People have expressed concerned about the coming winter months. Therefore I would like to present some Tips to staying healthy during the Cold Winter months.

1. Avoid Overdrying the sinuses:

Avoid over drying the sinus cavities: mucus exists in the sinuses to grab dust and other particles. It acts as the first defense line for catching any particles including viruses and bacteria that enter through the nostrils. The mucus is actually transported by the “mucilary escalator”, an elevator effect created by the flapping of the nose hairs in a specific way. This systematically push mucus upwards along the hairs (called cilia) to be swallowed and vaporized by the stomach acid. So it is not a good idea to overly dry the sinuses for example by taking anti-histamines on a regular basis to clear up congestion. Lack of mucus lining the sinuses can allow infections to take root in the sinuses. Anti-histamines should be used only if a person has breathing at night due to a clogged nose. Make sure to moisten the membranes using a simple saline was available at most pharmacies.

In Chinese medicine the nose is considered the “doorway” to the lungs. The Lung organ in Chinese medicine includes the sinuses and the respiratory passageways and their linings. It also includes the external skin from the body as part of its domain.

1. Keep the bowels moving:

Constipation, irregular bowel movements can back things up from the gut causes more sinuses congestion . This sluggishness creates a wafting up of damp sluggish moisture that can cause the sinuses to remain overly “phlegmy” and ripe for a viral or bacteria infection. Think of a very poorly ventilated subway platform in one of New York’s subways on a hot day. Walking down into the subway, you can’t help but feel the hot sweltering air, with bad scents, blowing upwards into the stairwell as you enter the subway system. The same thing occurs in the gut with the “environment” wafting upwards into the sinus cavities. Such an environment makes the sinus cavities even more susceptible for a sinus or cold to take root. Adding in non-soluble fiber in addition to the vegetables eaten can help move the bowels by bulking up the stool which helps “clean up” the bowels as well as sending a message to the intestines to move the bowels. Ex. Ground flax seed 1 table spoon daily in yogurt or oatmeal or any of the over the counter non-soluble fibers in pill form. Make sure you drink plenty of water with your fiber so it doesn’t get “stuck” in the intestines.

In Chinese medicine the intestines are said to be linked to the lung/ respiratory system. Benefitting one system in turn helps benefit the other system. That is way many points along the Large intestine meridian are helpful for respiratory problems and vice versa. Additional fiber, indirectly benefits the lung.

3. Make sure stomach acid is strong:

Stomach acid serves to protect the body against infection. When a virus or bacteria is inhaled it gets quickly attached to mucus formed from goblet cells in the sinuses to catch the virus. The foreign agent is then moved along the hair nose until it gets up to the sinuses where it drips down the throat and is sent to the stomach to be vaporized by the acid. Several articles in JAMA and as recently as the New York Times have shown that people who have been taking antacids on a preventative basis (such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid have been shown to be more susceptible to catching pneumonia. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/health/27drugs.html) The study’s lead author, Dr. Shoshana J. Herzig, chief medical resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said that “proton pump inhibitors, which suppress acid in the stomach, might promote the growth of different types of bacteria in the upper gastrointestinal and respiratory tract, and that those bacteria might be the culprits in the pneumonias. Another explanation, she suggested, may be that acid stimulates coughing, and coughing less may promote pneumonia.”

To make sure your acid reflux issue is still really an issue due to acid, take the “apple cider vinegar test”. If ingesting 1 to 2 ounces of apple cider vinegar causes you to burn more in the esophagus or throat, then you truly have an acid problem. If you do not feel any exacerbation of acid or if you actually feel like you digested your meal better (no gas, no bloating) then you actually have too little acid production. The flap above the stomach, called the cardiac sphincter, isn’t closing properly, allowing the stomach contents to reflux upwards.

The solution lies in determining which way the problem is don’t assume that you have acid because you had an endoscopy and the tissue lining was reddened. It could be red without producing too much acid. If too little acid is the problem, supplementing with hydrochloric acid with the bigger meals may help the situation. If too much acid is the problem, licorice and other herbs that are mucilaginous and that coat the throat and intestines will be helpful.

In Chinese medicine the stomach has to heat food up to a “100 degree soup” (see here the image of a boiling cauldron) for acid to be secreted and digest food. As we get older the digestive “fire”, weakens if not kept strong and with good diet so that poor digestion and weight gain result.

4.       Treat early to prevent the virus from replicating. 

It takes 24 to 48 hours for a virus or a bacterial infection to take hold of the body. See chart below. Treating the problem early, before the replication process occurs, means you have a better chance of nipping it in the bud. The window of opportunity for most infections (except influenza) are 2 to 5+ days. Recognizing the symptoms, treating early, can prevent a full blown infection from occurring, sidelining you for several days to get back on your feet.  

RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS INCUBATION TIMES

Bronchiolitis              4 to 6     Onset of cough until

                                      7 days

Colds                      2 to 5     Onset of runny nose

                                      until fever is gone

Coughs (viral)             2 to 5     Onset of cough until

                                      fever is gone

Croup (viral)              2 to 6     Onset of cough until

                                      fever is gone

Diphtheria                 2 to 5     Onset of sore throat

                                      until 4 days on

                                      antibiotic

Influenza                  1 to 2     Onset of symptoms until

                                      fever is gone

Sore throat, strep         2 to 5     Onset of sore throat

                                      until 24 hours on

                                      antibiotic

Sore throat, viral         2 to 5     Onset of sore throat

                                      until fever is gone

Tuberculosis               6 to 24    Until 2 weeks on

                            months    drugs (Note: Most

                                      childhood TB is not

                                      contagious.)

Whooping cough             7 to 10    Onset of runny nose

                                      until 5 days on

                                      antibiotic

source: http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_incubate_hhg.htm

Example: A person came into the clinic with the following symptoms:

Feverish sensation with mild chills (no actual fever)

Scratchy or sore throat 

Sudden fatigue

Lymph gland swelling

Thirst

Body aches - generalized 

Headache & nasal congestion

Gan Mao Ling or “Miraculous Cold Pills” is a standard remedy for this using herbs that are anti viral and anti-toxin. It is a good c=formula to use to prevent a cold before it gets entrenched. It must follow those symptoms. I use this formula a lot with people taking trips on planes or trains in order to prevent the symptoms. It should be taken at the early stages of a cold or flu, and taken through a cold to speed recovery. Herbs such as Ilex and Evodia help reduce the lymph gland swellings and enhance the immune system. Taking this formula early enough prevents the cold from replicating which allows the body to nip the infection “in the bud”. 

5. Do not rev up your immune system all the time - only when needed: 

Patients tell me that they take Echinacea to prevent a cold and have taken it for several months. I tell them that Echinacea will only work in a certain type of cold (hot type as described above). Taking herbs to rev up the immune system to prevent colds and flu when the season is high such as after the holidays when people run themselves down with lack of sleep, poor diet etc. in the months of January and February. Taking herbs such as Astragalus root, Cordyceps, and or “Jade Screen decoction” (an herbal formula that contains Astragalus plus two to four other herbs to help strengthen the immunity) can be used in those times when everyone at work or customers are coming in sick. These herbs should be stopped after 2 to three months so that the immune system can return to normal and so the herbs will not lose their effectiveness. If you are always gunning the “engine” of your body, what will you do if you get sick later on there is nothing to do to stimulate the immune system further? So conservative use of immune stimulating herbs can be helpful for shorter times will be more helpful than keeping the body’s immune system stimulated for longer periods of time unless medically warranted (such as in HIV, Cancer or long term auto-immune diseases). 

holidays when people run themselves down with lack of sleep, poor diet etc. in the months of January and February. Taking herbs such as Astragalus root, Cordyceps, and or “Jade Screen decoction” (an herbal formula that contains Astragalus plus two to four other herbs to help strengthen the immunity) can be used in those times when everyone at work or customers are coming in sick. These herbs should be stopped after 2 to three months so that the immune system can return to normal and so the herbs will not lose their effectiveness. If you are always gunning the “engine” of your body, what will you do if you get sick later on there is nothing to do to stimulate the immune system further? So conservative use of immune stimulating herbs can be helpful for shorter times will be more helpful than keeping the body’s immune system stimulated for longer periods of time unless medically warranted (such as in HIV, Cancer or long term auto-immune diseases). 
 
What I have tried to do is give you some tools to help stay healthier. Antibiotics are getting less and less effective and have result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Americans have consume 3 million pounds of antibiotics  per year and another 27 million pounds are used in farm animals contributing to the mutation of virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria[1]. The Chinese medicine approach tries to match the person to the disease and tries to enhance the overall immune function of the body in contrast to western antibiotics which try to suppress the disease. Chinese Medicine maintains that the deciding factor in the occurrence of an infectious disease is the body’s own immune response and is thus more concerned about regulating the immune response of the body. This theory is called sheng xu xie shi, which translates as “body’s resistance weakened while the pathogenic factor prevails”. During the flu season, for example, most people are exposed to the flu virus in due course. However, only some actually develop the flu. Those people with stronger immune systems will prevail and prevent themselves from getting sick from the flu. Enhancing the body’s resistance will reduce the body’s chances of getting an infection in the first place.  It is my hope that this brief discussion will help you understand how better to protect yourself during the winter months and to gain better understanding in its treatment and prevention. 
 
 



[1] Zhang, QingCai, Lyme Disease and Modern Chinese Medicine, An Alternative Treatment Strategy Developed by Zhang’ Clinic.Sino-Med Research Institute. New York, NY p.27:2006.



What I have tried to do is give you some tools to help stay healthier. Antibiotics are getting less and less effective and have result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Americans have consume 3 million pounds of antibiotics  per year and another 27 million pounds are used in farm animals contributing to the mutation of virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria[1]. The Chinese medicine approach tries to match the person to the disease and tries to enhance the overall immune function of the body in contrast to western antibiotics which try to suppress the disease. Chinese Medicine maintains that the deciding factor in the occurrence of an infectious disease is the body’s own immune response and is thus more concerned about regulating the immune response of the body. This theory is called sheng xu xie shi, which translates as “body’s resistance weakened while the pathogenic factor prevails”. During the flu season, for example, most people are exposed to the flu virus in due course. However, only some actually develop the flu. Those people with stronger immune systems will prevail and prevent themselves from getting sick from the flu. Enhancing the body’s resistance will reduce the body’s chances of getting an infection in the first place.  It is my hope that this brief discussion will help you understand how better to protect yourself during the winter months and to gain better understanding in its treatment and prevention. 
 
 



[1] Zhang, QingCai, Lyme Disease and Modern Chinese Medicine, An Alternative Treatment Strategy Developed by Zhang’ Clinic.Sino-Med Research Institute. New York, NY p.27:2006.

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