TB on the Move

By Letha Hadady–The San Francisco Chronicle reported March 25, 2009 that health officials are seeing a new type of Tuberculosis patient, someone who isn’t poor or homeless or a newly arrived immigrant. TB is being found in low-risk settings–an affluent high school, a law office, bars, at a venture capital firm. The global economic crunch is packing us closer together as people lose homes, jobs, and health insurance.

TB is a bacterial disease spread in the air from one person to another. It can attack any part of the body, but usually centers on the lungs, and generally requires extensive antibiotic treatment. Last year, nearly 13,000 cases were reported in the United States.

Deadly drug-resistant TB comes from supergerms bred when people are too poor or sick to continue taking antibiotics. They might feel better, stop taking medicines, and infect others. Classic TB symptoms include night sweats, low-grade fever, and loss of appetite. We might think its just overwork, radiator-heat, or a hormonal imbalance. Early stages may be hard to recognize.

The World Health Organization WHO March 24, 2009 reported that a new lethal, drug-resistant tuberculosis strain (XDR-TB) has spread to 55 countries and territories worldwide, including Europe, Asia, Africa, the UK and the United States. Drug-resistant germs make TB harder and more expensive to treat, and increases the likelihood that people infected with tuberculosis will die. People with a weakened immune system face the biggest risk. And mingling TB patients and immune-suppressed HIV patients in health clinics, hospital waiting rooms, and other crowded areas could prove lethal. How can you protect yourself daily?

Diet for Protection

A wise diet nourishes, rejuvenates, and improves immunity. To avoid colds, flu, infections, and weakened immunity increase stimulating and cleansing foods. Avoid excess sweet, rich, foods because they increase mucus and trouble digestion and energy. Increase fresh fruits and vegetables high in helpful antioxidants and nutrients. Fish oil, flax seed oil, hemp oil capsules and nuts are sources of Omega oils that help regulate circulation and reduce impurities. Get some vitamin D (Look towards the sun 15 minutes daily) or take vitamin D 3 capsules or cooked hijiki seaweed. Vitamin D enhances immunity for all sorts of illness, from cancer to depression, and increases calcium absorption.

Deep-cleansing and detoxifying herbs, taken regularly, reduce illness. Useful herbs for prevention of lung infections include neem, guggul and tulsi. In India, the neem tree is known as “Divine Tree” and “Panacea for all diseases.” Products made from neem have proven medicinal properties, including antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and antiviral. If you use antibiotic herbs, add daily capsules of acidophilus.

Increase energy and immunity with astragalus, available in health shops and in Chinatown. Simmer a handful of sliced astragalus root in two cups of water for 30 minutes and drink the liquid between meals. It increases T cells and normalizes sweating reducing night sweats.

Medicinal mushrooms prevent exhaustion and balance immunity. Among them is reishi (Ganoderma lucid) extract or pills. From India, available in East Indian groceries and online, is amla powder and capsules, a wild cherry extremely high in vitamin C. Add 1/4 tsp of the powder to a cup of tea.

Cha-choo

You’re in a cab, an airplane, or waiting in an airport or bus station. You can’t cover your head each time someone sneezes. Besides, germs stay in the air for hours after a sneeze. Here are easy ways to make natural immunity to illness a way of life and health.

Lavender essential oil is a pleasant, soothing natural antimicrobial. It improves the air no matter where you use it. Spray a quality lavender spray on your face and in the air when you enter a confined area such as a cab or airplane.

Take reishi mushroom extract or pills and astragalus capsules along on trips. Use reishi with or between meals. Always use astragalus between meals because it normalizes sweating. It is not digestive. 

Wash hands and face and flush out nostrils with water adding a drop of Australian tea tree oil after being outside. Remove shoes and clothing away from pets and kids especially if you work with sick people.

Letha Hadady is the author of Asian Health Secrets, Personal Renewal, Healthy Beauty, and Feed Your Tiger. She is health columnist for Heal India magazine (Delhi) and New Living (New York).   Her website is www.asianhealthsecrets.com

Upcoming Walking Tours with Letha Hadady:
4/18: A Seasonal Walking Tour of Chinatown Food and Herb Markets
5/09: A Seasonal Walking Tour of Chinatown Food and Herb Markets