All Stop Health Blog

Archive for May, 2009

According to a report found on CNN yesterday, the CDC (centers for disease control), though most of the anxiety and fear stemming from Swine flu has subsided, Swine Flu HAS NOT. As indicative of recent records, swine flu is still on the rise, and is likely to cause more deaths and illnesses in the United States. The current death toll is at 8, and the confirmed cases are sky-rocketing. There are reportedly unusual numbers of outbreaks in schools.

‘”We do think that the way the virus is spreading in the U.S., we are not out of the woods, and the disease is continuing,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health program at the CDC in a news conference this week.’

Over 5,123 cases of H1N1 (swine flu) have been reported, and is suspected to be rising even as you read this.

On a slightly lighter note, though not saying it’s not serious, 30 patients who were hospitalized in California yesterday with H1N1 flu had other underlying medical conditions such as chronic heart and lung disease, suppressed immune systems, diabetes, and obesity – and none of them died. As with most virus’s out there, the better your overall health and immune system is, the less likely you are to contract many illnesses. Some of the symptoms the aforementioned patients portrayed were that of fevers, coughs, vomiting and shortness of breath according to the CDC. 5 of the patients were pregnant, and unfortunately, two of the fetuses did not survive. 4 of the patients were admitted into intensive care that needed mechanical ventilation for support.

For more on the specifics on CDC’s reports on patients recently, you can find more from CDC’s site or CNN health’s news reports.

Again, stay healthy and keep your surroundings clean and as germ free as possible. And again, the virus CANNOT be contracted from eating cooked pork. 

5. DO NOT PANIC

News anchors and media keep pondering and asking the question, “When is it best to panic?”  NEVER, sounds like a good idea. When people panic, be it on a personal or national level, things tend to drift more towards the Disastrous level; in a pandemic, its easy to see that this would easily become catastrophic.

As troublesome as the the H1N1 flu  has been and continues to be, keep in mind that few have died, thus far, of swine flu outside the Mexican border. In the event of this pandemic spreading further, scientists are assuming it will still be a mild one. If you look at the number of annual flu-related  deaths in the United States in just one year alone, ranging to near 35,000 on average, it really helps put this one in perspective.  

“A computer model by researchers at Northwestern University estimated that even if nothing were done to slow the spread of the disease from now on, by the end of May the U.S. would have only about 1,700 cases. The good news is that H1N1 is hitting North America at the tail end of its flu season. It’s possible that the virus may peter out and re-appear next autumn, but that gives us months to prepare.”  – TIME

As WHO and CDC officials stress over and over again, influenza is still a mystery that isn’t completely understood, and H1N1 is likely to keep evolving and changing — we can’t predict how the epidemic will progress. Panicking, however, is sure to only make things worse. “This is a cause for deep concern, but not panic,” said President Barack Obama in his April 29 news conference. In the midst of all this anxiety, that’s the best advice there is. Until then, stay safe, calm, and smart – doing everything you can to keep your surroundings clean and free of harmful bacteria and viruses.

If the financial crisis isn’t enough to make you itch, now there’s even more to worry about. Scientist claim there is a distinct possibility of rampant outbreaks of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac packing more itch power than ever before because of global warming. The greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide or CO2 is considered a major player in global warming. Increased CO2 emissions are actively facilitating the flourishing of invasive nuisance plants like poison ivy. According to research, toxic strains of poison ivy are growing faster and bigger. Climate shifts are also affecting the spread of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

Research shows climate shifts could also change the growth patterns of certain plants. This is definitely not a good thing when those plants are irritants or allergens. Poison ivy grows almost everywhere in the United States and approximately 80% of all people are allergic to poison ivy and experience a red, bumpy, itchy and sometimes blistering skin rash when they come into contact the plant’s carbon-based active compound.

Studies claim that with the more poisonous strains the resulting rashes and itching will certainly be worse. One such study at Duke University found that urushiol oil exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide is 30% more potent than oil exposed to common CO2 levels. In fact, some experts believe the toxicity of poison in plants like poison ivy has reached all time highs, much elevated from decades ago. Urushiol is present in all poison ivy plants at all times of the year, but the majority of reactions occur in the spring or early summer when poison ivy leaves are tender and easily bruised. The noxious substance is found on the plant’s leaves, stems, fruit, flowers and roots and can be picked up from contact with pets, tools and clothing, etc.

Learn more about poison ivy and poison ivy treatments.

Not too long after I started working here which was about 18 1/2 months ago I got a call from a mother who wanted to purchase our Liceadex lice removal gel to use on herself and her 4 daughters. She said she had been battling lice for a little over 6 months. She would tried numerous lice home remedy, it would help to make the nits easier to pick but after a few day when she would check their hair again the nightmare would start all over. The lice treatments she was doing just weren’t working.

One day after speaking with her friend on the phone about her girls’ hair and what a problem it was to get all of the nits out of their hair, her friend recommended she get on the web and search for a lice treatment product that would allow you to rinse the nits right out of the hair. She said a friend of hers had used the lice removal system but she couldn’t remember the name, said it started with a “A”. She searched for about an hour before she came to the link for All Stop, found the number and called. She said she just had to speak with someone from this company because as she put it “This just can’t be real’.

We started talking about the problems she was having and I recommended she purchase the lice removal family pack. Upon placing the order I advised her if she had any questions, concerns or problems about the lice treatment that she could give me a call. She called the same night she got our lice home remedy because as soon as she got them she tore open the package and began applying the lice removal gel starting with her oldest daughter’s hair. She went down the line applying and rinsing, following the lice regimen that comes in the package with the lice removal treatment but upon rinsing out the Liceadex on her daughter’s hair the nits were still there. She decided to go ahead and apply the lice treatment to herself. The treatment actually worked for her so she  applied it again on her daughter but for the 2nd time it was a failure. She attributed it to being tired because she had actually done 5  lice treatments in one night and had sprayed all of the bedding and furniture with the Home and Bedding spray.

She called me the next day crying because she was tired of it all and how could the lice removal product work for 4 of them but not her youngest daughter. I calmed her down and started asking her the questions we ask customers if they are having a lice treatment problem. I found out that her daughter had very thick, curly hair. I educated Susan on the fact that every hair strand had to be completely saturated with the Liceadex. We hung up that night and the next morning she called me in tears again, not because it didn’t work but because she had finally found a lice removal product that allowed her to rinse the nits out of her children’s hair and because it was safe enough to use over and over again if needed. She said she was a customer for life. If you are tired of having to take hours and hours combing and picking through your child’s hair then take a little time to learn about our non-toxic lice removal system.

4. Don’t Leave your home if you feel ill

image by: Stephen Chernin / AP

With the lacking of an exact vaccine, the only logical defenses we have against the spread of H1N1 are simple ones. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze; trying use your arm and not your hands while doing so.  Wash your hands frequently and be mindful of touching publicly often-used handles. You may even purchase a  pocket-sized bottle of hand sanitizer and use it, in moderation though. Over exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizers will dry out your skin, creating cracks and fissures in your skin where open flesh will be exposed, leading to increased susceptibility to the H1N1 virus. Also, maintain consuming immune-boosting supplements, drinks and foods. These are some of the easiest, and some of the more effective ways of preventing getting sick.

“But when it comes to slowing the overall spread of a pandemic flu, the best thing we can do is keep sick people away from everyone else. It’s called “social distancing,” and studies of the deadly 1918 Spanish flu showed that cities that instituted distancing measures quickly suffered lower death tolls than cities that did nothing or reacted slowly.” -TIME

So if you’re feeling ill or under the weather, don’t return to work until your health is back up to par — even though that may not be the best advice for the nearly 50% of private-sector workers in the U.S. who don’t get paid sick days.

3. Don’t STOCKPILE antivirals

It has been stated that the  H1N1 virus (originally known as Swine Flu and commonly type incorrectly as N1H1) has proven vulnerable to the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza so far. This is great news to people. The government had originally set up pandemic preparations by  stockpiling 50 million doses of those drugs over the past few years. This was to be enough to ensure that doctors would be able to respond effectively to new outbreaks for a large sum of people. But that capacity could be compromised if people begin stockpiling antivirals for their own consumption. There are already reports of pharmacies running short of Tamiflu, and many hospitals in the U.S. have begun limiting the power to prescribe antivirals to just a few doctors. Also, the misuse or overuse of Tamiflu or Relenza by patients can promote general resistance in the flu virus which would promote effectively removing the only ammo in our arsenal to defend ourselves.

Preparing and Protecting against the flu is more encouraged, buying disinfectants, and cleaners and maintaining sanitation not only on you and your loved ones, but even moreso in your environment.

On April 29, the CDC stated that “swine flu” would no longer be the proper term for this strain of flu. It is now being called  “2009 H1N1 flu.” It doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily, but it’s more accurate and less offensive. For one thing, there isn’t any proof that suggests H1N1 flu actually  makes pigs  sick. And the H1N1 virus contains genes from swine, avian and human flus. The virus also cannot be spread through cooked pork foods — you CANNOT contract swine flu by eating hot dogs, bacon, cracklins or anything else that was once belonged to a pig. Nor will bringing pigs together and collecting them, as authorities did in Egypt, do anything to hinder the spread of the disease. H1N1 has propagated in humans and passes with ease from person to person. So disregard the bad rap given to pigs.

Joe Raedle / Getty

Since this global swine flu issue is taking off in the media and by word of mouth nearly everywhere you turn, there’s no wondering why so many people may easily panic and overact to even the smallest sign that they feel ill right now. Because of this terror instilled in people, some are going so far as to pour into emergency rooms in many states across our country; they fear they have this horrifying disease. It is strongly urged that people DO NOT rush to the emergency room if they start feeling the tiniest inkling that they have contracted swine flu. Like, “oh, my throat hurts…”, or “I feel more tired than i usually do”, or “what’s with my coughing and sniffling?, that can’t be good!”

It also burdens hospitals, the more that “just paranoid” people that start rushing to ER.  Having to examine people who aren’t really sick puts a toll on the already strained/stressed hospitals that are trying to prepare for a pandemic. Additionally, going to an emergency room without just cause may even put you further in harms way and risk your health. In past outbreaks, including SARS in 2003, hospitals were actually breeding grounds of infections — all those sick people in close proximity — and the same could be true of swine flu.

“If you actually have flu-like symptoms — a fever above 100° F, headache, sore throat, body aches, chills or fatigue — and you live in an area where there have been confirmed swine flu cases, by all means report to your doctor. Otherwise, leave the hospital to the sick people.”

ARTICLE FEATURED ON TIME.COM