COLD OR FLU? WHICH IS IT?

During the winter months, the phone rings constantly with people who have “the flu”. Except…they don’t. Do you know the difference between having a cold and having the flu?

The common cold (and boy is it common) develops gradually over several days and can start with a scratchy throat, sneezing and sniffles leading to congestion. Any fever present is mild (in adults). Coughing is generally hacking and can be moist due to congestion.

On the other hand, influenza often starts rather suddenly with fever (usually greater than 101 degrees F and lasting 3-4 days), headache and all over body aches (myalgia).  People with the flu are often exhausted or fatigued. Coughing is usually dry and hacking and can last days or weeks after all other flu symptoms have passed.

Influenza or “the flu” is more of a systemic illness, meaning it affects your entire body, whereas a cold generally just affects the upper body. You can sometimes get a stuffy nose, sneezing and sore throat with the flu, but it’s much more common with colds. The flu is more serious because it can lead to other problems, like pneumonia in susceptible adults and young children.

Influenza is caused by a virus. In general, viral illnesses will run their course without a trip to the doctor. Antibiotics don't work against viruses, so all your doctor can recommend to help you are pain medications, cough suppressants or an anti-pyretic (fever reducers). All of these are available without a prescription from your local drug store to help you deal with flu symptoms.

If you are suffering from cold or flu symptoms, you should also schedule a visit to your chiropractor. Chiropractic care doesn’t treat the virus directly, but rather boosts your body’s ability to fight the invaders. That’s why regular chiropractic care can reduce the frequency with which you get sick. When your body’s immune system is in peak condition, it can fight off minor intruders with ease.

All ABout Vitamin A

You may have heard from your grandma that eating carrots can improve you vision. That may not be exactly true, but carrots do contain something called provitamin A carotenoids. These are pigments in some plants that can be converted by the body into vitamin A, and vitamin A is important to your vision.
 
Vitamin A is also helpful to bone growth and your immune system. As with other vitamins, there are different forms of vitamin A. One of the forms that is most usable to the body is called retinol, which is found in liver, eggs, and milk. One of the most common provitamin A carotenoids that the body converts easily to retinol is beta carotene. Beta carotene is found in yellow and orange fruits and vegetables including carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and cantaloupe. Vitamin A is also one of the vitamins often used to fortify breakfast cereals.

Vitamin A is fat soluble, which means that the body stores it, mostly in the liver. That also means that it is possible to build up toxic levels of Vitamin A. This rarely happens from food sources because as the body builds up supplies of vitamin A it will slow down the conversion of beta carotene. When people do get vitamin A toxicity, it is usually from taking too much in supplemental or pill form. Toxic levels of vitamin A can cause liver problems, central nervous system problems, deterioration of bone density, and birth defects.

True deficiency of vitamin A is rare in the US, but common in countries where malnourishment is widespread. As mentioned earlier, vitamin A is important to the immune system and vision. This is because the body uses vitamin A to make various internal tissues, such as those lining the eye, lungs, and intestinal tract. When these linings are weakened by vitamin A deficiency, it is easier for harmful bacteria to penetrate them and thus, people with vitamin A deficiency are more prone to infections, illness, blindness, and respiratory problems.

Aside from the malnourished, other people who may be prone to vitamin A deficiency include those who consume large amounts of alcohol and those with certain metabolic disorders that affect how fat and other nutrients are absorbed by the body.

Some recent and ongoing studies involving vitamin A and beta carotene include investigations as to whether high amounts of vitamin A contribute to osteoporosis, and whether beta carotene can lower the risk of some forms of cancer.

As of this writing the Recommended Daily Intake for Vitamin A was 2,310 IU for females and 3,000 IU for males. For a current list of recommendations and list of foods that contain Vitamin A from the National Institutes for Health visit http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina/

The Role of Antioxidants in Good Health

Immune System Support

Everyone has heard about the importance of a balanced diet for maintaining good health. Similarly, everyone knows that they should be getting exercise - or at the very least adding more activity into their days. Getting a good night's sleep is essential - without it, you'll find that your immune system starts to slack off a bit and you put yourself at a greater risk for catching a cold or coming down with the flu.

We all know what we should be doing, but let's be honest: very few of us eat a balanced diet all of the time. Many of us make the choice to take the elevator rather than the stairs and we try to find a parking place that's as close as possible to our destination rather than taking the opportunity to walk a little further. We also tend to let stress, work, social gatherings and more interfere with the amount of sleep that we're able to get each night.

When we don't go the extra mile to take care of ourselves, and when our immune systems start to falter because of it, we may not feel it right away. Soon, sluggishness starts creeping in. This sluggishness not only slows us down, it also ages us prematurely.

Fortunately, there's something that we can do to counteract some of these effects. We can maintain our vigor and reduce the risk of disease simply by adding antioxidants to our diet.

What are Antioxidants?

The simplest answer is that antioxidants are plant-derived compounds that help prevent and repair cellular damage. Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium, lycopene and resveratrol are all examples of antioxidants that are found in fruits and vegetables. By making an effort to add antioxidants to our diet, we can slow the cellular damage that leads to disease.

Antioxidants are, in effect, sponges that soak up the free radicals in our systems. Excess free radicals are generated by the less healthy foods that we eat, alcohol that we drink, smoke that we're exposed, and stress that we endure.

Free radicals damage our DNA and other cellular structures at the molecular level. Antioxidants roam around the body inactivating the free radicals and also assisting in damage repair. Damage that isn’t repaired can cause a cell to die, malfunction or replicate uncontrollably (such as in a tumor).

You can fight back against free radicals by adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.

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