Herbal Alternative to Flu Shots

Cold and flu season is upon us again. I would like to make some recommendations to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy during this time of year. It will probably come as no surprise to you that I don't think a flu shot is a good idea. Let me share with you some of the reasons why.

In the first place, the influenza virus mutates almost as fast as the common cold. Every year, vaccine makers play a guessing game as they try to predict which strain of the flu will be making the rounds this year. Since it takes several months to prepare a large quantity of flu vaccine, there is a pretty slim chance that the match will be good (CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 14 May 1993.)

You may have missed the fact that in 1976 there was a huge public health fiasco when the flu vaccine actually paralyzed 565 infants with Guillain-Barrè Syndrome. Hundreds more suffered major side effects and the government eventually paid out more that $400 million in damages to the victims' families when it was proven that the government had foreknowledge that this particular vaccine was dangerous. When a top research scientist, J. Anthony Morris, tried to warn the public, he was fired by the Division of Biologic Standards, the federal agency in charge of vaccine safety! (Coulter, H., Fisher, B., A Shot In The Dark, Avery Press, 1991)

What you may not know is that there is a statistically significant connection between flu shots and Alzheimer's Disease. Hugh Fudenburg, MD, the world's leading immunogeneticist who has published about 850 peer-reviewed professional papers, explains: "If an individual had 5 consecutive flu shots between 1970 and 1980, the chances of Alzheimer's disease was 10 times greater than those getting . . . no shots." [NVIC International Conference, Sept 1997)

Much of the information contained in this letter is contained in the book The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination is Not Immunization by Tim O'Shea. I highly recommend it as a well-researched and documented indictment of America's public health policy on vaccination.

Instead of flu shots, I recommend that you improve your own immune function. In fact, I have patients with the flu in my office every season - yet, I seldom develop the flu. One approach is to take the extremely potent Echnicacea we carry from Medi Herb, which is distributed in America by Standard Process. It's called Echinacea Premium and is more than twice as potent as over-the-counter Echinacea preparations. If you have some on hand, put a bit of it on your tongue. If it doesn't tingle, it's missing essential active ingredients.

Echinacea is safe to be taken prophylactically. It is not like golden seal, which contains an alkaloid that can damage the liver with long-term use. Echinacea simply revs up the immune system. Should you start to feel ill, immediately add our St. John's Wort to your protocol. The Medi-Herb product is, again, different from over-the-counter preparations. American processed St. John's Wort is processed only to maintain the active ingredient which is believed to be anti-depressant. However, Medi-Herb St. John's Wort which is produced in Australia preserves the anti-viral fraction, as well. The result: a potent anti-viral compound that is extremely effective against a wide range of viral illness, including herpes, influenza, colds, chronic fatigue associated with viral infections such as Cytomegalovirus, etc. It is not effective against "naked" viruses, like wart viruses.

So, to protect yourself, get started on Echinacea Premium right away. We keep a supply of it and the St. John's Wort on hand at all times. I hope this fall season you stay well; if not, call us so that we can help you get back on your feet as soon as possible.

References:

  1. Andersen DO, Weber ND, Wood SG et al. Antiviral Res 1991; 16(2): 185-196.

  2. Lopez-Bazzocchi I, Hudson JB, Towers GHN. Photochem.Photopbiol. 1991; 54(1): 95-98.

  3. Moraleda G, Wu TT, Jilbert AR et al. Antiviral Res 1993; 20: 235-247.

  4. Tang J, Colacino JM, Larsen SH et al. Antiviral Res 1990; 13 (6): 313-325.

  5. Hudson JB, Harris L, Towers GHN. Antiviral Res 1993; 20 (2):173-178.

  6. Lenard J, Rabson A, Vanderoef R. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90 (1): 158-162.

  7. Degar S, Prince AM, Pascual D et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1992; 8 (11): 1929-1936.

  8. Carpenter S, Kraus GA. Photochem Photobiol 1991; 53 (2): 169-174.

  9. Lavie G, Valentine F, Levin B et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989; 86 (15): 5963-5967.

  10. Meruelo D, Lavie G, Lavie D et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1988; 85 (14): 5230-5234.

  11. Kraus GA, Pratt D, Tossberg J et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1990; 172 (1): 149-153.

  12. Takahashi I, Nakanishi S, Kobayashi E et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1989; 165 (3): 1207-1212.

  13. De Witte P, Agostinis P, Van Lint J et al. Biochem Pharmacol 1993; 46 (11): 1929-1936.

  14. Panossian AG, Gabrielian E, Manvelian V et al. Phytomed 1996; 3 (1): 19-28.

  15. Lavie G, Mazur Y, Lavie D et al. Transfusion 1995; 35 (5): 392-400.

  16. Constantine GH, Karchesy J. Variations in Hypericin concentrations in Hypericum perforatum L. and commercial products. Pharmaceutical Biology 1998; 36 (5): 365-367.

If this article is of interest to you, see our other information on West Nile Virus

Does this apply to you? If so, see our information on Consultations.

West Nile Virus and St John's Wort

West Nile Virus, although new to the US, is well-documented. The Centers for Disease Control identifies it as a flavivirus, a member of the Togavirus family. It is closely related to yellow fever and dengue fever. This is important because the Togavirus family are encapsulated viruses, i.e., they are covered with a lipid (fatty) coating.

This is exciting, because it means the virus is accessible to treatment utilizing high quality St. John's Wort (SJW). Several studies have been done on a variety of encapsulated viruses, including herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, parainfluenza virus, vaccinia virus, cytomegalovirus and several retroviruses including HIV1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10. Non-encapsulated viruses or "naked" viruses were also studied for comparison purposes10,13. SJW was a potent anti-viral agent across a variety of encapsulated virus families, but showed no activity against naked viruses.

Unlike a vaccine that is specific to each organism, SJW is active against encapsulated viruses by a variety of mechanisms, including light activation, interference with DNA transcription, impairing the assembly of intact viral particles and the lipophilic (fat-loving) nature of the ring structures (the quinone and phenolic groups)4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. These ring structures are critical to the biologic activity of SJW.

From these results, it is reasonable to use high quality, pharmaceutical grade SJW in combating West Nile Virus, since there are no effective pharmaceutical agents. Quality is critical since the level of hypericin and pseudohypericin are key. I can only recommend the SJW product produced by Medi-Herb, which is a pharmaceutical house in Australia, adhering to pharmaceutical manufacturing standards. The product is distributed by Standard Process through alternative health care practitioners, including doctors of chiropractic, acupuncturists and veterinarians. SJW is quite unstable and the active ingredients degrade on store shelves. An independent analysis of 3 products (all of which were certified to contain 0.3% hypericin) were shown to be widely variant, with one product 25% below label claims. It is critically important that the phytochemical integrity of the whole plant be preserved for maximum efficacy.16

Medi-Herb SJW is available at the RFHC and is the only brand we carry.

References:

  1. Andersen DO, Weber ND, Wood SG et al. Antiviral Res 1991; 16(2): 185-196.

  2. Lopez-Bazzocchi I, Hudson JB, Towers GHN. Photochem.Photopbiol. 1991; 54(1): 95-98.

  3. Moraleda G, Wu TT, Jilbert AR et al. Antiviral Res 1993; 20: 235-247.

  4. Tang J, Colacino JM, Larsen SH et al. Antiviral Res 1990; 13 (6): 313-325.

  5. Hudson JB, Harris L, Towers GHN. Antiviral Res 1993; 20 (2):173-178.

  6. Lenard J, Rabson A, Vanderoef R. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90 (1): 158-162.

  7. Degar S, Prince AM, Pascual D et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1992; 8 (11): 1929-1936.

  8. Carpenter S, Kraus GA. Photochem Photobiol 1991; 53 (2): 169-174.

  9. Lavie G, Valentine F, Levin B et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989; 86 (15): 5963-5967.

  10. Meruelo D, Lavie G, Lavie D et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1988; 85 (14): 5230-5234.

  11. Kraus GA, Pratt D, Tossberg J et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1990; 172 (1): 149-153.

  12. Takahashi I, Nakanishi S, Kobayashi E et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1989; 165 (3): 1207-1212.

  13. De Witte P, Agostinis P, Van Lint J et al. Biochem Pharmacol 1993; 46 (11): 1929-1936.

  14. Panossian AG, Gabrielian E, Manvelian V et al. Phytomed 1996; 3 (1): 19-28.

  15. Lavie G, Mazur Y, Lavie D et al. Transfusion 1995; 35 (5): 392-400.

  16. Constantine GH, Karchesy J. Variations in Hypericin concentrations in Hypericum perforatum L. and commercial products. Pharmaceutical Biology 1998; 36 (5): 365-367.

If this article is of interest to you, see our other information on West Nile Virus

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