:29 What I'm suggesting is that we need to live
14:33 a lifestyle that is aware
14:36 of the presence of viruses in our midst.
14:38 when I wrote Evading Ebola, I said we should live
14:41 an Ebola-aware lifestyle.
14:43 When speaking about colds and flus,
14:47 you should live a cold and flu-aware lifestyle.
14:52 This is a part of the LifeStart Seminars.
15:00 What do you think we'll focus on in LifeStart?
15:03 We're going focus on liquids, interpersonal relations, and
15:09 foods. Let's start with the liquids.
15:14 The most important concept, when it comes to liquids,
15:18 is hygiene.
15:20 It's the external application of water
15:23 to articles like your hands.
15:26 We're speaking of hand washing.
15:29 When it comes to any infectious agents
15:33 (viral as well as bacterial agents),
15:36 one key issue is called the infective dose.
15:41 You can be exposed to a virus or bacteria but never get sick,
15:45 if you don't get exposed to enough of them.
15:48 It's just like a battle or a war.
15:51 Let's say you're at war with another country.
15:53 Someone says, " We're sending two soldiers
15:55 onto American soil to wipe you out."
15:57 You're saying, "Come on--two soldiers?
15:59 I don't care where they land.
16:01 How much damage can two soldiers do?"
16:03 It may be a lot,
16:04 but they're not going to overrun the country.
16:06 It's the same with infectious agents.
16:08 Let's talk about food poisoning.
16:10 We mentioned that misnomer of
16:13 stomach flu (there's no such thing).
16:16 Gastroenteritis means inflammation
16:19 of the intestines in the stomach.
16:21 You've got gastroenteritis
16:24 (or the potential for it) if you're exposed to
16:27 Campylobacter Jejuni. Campylobacter causes
16:31 two million infections in the United States every year.
16:34 Most people have never heard about it.
16:37 You'll have diarrhea, maybe some vomiting,
16:40 but it doesn't leave its calling card.
16:43 If you've said, "I've got
16:45 food poisoning," or, "I've got the stomach flu," you
16:48 shouldn't be using that terminology.
16:50 Why am I repeating it? Campylobacter Jejuni
16:55 could be contaminating your food.
16:59 You need somewhere between 500 and 10,000 bacteria
17:03 to get infected.
17:05 You're saying, "That's a big range, 500 to 10,000.
17:08 Why is there such a range?"
17:09 Our immune systems have varying
17:13 fortitude. Let me mention something else.
17:17 If you're taking medications
17:20 to suppress stomach acid,
17:22 you are suppressing one of the lines of defense,
17:25 when it comes to infectious agents
17:27 entering through the oral tract.
17:29 Campylobacter comes through the oral tract.
17:32 Your food could be contaminated.
17:34 Someone working in the restaurant
17:37 might not have followed signs like "All
17:41 Employees Must Wash Their Hands Before Returning to Work."
17:44 They didn't do that. They were sick,
17:46 Campylobacter in their excrement.
17:49 They pass it along when handling your
17:52 food. I know that's not a pleasant thought,
17:55 but it can happen.
17:57 If you are being more hygienic,
18:00 even if you're exposed to Campylobacter,
18:02 you may not develop the infection.
18:05 Other infectious agents are more virulent
18:08 (in other words, a smaller
18:09 number of viruses or bacteria cause infection).
18:13 Salmonella Typhi,
18:14 the agent that causes typhoid fever,
18:18 takes maybe 15 to 1,000 bacteria.
18:21 That's tenfold or less than
18:25 Campylobacter needs to infect someone.
18:28 You can have a few Salmonella bacteria
18:31 (Salmonella Typhi) and not get sick.
18:33 Ebola seems to take fewer viruses then those
18:39 other agents.
18:44 Let's say you're exposed to those things.
18:46 Let's make this scenario a little different.
18:48 Let's say the restaurant worker uses the restroom,
18:55 then washes his or her hands.
18:59 Let's deepen the plot a little bit.
19:03 The restaurant worker uses the restroom,
19:06 does not wash their hands,
19:09 and opens the bathroom door, contaminating it.
19:14 As they're going to prepare the food,
19:17 they say, "I'd better wash my hands.
19:19 I can't contaminate the food," then wash their hands.
19:21 The food won't be contaminated with Campylobacter.
19:24 It's on the door handle of the bathroom.
19:27 You go into that bathroom.
19:29 We're applying this concept of using
19:32 liquids and washing your hands.
19:33 You use the bathroom,
19:35 washing and drying your hands.
19:38 You throw the paper towel out, open the bathroom door.
19:43 You can contaminate your washed hand
19:46 with that dirty door handle in the bathroom.
19:50 After washing your hands,
19:53 you could use a paper towel to open the door.
19:55 Do you see the difference?
19:57 Things in that bathroom may be contaminated.
20:00 This includes the faucet and the door.
20:03 It could even include the paper towel dispenser.
20:06 Think about that.
20:08 Keep your hands clean,
20:09 and you can decrease the risk
20:11 of infectious diseases,
20:12 not just Campylobacter and Salmonella.
20:15 This is how
20:16 the flu and common colds are effectively transmitted.
20:19 Someone blows their nose,
20:22 they have a cold or the flu.
20:24 They then open the door
20:26 to the establishment. We're
20:27 not talking about a bathroom door.
20:29 We're talking about walking into a grocery store.
20:32 You say, "They have electric
20:33 doors, Doctor DeRose."
20:34 Whatever door you have to handle, you handle.
20:37 They're touching boxes in the grocery store.
20:39 They're touching the fruit.
20:40 You touch the fruit
20:42 that has been exposed to
20:46 an adenovirus.
20:47 You then rub your eye
20:49 or nose.
20:51 You have just inoculated yourself
20:54 with a virus.
20:56 It all starts with liquids.
20:58 Use liquids, clean your hands thoroughly.
21:01 Wash thoroughly,
21:02 especially before touching your face,
21:04 your eyes, or eating food.
21:08 You will decrease your risk of
21:11 developing colds, flus, and other more
21:14 serious infections.
21:17 Let's talk about the use of hydrotherapy.
21:20 Water therapy can help decrease your risk
21:22 of colds and flus.
21:23 Many people don't realize this.
21:25 If your respiratory tract is very dry,
21:28 the mucosa (the lining) is not moist.
21:34 That increases your risk
21:36 of developing colds or flus.
21:38 Bacteria or viruses
21:40 (colds and flus are viral illnesses)
21:43 can get a foothold
21:45 into your mucosa easily.
21:48 What do you do?
21:50 How do you prevent
21:52 your mucosa from drying out?
21:55 You can use a humidifier in your room.
21:58 Have you ever thought about that at night?
21:59 Some say, "I don't want to buy a humidifier."
22:02 One of my friends, who is a
22:05 family practice doctor,
22:08 actually has people put a Crock Pot
22:10 in their bedroom with a layer of water in it.
22:14 You use the Crock Pot during the day for cooking.
22:19 You use it at night during the cold and
22:20 flu season when the humidity is low.
22:23 The colder the air is,
22:24 the less humid it will be
22:25 (especially in drier parts of the US).
22:27 You can have that vaporizer going
22:30 throughout the night. It will keep your
22:32 mucous membrane moist,
22:34 decreasing your risk of colds and flus.
22:37 We've talked about liquids to some extent.
22:39 That's just the first of nine strategies
22:43 in the LifeStart paradigm, that acronym.
22:46 What about the rest?
22:47 Let's jump to exercise at this point.
22:50 Exercise is so important for the immune system.
22:52 Back in 2011,
22:55 Doctor David Nieman
22:56 and his colleagues at Appalachian State University
22:59 looked at the incidence of colds and flus
23:02 in that North Carolina community.
23:05 Individuals aged 18 to 85 were included in the study,
23:09 men and women.
23:11 They followed these individuals
23:13 for 12 weeks during the cold and flu season.
23:17 What they found was quite remarkable.
23:19 Those who were exercising on a regular basis
23:22 (five or more days per week)
23:25 were compared to those who were
23:27 exercising less than two days per week.
23:30 Frequent exercisers had about half the likelihood
23:34 of having colds and flus and the symptoms
23:37 related to those illnesses.
23:39 They may have had an inapparent infection.
23:41 Exercise is an immune enhancer
23:44 with moderate exercise.
23:46 I stress "moderate exercise,"
23:48 as illustrated in the
23:51 Exercise Immunology Review, in 2010.
23:54 Excessive exercise
23:57 (as often occurs with athletes)
24:00 suppresses the immune system.
24:02 This particular study looked at a dozen
24:05 athletes, engaged in two hours of exhaustive exercise
24:10 on an exercise bicycle.
24:12 Researchers found that, after exercise
24:15 white blood cells (that help fight off viruses like Ebola)
24:21 dropped. It dropped two, four hours after exercise.
24:25 It stayed at a low level, did not return to normal,
24:29 even after 24 hours.
24:31 Do not over-exercise. Another natural
24:36 element that can help prevent colds and flus is in that
24:39 LifeStart acronym is Air (fresh air).
24:42 The single worst thing you can do
24:44 is expose yourself to cigarette smoke.
24:46 Research goes back to the 1919 influenza
24:50 epidemic. This is an anecdotal story,
24:53 something told in medical circles.
24:56 Some of these things are hard to document.
24:59 Apparently, in California (where I call my home)
25:03 many suffered from the influenza epidemic, as
25:07 was the case throughout the world.
25:09 Doctors ran out of space in the hospital.
25:12 They moved some patients out into tents,
25:17 tried to keep them warm by putting
25:20 how water bottles at their feet.
25:22 The story is, these individuals fared better
25:27 (the ones outdoors getting fresh air).
25:29 This is just an interesting insight.
25:31 Don't lock yourself up
25:33 in your room. Keep some fresh air circulating,
25:36 even if you're fighting
25:37 an infection, but don't get chilled.
25:38 Let's talk about a few more things, like
25:42 foods and immunity.
25:44 Steve Provacha, a physician at
25:46 Kaiser Permanente,
25:47 the California-based
25:50 healthcare provider, the HMO.
25:53 He actually
25:54 wrote an interesting article that
25:56 appeared in medical hypotheses years ago.
25:59 Looking at the research, he
26:01 found that when you eat animal products,
26:04 the stress system of the body is activated.
26:07 You may know about stress hormones.
26:09 Stress hormones decrease inflammation.
26:11 That's why we give cortisone shots.
26:13 When you decrease inflammation,
26:15 you suppress the immune system.
26:17 Provacha's work made a strong case.
26:21 For our immune systems to function optimally,
26:25 we want to keep animal product intakes low.
26:29 We want to increase our intake of fruits,
26:32 grains, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
26:36 Let me come back to Liquids, since we're
26:38 speaking about the stress system.
26:40 Many of us take a beverage
26:42 that ramps up our stress hormones.
26:44 That beverage is anything containing caffeine.
26:47 Caffeinated beverages ramp up the stress
26:50 system of the body. That's why it wakes you up.
26:53 Think about how the stress system
26:56 suppresses the immune system.
26:58 Stay away from caffeine
26:59 during cold and flu season.
27:01 You may be surprised.
27:03 Another beverage with immune-suppressing effects
27:05 is alcohol.
27:07 Alcohol has immune-suppressing effects.
27:10 It's something else I recommend you avoid.
27:12 On the flip side, let's get
27:14 back to our LifeStart acronym.
27:15 You want to get more sunshine in the winter.
27:19 If you're much
27:20 further north of Bakersfield, California, or
27:23 Chattanooga, Tennessee,
27:24 you wont make vitamin D by getting out in the sun.
27:27 Take a vitamin D supplement. It's vital.
27:30 Sleep, rest, and stress management
27:33 are vital to optimal immune functioning.
27:35 That pretty much rounds up LifeStart.
27:38 I'm Doctor David DeRose. Hopefully,
27:40 I've given you a glimpse
27:41 of some things that can help your immune system
27:45 fight off colds, flus,
27:46 and other viral illnesses.
27:48 You can get more information
27:50 at lifestartseminars.com.
27:53 Get the free e book and program resource.
27:56 you might be surprised. There
27:57 are secrets and extra social support
28:00 with coaching opportunities. Check out
28:02 LifeStart Seminars.
28:03 I'm doctor David DeRose,
28:05 wishing you the very best success
28:07 in treating colds and flus naturally.
28:10 Hopefully, it won't knock at your door again.


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Revised 2017-01-06