January 24, 2025 • 56 mins
Discover the secrets to navigating the winter season without succumbing to common respiratory viruses like RSV, influenza, and COVID-19. Join us on this episode of the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast as we share a mix of personal stories and expert insights, providing you with the tools to maintain your health during the festive months. We tackle critical hygiene practices to keep kids and infants safe, discuss the benefits of proper nutrition and hydration, and lay out strategies for dealing with symptoms at home using practical tools like nasal irrigation and pulse oximeters.
Learn how natural remedies can serve as powerful allies in supporting your immune system against seasonal viruses. We'll guide you through integrating vitamin D3, essential oils, and specific herbs into your daily routine for enhanced immune defense. From understanding the role of nutrition to employing unconventional therapies like Rife technology and lymphatic support, the episode empowers you to make informed choices about your health. We also dive into the nuances of managing a fever with both medicinal and non-medicinal approaches, ensuring you have a comprehensive toolkit to stay well.
Our discussion doesn't shy away from controversial topics, including the use of ivermectin and the broader implications of vaccinations. By shedding light on these areas, we aim to equip you with a balanced view of modern and traditional approaches to health. Learn from real stories of recovery and resilience as we emphasize the importance of proactive care and immune support. Whether you're a parent, a caregiver, or simply someone who wants to stay healthy this winter, this episode is packed with actionable advice and insights to help you thrive in the face of respiratory challenges.
RESOURCES FROM PODCAST DISCUSSION:
https://www.epocrates.com/online/diseases/1165/respiratory-syncytial-virus-infection#guidelines
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/us-respiratory-disease-markers-remain-high-flu-covid-rsv
DISCLAIMER:
This is not medical advice – we do not diagnose or prescribe. This conversation is for educational purposes
DISCLAIMER:
This is not medical advice – we do not diagnose or prescribe. This conversation is for educational purposes only. Please seek advice from your health practitioner.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast.
I'm Sharon, the owner of K6Wellness Center in Dallas, texas
.
Here we blend trusted expertise, compassionate care and a
passion for helping you achieveoptimal health, because wellness
isn't just a goal, it is arevolution.
Today we're going to dive intorespiratory viruses influenza,
(00:22):
rsv and COVID in particular.
We're going to uncover thetelltale signs, symptoms and the
differences that you'll want toknow between each, and we're
going to explore a variety oftreatment options to help you
stay ahead, feel your best andhopefully avoid, you know, being
laid out for part of your life.
(00:43):
So, whether you're searchingfor alternatives or simply
seeking more clarity, thisepisode is all about equipping
you with the tools to takecharge of your health.
So let's kick off this new yearwith confidence, hope and a
commitment to wellness.
So, elena, hey, hey, any flufor you?
Have you had the flu this year?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
No, I don't get the flu, because we've got some
awesome practices that we'regoing to talk about that help
keep that at bay, even beingaround sick people in healthcare
.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, we are in winter andwhether you live in the cold or
the hot part of the US, likeDallas, well, really in Dallas
the weather just can't seem tomake up its mind.
But everybody is dealing withrespiratory viruses and we do
this every year, right?
(01:36):
So today we just decided maybewe need a more robust discussion
about the three big baddiesthat appear this time of year
all over the country, and mainlyit's RSV, influenza and, of
course, covid.
Now I know, for me personally, Ireally try to up my game this
(01:56):
time of year.
If for no other reason, then Ijust don't want to get sick,
because when you're a healthcareprovider, you hate to call in
sick to work.
So, knock on wood, I have notbeen sick with a seasonal
respiratory virus since 2021.
And thank God that one was overa weekend, so that was really
good.
I'm very grateful for that.
(02:16):
But we want to outline what weboth do consistently to stay
healthy despite working inhealthcare.
So, both for me, both in myfunctional medicine clinic and
then where I work occasionallyin an urgent care setting, I
encounter people all the timewho have contagious diseases,
(02:39):
and respiratory viruses arereally the thing you know this
time of year.
So, elena, what about you?
What do you find challengingthis time of year?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's always a challenge to not get sick during
the holidays, you know, whenyou think about how many parties
and large gatherings and ofcourse there's sugar and excess
alcohol and just excess foodthat's eaten throughout this
season, which thankfully we'reinto January now and it's a
great time to reset.
But even if you're not gettingknocked down with a massive
(03:08):
upper respiratory infection,there's a lot of other ways you
get run down and then that canlead to making you susceptible.
So I think, just maintainingexercise and a routine, because
that's what happens.
We start having a good timeover the holidays and there's
that lack of exercise Increased.
Not only is it food and alcohol, but increased late night
(03:28):
eating and rich food.
So, with no set routine.
Our body is just kind of likehey, we're just going to let you
coast here, see what happens,and we want to make sure that we
can keep a routine with thatfun, otherwise you are going to
succumb to it.
It doesn't matter who you are,you are going to get sick,
you're going to get run down,and I can attest to personal
(03:49):
habits that have kept me healthy, even through things like COVID
.
You know that wasn't a very bigdeal for me and we worked with
the public the whole time.
It was a pretty non-event.
I didn't even get a cough withit, and it's not because I'm
special, it's.
I mean, I'm not anyone whoknows my background, my health
background, it's.
It's been a long autoimmunejourney.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I think you're special.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, I mean, I like to think I'm special, but not in
that way, but just taking careof what I'm eating and what I'm
doing and what I'm taking.
You know, that's what we allneed to take into consideration.
But with that, let's talk aboutthese big old baddies.
(04:31):
What should we worry about?
What can we do aboutrespiratory viruses?
If we do catch one, and how dowe treat it medically or
naturopathically?
Are there other considerations?
You know there's a lot ofoptions there and you know, when
you look at hospitalizationrates, they've been on the
upward trend for all threeviruses RSV, influenza and COVID
, with the highest levels forflu A, and this happens every
(04:52):
year.
But if you know what to watchout for and, better yet, how to
be healthy and prevent infection, you can help yourself stay out
of the hospital this winter,and always, hopefully.
So let's talk about RSV first,shall we?
Sharon, can you explain to uswhat does this virus do?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Let's start there.
Yeah Well, it's a respiratoryvirus.
It stands for respiratorysyncytial I can't say the word
virus and it's characterized bycough and some people wheeze.
But it can be respiratorydistress and then you can have
oxygen problems.
(05:31):
But it's the main cause ofbronchiolitis, which is
inflammation in your bronchioles, and normally you know it's
going to.
It affects almost everybody,but the people who really tend
to be more symptomatic are goingto be babies and old people and
people with underlying immuneissues.
(05:53):
So RSV will often just presentas a cold right Head cold where
you might have congestion cough.
But it can move to the lungspretty quickly and cause a cough
with wheezing, and so that'swhere you know it can get
problematic for somebody who,say, has asthma, a baby or an
(06:16):
old person with COPD oremphysema or something like that
.
But really they say nearlyevery child has been infected
with RSV by two, two years old.
So the thing about RSV thatpeople, I want you to remember
this.
Um, rsv is generallyself-limiting.
(06:37):
Now, it will last a while, andviruses often do.
It could last 10 to 14 daysbefore it fully resolves, and
many times you just need to, youknow, stay at home and take
care of yourself, doingsupportive things, but there is.
(06:58):
I guess the reason I say thatis because there's so much fear
mongering around RSC.
It is something to be aware ofand if you have already, um,
known breathing problems, thisis something that you need to
really be vigilant aboutavoiding.
So, um, that's, that's a bigdeal.
(07:19):
But even as far as babies whoget hospitalized for it, they're
usually doing that to keeptheir oxygen levels up, but they
don't generally have to stayhospitalized for 10 to 14 days.
They may just be in there twoor three days.
They're getting supportive carelike breathing treatments,
(07:41):
whatever.
But you can have RSV like mildillness, you can have moderate
or even severe, and severe, ofcourse, is where you are going
to the hospital.
Um, but the problem, yeah, thatwe really need to worry about
the cough is not the problem.
Right, the cough is a sign that, hey, there is a problem.
(08:01):
But we want to make sure athome that you're breathing okay,
and this is something that Ifind, um, it can go for any of
our respiratory viruses.
I I think that one of the mosthandy tools to have at home I
should have brought mine in hereis a pulse oximeter, and it's
(08:21):
just the little, the littlesqueezy thing when you go to the
doctor and they put it on yourindex finger and it tells what
your oxygen rate like at yourcapillary beds, how saturated
are you with oxygen, and it alsogives your heart rate.
Now it's important to know thatif you're struggling to breathe
(08:42):
, your heart rate is going to goup right.
And for adults, if you'rebreathing, you know, faster than
like 20, 22 breaths per minute,then you're in respiratory
distress to some degree.
And same thing like if yourheart rate is over 100 beats per
(09:02):
minute, that's, you know,tachycardic or a fast heart rate
, and that could be indicativeof breathing problems.
So if you're not counting yourbreaths per minute which is hard
to do to yourself because thenyou're just thinking about
breathing, but you can put apulse oximeter on and you can
see oh, my oxygen saturation is100% or maybe it's not.
(09:23):
You want it above 95%.
So for those of you at home, ifyou have a respiratory issue
and maybe you don't know is itbacteria, is it virus, is it
allergy?
You know, having a little $20pulse oximeter from Amazon or
the drugstore is a great way tojust quickly find out.
(09:46):
Do you need to be worried Ifyour oxygen saturation is lower
than 95%.
You need to be careful.
It's time to take some deepbreaths.
If you have respiratory issues,then you need to probably do a
breathing treatment.
But what's important to know is, if you go below 92% sitting up
(10:06):
, you're going to be sufferingfrom the effects of not enough
oxygen, because when you laydown, your oxygen saturation is
going to drop by at least fourmore points, and that puts you
in the 80s, and that's not good.
So nobody wants their brainstarving for oxygen, right.
So nobody wants their brainstarving for oxygen, right.
(10:26):
So, yeah, just being able tomonitor at home is really
important.
A pulse oximeter is a great wayto do that.
But especially for people withbabies, old people and those who
have high you know, high riskissues whether it's immune,
compromised cancer, lung issues-we need to be careful, you know
(10:57):
, and protect yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, so I mean basically anyone can be affected
by it, but the babies andelderly are going to have more
extreme symptoms.
How contagious is it?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
actually that's a good question and I think that
question you know we're going torevisit it with each one.
It's spread through droplets,right, it's when you get coughed
on and sneezed on.
So this is why it's soimportant to cover your mouth
and when you sneeze, don't coveryour mouth with your hand.
(11:27):
You want to do it into theelbow and you can teach little
kids how to do this.
I think that's the mostimportant thing for little kids
is teach them how to sneeze intotheir elbow and coughing it's
the same thing.
So, yeah, if you're going to bearound groups of people and you
have a baby or an old person inyour group, I think it's
(11:51):
important just to make surepeople around them are using
good hygiene, right, and if youdo cough or sneeze into your
hand, please don't shake handswith anybody.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right, Please wash your hands.
I mean, we went through thiswith COVID.
It was amazing how many peopledidn't wash their hands.
You know you would observepeople and see they didn't wash
their hands, so we should all dobetter on that.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know this.
I think the natural progressionof this is well, why don't
people just wear a mask?
Just wear a mask and the mask.
A mask will protect you fromdroplets, meaning spit right,
(12:36):
that's flying through the air.
A mask is good for that, but amask is not going to stop a
virus.
I mean, they can't even see avirus, you know, under you have
to have an electron microscopeand you think that a mask is
going to stop that?
It's not, but that it's notlike air transmission, as far as
that goes, it's droplets, it'sit's in our spit, it's in our
body fluids.
So that's how, that's how weavoid it.
(12:57):
Use good hygiene.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, and even beyond that right, that's the first
place to start good hygiene.
But then there's plenty ofother things we can do.
Sharon, where would you start?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Well hygiene.
If you have children, make themwash their hands every time
they come inside.
If you've been to the store andyou get home, everybody just go
wash your hands.
You don't need to wash yourhands 15 times a day, unless
you're in healthcare, and thenyou do at least.
But that helps to prevent somany things, because we all put
(13:31):
our hands on our faces and sogood hygiene is going to be
important.
If you have babies and you'reable to keep them out of crowded
places like daycare centers orthe church nursery, it really is
ideal during the cold weathermonths.
And depending on where you live,like for us in Texas, I would
say October to February andMarch is really our cold and flu
(13:55):
season, and I just recommendthat families with little babies
stay home, becauseunfortunately, parents don't
feel.
I think we have this sense ofinvincibility and we feel very
confident oh, my daughter justhas a cough, or she just has the
(14:15):
same stuff he knows everybodyelse has, and then you just put
them in the room where they'reall slobbering on the same toys
and you just spread more illnessand you don't know what else is
circulating either.
So I'm I'm not a fan of takingbabies in crowded places or, if
you have to, my daughter had oneof those car seat covers and
(14:36):
she covers the car seat up inthe winter months so you can't
see the baby.
Well, that's good, that workstoo, and then you don't have
people putting their face in thebaby's car seat and that can be
helpful.
But as far as like the daycarecenters, you know not everybody
has that options.
So many families require bothparents to work and daycare is
(14:58):
just a necessity.
So you have to do all thethings you can, and that's where
good hydration, and hydrationmeans drinking water.
It doesn't mean fruit juice.
It doesn't mean other drinks,sodas, whatever it's water.
Practicing good nutrition,giving your children really
clean protein and lots of wholevegetables and fruit foods Not
(15:24):
the powder, you know, the lessprocessed you give your kids in
general, the healthier they'regoing to be.
But giving your kids goodnutrition day in, day out, that
does make a big difference.
And then sleep, of course allages.
Sleep is so important andsleeping at the right time is
also important.
So not staying up late, notburning the candle at both ends,
(15:47):
and this is for all ages.
All of this becomes moreimportant because we don't live
in a perfect world and sometimeswe have to go to crowded places
or we have to be in groupswhere we can't choose who's
going to be there, and so youhave to have a really good
foundation.
And I think back to the thingsthat we do and and I think you
know, back to the things that wedo.
The things that we do, we washour hands and we do practice
(16:11):
good nutrition, good sleep and,you know, lots of hydration,
just so there's always somethingum else that we can say okay, I
didn't do this, but at leastI've got this, so you're, you're
giving your body something,yeah, and then let's say you do
get RSV.
We got to talk about treatmentsand, and I'm going to assume
(16:35):
treatment, let's say it's athome, right, elena?
Maybe it's just the mild ormoderate.
So we're paying attentionwhether it's an old person or a
baby, pay attention.
Are they in respiratorydistress, you know?
Is there wheezing?
Um, those are.
Those are times when you doneed to call the doctor or go to
(16:57):
urgent care and and get thingschecked out.
But treatment is mostlysupportive.
It's going to be supplementaloxygen, possibly right, with a
nasal cannula or nasalirrigation.
If you're at home and stuffyand you just can't breathe, do
the nasal irrigation, like theNeomed sinus, rinse the sinus?
(17:18):
Um, sinupulse is a good one.
And then they have theseaerosol cans now and I haven't
used one of the aerosol cans,have you?
Oh, I have.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I keep those on hand, you like it.
Yeah, I've got airway problemsso I might not get the bad cough
, but I've got breathingproblems and that makes a big
difference.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, my husband swears by those aerosol cans.
Probably not the cleanest thingin the world, but they make a
difference.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
When you're congested and can't get oxygen, an oxygen
can you.
Got to breathe.
You got to breathe, the betteralternative to suffocation.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, and then nutritional support, and I think
you know nutritional supportbeing vitamin D, which that's
what we make when we're in thesunshine, and so if you live
your life indoors, you need tobe supplementing vitamin D.
It's going to help you.
And, just again, like we talkedabout, just good nutrition.
So if you're advanced and yougo to a medical doctor, you may
(18:22):
get recommended some antiviraltherapy, depending on how long
your symptoms have been presentand some other factors, like you
know, immune capability and allof that.
But it is always important, nomatter where you're at, to
provide the supportive care athome.
And I think I want to stressthis because I see so many
people suffer because they getsent home from the doctor.
(18:42):
You know, or they couldn't getinto the doctor or they were
told well, it's just a virus, gohome and rest.
And they go home and do nothingand eat pizza, but that's the
worst thing you can do.
You can do so many things athome that can make such a big
difference in healing fromrespiratory virus, whether it's
RSV COVID influenza, it's RSVCOVID influenza Plus.
(19:09):
It's so easy to keep an eye onyour oxygen when you have a
pulse oximeter.
It's so simple.
I do want to mention.
There is a vaccine and forpregnant women and older people
over 65, you know, generallythey're going to recommend that.
We have other feelings aboutvaccines, but I just read an
(19:31):
article getting ready for this.
Fda just updated the warninglabel of both Pfizer and
GlaxoSmithKline's RSV vaccinesbecause there are increased
incidents of Guillain-Barresyndrome in the 42 days
following vaccination.
So Guillain-Barre it's, it's arare neurological disorder but
(19:51):
it's basically, you know, startsat the starts at your feet,
moves up, it's an ascendingparalytic condition and it is
bad.
Um, you can't, just just becauseyou get a vaccine, you can't
assume you're not going to getthe disease, and that goes for
anything, because you're notguaranteed that the immunity is
(20:14):
going to last.
And I think that we would allbe wise to still focus on
supportive care and preventionthrough good, healthy living.
We don't want to put all oureggs in one basket.
So if you have underlyinghealth conditions, you know
you're probably going to getmore care regardless, just
according to your provider'sinstruction.
(20:36):
But that's more the medicalside of things.
Like, if you come into urgentcare or primary care, it's a
virus, go home, nasal rinse, youknow, steam, sauna, pain relief
, analgesics, all that.
But now let's talk about theother side of the coin.
So if I don't go to the doctorall the time, or I couldn't get
(20:59):
in, and you know, with wheezingand cough, elena, what would you
tell somebody to do?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Oh, there are so many things you know.
The first thing and you alreadytouched on this would be
nutrition.
You know, when, when there'scolds and flu going around, you
have no business eating a ton ofdairy and sugar things that
create mucus or an extra tax onthe immune system.
This is a time to really workon increasing veggies and
(21:26):
quality proteins.
And broths bone broth, I mean.
It's the best time it's it'scold outside sip some bone broth
.
But you know you can't make ababy do all of that.
But you can.
You can do a lot of naturalapproaches to help support a
baby when they might be comingdown with something or are
dealing with a cough.
And you know we have to begentle and careful with babies
(21:47):
and elderly people, butespecially for babies, you can't
just give them a bunch of herbs.
So don't feel helpless.
There are things you can do,but you've got to have the right
tools, like humidifiers andthose are so easy to get.
You can get them I think, aboutany pharmacy or drugstore and
you just put that in the roomand just create a little more
moisture.
But then essential oils a lotof people think, oh, I can't use
(22:09):
them at all on babies, and youare right to be careful and
cautious.
But you can diffuse them.
That's putting a little moremoisture in the air with the
essential oils and things thatcan kill viruses and help clear
mucus.
And then you can put them ontopically, but very, very, very
little and the best ones wouldbe frankincense, lavender, lemon
(22:31):
, eucalyptus and you're onlyusing one drop, one drop and
then you're diluting it in acarrier oil it could be olive
oil or coconut oil and you rubthat on the baby's feet.
You never want to put essentialoils right on the chest or near
their mouth and their nose,where they're breathing, because
that's when it is reallyoverwhelming.
But on the bottoms of the feetyou can hit all the reflexology
(22:53):
points and it's just so cool howwell that works.
You're thinking, okay, the feet, but it's for the lungs.
Yeah, because on your feet wehave different points on our
feet that reach the differentorgans via the meridians and on
your foot if you get on like thebottom of the middle toe, that
is a great point for sinuses.
(23:15):
So if you grab those oils atthat point and then the middle
of the foot on the bottom, likekind of right in the middle,
that's the point for the lungs.
Foot on the bottom, like kindof right in the middle, that's
the point for the lungs.
So if you were to take theessential oils mixed in a
carrier oil and rub that allover the little baby's feet,
it's going to open up sinusesand lungs.
(23:36):
And you know, it's great forelderly people too, because
sometimes their skin's gettingmore sensitive and they can't
handle the oils directly put on.
And always test a little areabefore you try to apply.
You know thieves, which hascinnamon and cloves.
You put that all over yourchest and you can start burning.
So always be moderate.
Less is more with essentialoils, in my opinion.
(23:56):
Would you agree, sharon?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Oh yeah, for sure, we overdo it all the time.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yeah, but then you know, for for elderly you could
or adults, right, you could usea nebulizer.
Those became really popular inCOVID but they work for any kind
of upper respiratory ailmentbecause that's going to help
drive some nutrients directlyinto your lungs and it can bring
a lot of relief.
But then you know, there'smodalities that we have here If
(24:24):
you're local, we've got Rifetechnology, which we have an
entire podcast on thatpreviously, and it's just a
great frequency modality whereyou can use that on babies and
elderly and pregnant women.
I mean, it's safe for everybody.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I think technically they say don't use it on
pregnant people.
But lots of pregnant people doit, it's just not studied.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Right, I mean nobody studies herbs on pregnant people
, but lots of pregnant people doit, it's just not studied.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Right, I mean nobody studies herbs on pregnant people
or drugs.
Who wants that risk?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, it's not me, but this is also a good time to
consider a clearing, and we wedo clearings for allergies and
for viruses and bacteria, colds,flus and we do those virtually
and in person, and it's just asimple little tool to help
desensitize your body's reactionto whatever toxin or illness
(25:12):
you're dealing with.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And to clarify that's an acupressure technique that
we do to distract and kind ofreboot the system, if you will,
to make the body focus onsomething different.
Right, other than an allergensensitivity viral process?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, and they're really effective.
It's easy, it's simple.
But another thing is lymph work.
Don't ever forget lymph work.
I don't know if we've ever hada podcast where we haven't
mentioned lymph, because it hasto do with everything.
Your lymph is your body'sgarbage can and it needs help,
especially when you're fightingsomething, because your lymph
nodes are the little washingmachines in your body.
(25:53):
They're cleaning all of theviruses in your blood, all the
toxins, and it's trying to cleanit out.
So give it a little boost dryskin brushing, vibration
platform, or come into ouroffice.
We've got lymphatic therapies.
We have lymph star and flowpresso, and then there's also
frequencies on rife for lymph,and for some people that's a
better option because you knowit's.
(26:14):
It is a little more affordableand more passive, but it can be
very helpful.
And you know, beyond thosethings, if you're an adult who
can handle some strongerremedies, you can do the
essential oils that are applieddirectly to the chest or don't
forget those feet, even foradults.
And then there's herbs.
Some of the top ones that welike to use would be mullein or
(26:36):
NAC, quercetin, thyme, ginger.
There's a lot of blends thatwill have that in it, and if you
can get those at the verybeginning of you know, feeling
like you're coming down withsomething you're going to have a
lot shorter time, that you'refeeling under the weather.
But then colloidal silver lovecolloidal silver that's.
(26:56):
that's such a mainstay in mymedicine cabinet.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Because that that can be very helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
And I like to use it up the nose and in the ears,
because that's how a lot ofviruses enter the body.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
I love and hate it, if any of our listeners haven't
tried it.
The colloidal silver up thenose is so effective and it'll
burn for a couple seconds, butthen it clears everything out
and you get this relief.
So it is worth doing it, butyou might need a little guide
the first time you do it.
Yeah, for sure.
But then steam saunas, you know,or just a hot bath or shower
(27:33):
for anyone of any age.
If a baby can't take a shower,at least put them on the edge of
a bath or a shower where theycan breathe in some steam.
And you can put some essentialoils in the bath or in the
shower.
That'll bring out, you know,eucalyptus or thyme or different
oils that will help open up thelungs there.
But you can also use these samethings in herbal tinctures and
teas.
(27:53):
I mean, there's just so manythings you can do, but here's
the biggest one I should havementioned First homeopathics.
I think homeopathics getforgotten.
We always think we have to domore.
But there are homeopathics thatwill help relieve all the
different symptoms as well asprotect you from coming down
(28:15):
with viruses.
And you know, there's a lot ofinformation out there and
there's a lot of availability.
Go to any health food store.
I think even Kroger hashomeopathics.
So it can be hard to know whichone to use when, but that's
when we can help, and those areeasy appointments to do,
virtually to see, okay, whathomeopathic should I have on
hand in my medicine cabinet forthe symptoms of XYZ, and then we
(28:39):
can customize it for eachindividual, because some people
will react and respond better toothers.
So it's just good to know whatyour body's going to need.
And then one of my favoritesnature's cough syrup honey.
You know you don't want to usethat for babies, right?
You don't want to use it forany baby that's 12 months or
younger, but anyone older thanthat, don't forget about that.
(29:01):
I think almost everyone willhave honey in the pantry or the
cupboard, and it's a great toolwhen that cough is becoming
unbearable.
So just remember all the toolsthat you might have in your
cupboard as it is.
There's so many other thingsyou can do, but I think that
(29:23):
hits on the biggest ones.
And then I think you mentionedalready, sharon, the sinus
rinsing.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, sinus rinsing.
Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
It is.
It's just a great way to cleanout what is festering in your
sinuses.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Yeah, listening to you talk about the essential
oils it reminds me of this.
It's an old fashioned folkremedy but they used to have you
rub, like Vicks, vaporub ormentholatum on your feet at
night, at bedtime, and then putsocks on and just go to bed.
And it's interesting because itwas all of the.
Was it camphor and menthol andeucalyptus in those products?
(29:55):
I mean, it is in petroleum jellybut it acted on again those
same meridians, thosereflexology points, and it has a
global effect on the body andit does help with suppressing
cough.
It's so funny that, you know,across the ages, everybody
recognizes that there arecertain elements that do have an
(30:16):
effect on the body and forcough especially, like that
associated with RSV.
That's a you know it applies.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah Well, there's so many folk medicine
remedies that people can dismissbecause it's like oh, it hasn't
been scientifically proven.
Well, anecdotal evidence ispretty convincing.
When things have worked Like,another old remedy is putting a
slice of onion on the bottom ofthe foot and putting socks on a
bedtime.
Yeah, I know, I've had greatsuccess with that in the past,
(30:44):
and if you Google it, they saywell, there's nothing to support
that.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Okay, yeah, because who's going to throw money?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
at a research study for onions who's making money?
Exactly, but you know, that'sjust one of the many things as
well, but let's talk aboutanother big one flu A and B, or
rather the seasonal influenza.
We typically see this in thewintertime, and although there
can be surprises that pop upthroughout the year.
What exactly does this virus do?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Well, I think we all know what this does, right it's
going to be the fever, theheadache, the sore throat or the
cough.
More often than not you're goingto see.
Well, this year flu A is waymore prevalent and flu B we're
(31:32):
not seeing quite so much You'regoing to have.
You know, most people come incomplaining of malaise, meaning
they just feel lethargic andtired.
They have a cough, they have afever, they have a headache,
they have body aches.
They generally will have someswollen lymph nodes and they may
have breathing problem too.
(31:54):
And you know, if you go to adoctor's office where you're
probably going to get a swab inthe nose to check you real quick
for flu A or flu B, they'retested together.
Check you real quick for flu Aor flu B, they're tested
together.
And it's again that wholeOctober to springtime really
times of the year that you'regoing to see it.
(32:14):
So flu A, yes, very prevalentright now.
It's also more contagious, andthat's according to CDC.
So I don't know, is it moreprevalent?
So we think it's morecontagious because there's just
more people running aroundcoughing and sneezing on people?
I don't know, but it is morecontagious.
(32:38):
Anyone can be affected by flu,right?
Of course, if you have loweredimmune function or you work
around big groups of peopleyou're at a higher risk for
catching it People over 65, kidsunder age five they're higher
risk.
And anybody who has a chronicrespiratory condition or a heart
(33:00):
problem or heart condition theyare going to be a greater risk
for flu.
But overall, like the fatalityrate of flu and RSV, it's like
under 0.02% overall in the US.
So it is a very low rate andthat's not to make light of
anyone who does succumb to theseillnesses Unfortunately do.
(33:24):
But this is why we're doingthis podcast we want everybody
to feel empowered andknowledgeable and able to
prevent or treat, you know,these illnesses, um, and
hopefully prevent anexacerbation or a worsening.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
So yeah, yeah, well, and it's and it's you know how
is it different than rsv, is it,you know?
For our listeners, I think, isyou're saying you know more, the
fever perhaps, and the swollenlymph nodes.
Is there a big?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
difference.
It has more of um.
The body aches and rsv isn'talways going to have a fever.
I mean, sometimes it does andit's hard to tell sometimes, you
know what does this person?
have.
Is this flu or RSV?
And ultimately, does it matterbecause you're still providing
supportive care?
Because there is that argument,right, right, I think, just
(34:19):
yeah, the fever, the body aches,the headache and the swollen
lymph, those are a little morevisible when you have the flu,
but it's, it's the same, youknow, as far as how it's spread,
it's the same as RSV becauseit's droplets spread through the
air.
So, again, with the coughingand the sneezing, and also I
think we should mention, likesharing food and drinks, because
(34:42):
kids do that a lot and that'sprobably not the time of year
you want to be doing it.
Don't share a fork, or yoursandwich or whatever.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
There's a time and a place to build up your immune
system, and we do that bysharing food or hugging, kissing
.
You know being close like that,but when you know that viruses
are going around, just use alittle common sense and maybe
don't share so much.
But you did say something,though I would love for you to
touch on fevers, you know,because we live in this medical
(35:14):
world where fevers are so badbut it's actually a defense
system, so could you expound onthat a little bit?
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Right, our body resides at a certain temperature
.
And you know, without goingdown a rabbit hole, there's a
lot of, you know, discussionabout what is normal body
temperature.
But for all intents andpurposes of this discussion,
we're going to say, hey, 98.6.
Okay, so 98.6 is our normalbody temperature.
(35:44):
Why would our body heat up?
Well, our body heats up to tryto kill a pathogen, and a
pathogen is any germ that may becausing disease or stress on
the body.
So a fever is actually a goodsign that your immune system
recognizes something is wrong.
And now it's going to mount aresponse to the presence of the
(36:09):
flu virus.
And fevers aren't fun.
In general they don't feel good.
But you can safely run a feverfor the most part if you don't
have, you know again, underlyingextenuating circumstances.
That would suggest that runninga fever is not okay.
But ideally you want to maybelet the body run a fever, just
(36:36):
so your natural defenses cankick in.
And when your fever breaks,that's when, you know, people
will get real sweaty and thentheir body temperature cools
back off.
But this is a part of ourbody's natural immunity.
This is helpful.
When is it not helpful?
Well, when you go over 104.7,you're risking, you know, brain
(36:59):
damage or seizures.
And now in this discussion, Ithink we should recognize that
there is something called afebrile seizure and children can
have this and some childrenwill hallucinate at 101
temperature or some kids willeven have a seizure.
And febrile seizures are, youknow, innocuous in as much as
(37:24):
there's no permanent damage.
But it's scary to see somebodyhave a seizure, especially if
it's your baby having theseizure.
But if you have a healthy kid,I know for myself, raising my
kids, I tried to let them run afever and when they were just so
miserable then we would dosomething about it.
And mainstream it's going to.
(37:45):
Medicine is going to say okay,acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and
that's how, and you dose itaccording to weight and you know
however many hours apart.
But really and truly you can doother things.
Um, when you have a high feverand you're just, you've said
enough, I can't do this anymore.
(38:06):
And for me that's like 103.7.
I'll run.
If I'm going to run a fever,it's going to be high fever.
It's not fun, but I realized mybody is done Like I cry uncle,
103.7.
And for me I'll go get in justa lukewarm bath because it's
cooler than my current bodytemperature, but it's not so
(38:28):
cold that it's going to causeshock.
Now some people will put an icepack on their feet.
You know, you've probably seenTV shows or movies where they
put people on ice.
I think you risk puttingsomebody into shock when you do
that.
I wouldn't do that withoutmedical supervision.
Into shock when you do that?
I wouldn't do that withoutmedical supervision.
(38:49):
But there there is definitely aplace for fevers, you know, in
a normally otherwise, normallyhealthy person, and this isn't
again.
You know, like our disclaimersays, this is not medical advice
.
You should everybody shouldtalk to your provider.
You should have a providerwho's knowledgeable and able to
help you make these decisions.
But if you're comfortable youknow facilitating a fever, then
(39:09):
do it.
There are a lot of clinicsaround the world that have
hyperthermia chambers to helpthe body achieve a fever, to
cook off some sort of germ orwhatever else is going on.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
I mean look at sauna use.
Sauna use is essentiallycooking out the bad stuff,
sweating it out.
You heat your body up so highit has to let it go.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Exactly, exactly so, really and truly.
You know we do want to let thebody do its thing, but we can
help our body along in many,many ways, but ultimately you
don't want to spread it.
If you have it, and so we can'tstress enough, take care of
yourself at home and don'tspread it around by not covering
(39:53):
your mouth or practicing goodhand hygiene.
Wash your hands after you'vebeen to the store.
Wash your hands If you go outto eat.
Wash your hands before you eat,no matter where you are.
But I do also want to point out, you know, we talked about the
RSV vaccine and and there areconcerns with it because it is a
new vaccine and and I'm notsure I really don't know about
(40:13):
any long-term studies on it.
I haven't really gotten intothat.
But flu shots have been aroundfor a long time and they're not
a guarantee either.
They are there and there arepeople who swear by them and
there are people who get the flushot and then get the flu and
say I'm never getting the flushot again and the.
(40:34):
It's the same thing.
You can't rely on one vaccineto prevent, you know, other bad
decisions from ending in disease.
But with the flu shot, you knowsome estimates this year that
it's maybe 25% to 35% effective,which isn't really good.
(40:55):
I promise you, if your vitaminD levels are up and your
nutrition is up and your sleepis caught up and you're drinking
water and not eating a bunch ofsugar and junk food, your
chances of not getting the fluare a lot higher.
I will say this is my secondcold and flu season in urgent
(41:15):
care and I have not been sickand in my primary care in a
traditional clinic I was theonly one who didn't get a
respiratory virus and I didn'tmask, but I did eat healthy and
sleep well and drink lots ofwater and you cannot put a price
on that.
It makes up for a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
It does.
And the D3 thing you know youthink about in the summertime,
when we have access to moresunshine, it's boosting our D3.
Then the days start gettingshorter, just as we're coming
into flu season, and so it's.
It's really important toremember.
D3 is a simple supplement totake.
It is not that expensive, it isso easy to take and I know for
(42:01):
me I think you would agree,sharon some of the healthiest
people I see have higher D3levels, like 80 to 100.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Those are the healthier people, yeah.
And they say I think with COVID, even like Dr Brownstein I
don't remember if Dr McCulloughsaid it, but they were saying if
your vitamin D levels were over60, you were like 89% less
likely to end up hospitalizedfrom COVID.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
That's a pretty big number, yeah.
So take your D3, and it's easyto give babies too.
You know low, low dose.
But you can give little peopleD3.
You can give older people D3.
Just keep that in your medicinecabinet and start taking it the
beginning of the fall.
And I always say take it untilyou can get outside and get
sunshine again, when the weatherstarts warming up, because
(42:51):
sunshine is so powerful, so sopowerful.
It's light and heat that'sgoing to kill off viruses and
bacteria.
But don't forget just gettingoutside, getting fresh air and
grounding, touching the earth,getting your nervous system to
calm down so it can focus onhealing.
But then, one of my favoriteones, that I text all my
(43:13):
siblings who have children atthe beginning of flu season,
like, hey, beginning of fluseason, before the holidays,
start doing a little parasitecleanse on your children and
yourself, but especiallychildren, because they are such
little snotty kids that shareeverything and that's a really
easy thing to do.
We've talked about that beforeas well and there's there's a
(43:35):
lot of different ways you can doit.
It doesn't all have to be a big, overwhelming thing, but doing
those parasite cleanses ahead oftime are a great way to stay
healthy.
But yeah, I just can't put aprice on what to prevent, right?
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Absolutely, it's so true I've noticed that our
clients who have done a parasitecleanse this fall or have done
two or more, like with the fullmoon, we're not seeing the level
of respiratory illness in thatsubsection of our clientele,
like we are with new peoplecoming in or who have no
(44:13):
experience with parasites.
Um, necessarily, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Yeah, but you know, lymph though too.
It really doesn't matter whatvirus, what ailment, lymph is
always the answer.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
You go like should I?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
dry skin brush yes.
Should I come in for lymphatictherapy?
Yes, yes.
Unless you, you know, arehaving a raging fever or
coughing your lungs out to wheremaybe you shouldn't be around
people.
You should stay home.
Otherwise, come get some lymph.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And let's you know.
Back to the homeopathyBelladonna is I call it
homeopathic acetaminophenbecause it will help reduce a
fever and it helps with pain.
Pulsatilla is good for any kindof fever that has snot
associated with it.
There's a lot of mucus.
That's a good one, but for theflu, oselococcinum, and I can't
(45:04):
say that very well, but I thinkI said it right.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
But you can see it.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
You'll recognize it at the health food store because
you're going to go.
What in the world is that?
And it's spelled well I don'tknow how it's spelled
O-S-C-I-L-L-O-C-O-C-C-I-N-U-M.
Maybe I'm close.
(45:31):
A lot of people will take thisonce a week as a preventive, but
you can also treat in the veryearly stages of respiratory
illness or flu-like cold orflu-like symptoms.
You can take this and hopefullyshorten the duration and kind
of mute the effect.
Speaker 2 (45:44):
Really good for babies.
Yeah, once again, becauseyou're getting ahead of it.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
And you're not going to hurt a baby with it.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Yeah, yeah, okay.
Well, that was flu.
Let's talk about the big one,right, covid?
How do we even have aconversation about it
differently than we do the flu?
Let's start there.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Well, it's mainly differentiated by test results.
That's not a fair statement allthe way around, but symptoms
are very similar to flu andsometimes RSV.
But there are a fewdistinguishing factors.
For me, you know, a lot oftimes in urgent care I have no
idea until I just test people ordon't even know what it is,
(46:26):
because you can have any ofthese symptoms with any of these
illnesses.
But COVID is a little betterknown for people who say, oh, I
woke up and I had no sense ofsmell, like smell and taste were
gone, and that seems to befairly unique to COVID.
But I think it is a goodquestion and we kind of
(46:46):
struggled with this.
But COVID is a manipulatedversion of a coronavirus.
Coronavirus is a virus that isresponsible for colds.
Right, there are so many upperrespiratory viruses like
rhinovirus, adenovirus,coronavirus, metanumavirus,
influenza, rsv.
(47:07):
They're all upper respiratoryviruses.
Covid is different because itwas manhandled and manipulated,
right, and so for people whowere compromised with regard to
other health issues, it didprove to be more detrimental.
But it, you know it does affectpeople differently.
(47:29):
But still, most people who getit, you know it's mild to
moderate illness and you'regoing to treat it the same way,
it's still going to besupportive care, short of you
going in the first 72 hours andgetting tests.
You know, first 72 hours ofsigns and symptoms, um and they,
they, you can take an antiviral.
(47:51):
I, as a naturopath, am not afan of these because they're not
proven to greatly shorten theduration and they're biologic
drugs and I think those are veryunproven as far as long-term
outcomes.
But COVID can involve extremefatigue, cough fever, headache,
(48:14):
body aches, breathingdifficulties and we still want
to treat it.
Support, you know, with support, supportive therapies.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
And that's where you know I hope my listeners, our
listeners, know I'm not makinglight of it, but we often can
think, oh, this is a specialcase virus, upper respiratory
type virus.
It's not.
You really do a lot of the samethings.
And I mentioned parasites.
I didn't mention the big I word, ivermectin.
It's a great time to bring upivermectin.
(48:47):
It got popular with COVID, butit's been useful and effective
long before then for cancers andviruses and you know it's not
just livestock People have usedit and this isn't, you know,
always a popular opinion.
But when you are trying toboost your immune system, you do
really want to take awayanything that could be stressing
(49:08):
your body from healing itself.
And you know the supportiveeffect of a parasite cleanse,
once again, is one of the mostvaluable things that you could
possibly do, especially beforethe holidays.
But just even when theweather's changing, it's a good
time to think, hey, let's buildmy immune system, and we do this
all the time.
We can walk any listenerthrough the best way to build
(49:29):
your immune system ahead of timeand then, when you're in it, we
can also guide you on what'sgoing to be the best tools for
you.
Being sick doesn't have to bethis big scary thing, and I can
attest to when my grandparentsgot COVID.
My grandmother had COPD andtype 2 diabetes, my granddad had
Parkinson's and he had recentlybroken his hip.
I mean they had a lot of riskthere when they contracted COVID
(49:53):
.
But by doing a lot of thesupportive care we did it for
two weeks and pulled themthrough.
They both lived to tell aboutit and it didn't take much to
pull all those tools together.
It just took a lot to do themand a lot to know.
But once again, that's whywe're doing podcasts like this.
We want our listeners to havethese tools and be ready.
But if you want help on how todo that, just give us a call.
(50:14):
We want our listeners to havethese tools and be ready.
But if you, if you want help onhow to do that, you know, just
give us a call.
We're we're always happy to dothat, because keeping people
healthy that's why we do this.
We'll take, we'll take you whenyou're sick, but if we can keep
you from getting there, it'seven better.
But ivermectin I I'm a huge fan, huge huge fan.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Well, I can tell you I mean having married someone
who grew up in the cattleindustry.
He's my husband.
You know he wrote a poem I callmy husband a cowboy poet and he
is a poet and he wrote a poemin high school called Ivermectin
, and my husband graduated inthe 80s, so it was a while ago.
But ivermectin has been used bylots of humans for lots of
(50:59):
viruses and lots of issues for avery long time.
And you know I will say I'm justgoing to make this statement I
do not believe that healthcareand medicine should be political
, should not be politicized, andI think that with ivermectin,
politics and pharmaceuticalprofit concerns and government
(51:21):
tie-in got in the way ofivermectin really being able to
shine like it should have duringthe pandemic.
Instead, it got beat up on thedaily and it was withheld and
people suffered for it.
It's been used for years inautism and for malaria, for
viruses, for parasiticinfections, and used by humans.
(51:44):
Okay, and yes, it is also usedin livestock, but I think it
just got a bad rap.
So that's all I'm going to sayabout it.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Yeah, yeah, don't knock it till you, try it.
Speaker 1 (51:56):
Let's go even deeper.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
Okay, let's talk about bird flu, because this one
also just raises a lot ofquestions on my part, like, okay
, what are they doing now?
So do we really need to worryabout this one?
Speaker 1 (52:13):
I think that's the question.
What are they doing now?
So do we really need to worryabout this one?
I think that's the question.
What are they doing now?
It's one bit to me it's like,seriously again.
I mean, remember I, what yearwas it the swine flu?
They tried to make the swineflu this big pan, I call it the
pandemic.
That wasn't because thelethality was so low.
And my thing is again I'm goingto hearken back to my husband.
(52:37):
You know, we've been together32 years and um, he's from the
panhandle of Texas and the veryfirst case um was a D, a dairy
worker in Demet Texas.
Why were they testing a dairyworker in Demet Texas for H5N1?
(52:57):
Why, you know, and and therethat's my first question how
that happened and why.
And there, because there wasn'tlike this big death toll in the
cows.
But we have record of animal tohuman transmission, but there's
no human to human transmissionand the only people who have
(53:19):
gotten it seem to have gotten itfrom being around sick cats or
eating sick chickens.
That I've read.
And so to me it's like, well,well, how did this one get
manipulated?
Because I don't think this is,you know, it's not from a wet
market.
We haven't said it's started ona dairy.
I think that, you know, mostpeople have enough wherewithal
(53:43):
to question these things now,knowing that gain of function is
a thing, knowing that there areentities out there who are
curious enough to go to the darkside to see how bad they can
make a virus, and I think thatwith H5N1 or the avian flu or
(54:03):
bird flu or whatever you want tocall it, there's just way too
many inconsistencies andunknowns.
There's a distinct, distinctlack of human cases.
I think California declared acrisis because there was one
case, and I think that that'sjust.
I think it's sensationalism andI'm not going to take part.
(54:24):
I felt like.
You know, that happened in 2020.
We worked all the way throughit.
We helped a lot of people withsupportive care, um, and no
matter what happens with thiswhole age five and one, we're
still going to be here providingsupportive care, education and
resources, because and as welearn more, we'll do better, um,
(54:46):
but with this we just have notseen something that demands a
different answer.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yeah Well, and that just brings it back to whatever
new virus is out there.
Whatever immune system supportisn't a new thing.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
Taking care of your health and being proactive.
That's not a new thing.
That starts today.
You know if you're not alreadydoing it.
It is easy to do, and that'sthat will make you feel like
you're in charge of your healthmore than anything.
If you know, know you're takingthe steps and doing the things
that are going to boost yourimmune system.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, yeah, and so I think this is good.
Let's, we'll wrap it up here.
I hope that everybody took awaysome tools, some tips.
It's time to go stock yourcabinet.
There are certain things youalways want to have on hand,
like a pulse oximeter, anebulizer, and go get you some
(55:40):
essential oils.
But if you watched this episodeon YouTube, please like and
subscribe to our channel.
Also, check us out on Rumble,facebook and Instagram, and if
you'd like more information onhow to take better care of your
health and avoid gettingsidelined with respiratory
viruses, you can visit us atk6wellnesscom and you can
schedule an appointment or afree discovery call.
(56:00):
But until next time, take careof yourself, because your health
is worth fighting for.
Welcome to the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast.
I'm Sharon, the owner of K6Wellness Center in Dallas, texas
.
Here we blend trusted expertise, compassionate care and a
passion for helping you achieveoptimal health, because wellness
isn't just a goal, it is arevolution.
Today we're going to dive intorespiratory viruses influenza,
(00:22):
rsv and COVID in particular.
We're going to uncover thetelltale signs, symptoms and the
differences that you'll want toknow between each, and we're
going to explore a variety oftreatment options to help you
stay ahead, feel your best andhopefully avoid, you know, being
laid out for part of your life.
(00:43):
So, whether you're searchingfor alternatives or simply
seeking more clarity, thisepisode is all about equipping
you with the tools to takecharge of your health.
So let's kick off this new yearwith confidence, hope and a
commitment to wellness.
So, elena, hey, hey, any flufor you?
Have you had the flu this year?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
No, I don't get the flu, because we've got some
awesome practices that we'regoing to talk about that help
keep that at bay, even beingaround sick people in healthcare
.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, we are in winter andwhether you live in the cold or
the hot part of the US, likeDallas, well, really in Dallas
the weather just can't seem tomake up its mind.
But everybody is dealing withrespiratory viruses and we do
this every year, right?
(01:36):
So today we just decided maybewe need a more robust discussion
about the three big baddiesthat appear this time of year
all over the country, and mainlyit's RSV, influenza and, of
course, covid.
Now I know, for me personally, Ireally try to up my game this
(01:56):
time of year.
If for no other reason, then Ijust don't want to get sick,
because when you're a healthcareprovider, you hate to call in
sick to work.
So, knock on wood, I have notbeen sick with a seasonal
respiratory virus since 2021.
And thank God that one was overa weekend, so that was really
good.
I'm very grateful for that.
(02:16):
But we want to outline what weboth do consistently to stay
healthy despite working inhealthcare.
So, both for me, both in myfunctional medicine clinic and
then where I work occasionallyin an urgent care setting, I
encounter people all the timewho have contagious diseases,
(02:39):
and respiratory viruses arereally the thing you know this
time of year.
So, elena, what about you?
What do you find challengingthis time of year?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's always a challenge to not get sick during
the holidays, you know, whenyou think about how many parties
and large gatherings and ofcourse there's sugar and excess
alcohol and just excess foodthat's eaten throughout this
season, which thankfully we'reinto January now and it's a
great time to reset.
But even if you're not gettingknocked down with a massive
(03:08):
upper respiratory infection,there's a lot of other ways you
get run down and then that canlead to making you susceptible.
So I think, just maintainingexercise and a routine, because
that's what happens.
We start having a good timeover the holidays and there's
that lack of exercise Increased.
Not only is it food and alcohol, but increased late night
(03:28):
eating and rich food.
So, with no set routine.
Our body is just kind of likehey, we're just going to let you
coast here, see what happens,and we want to make sure that we
can keep a routine with thatfun, otherwise you are going to
succumb to it.
It doesn't matter who you are,you are going to get sick,
you're going to get run down,and I can attest to personal
(03:49):
habits that have kept me healthy, even through things like COVID
.
You know that wasn't a very bigdeal for me and we worked with
the public the whole time.
It was a pretty non-event.
I didn't even get a cough withit, and it's not because I'm
special, it's.
I mean, I'm not anyone whoknows my background, my health
background, it's.
It's been a long autoimmunejourney.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I think you're special.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, I mean, I like to think I'm special, but not in
that way, but just taking careof what I'm eating and what I'm
doing and what I'm taking.
You know, that's what we allneed to take into consideration.
But with that, let's talk aboutthese big old baddies.
(04:31):
What should we worry about?
What can we do aboutrespiratory viruses?
If we do catch one, and how dowe treat it medically or
naturopathically?
Are there other considerations?
You know there's a lot ofoptions there and you know, when
you look at hospitalizationrates, they've been on the
upward trend for all threeviruses RSV, influenza and COVID
, with the highest levels forflu A, and this happens every
(04:52):
year.
But if you know what to watchout for and, better yet, how to
be healthy and prevent infection, you can help yourself stay out
of the hospital this winter,and always, hopefully.
So let's talk about RSV first,shall we?
Sharon, can you explain to uswhat does this virus do?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Let's start there.
Yeah Well, it's a respiratoryvirus.
It stands for respiratorysyncytial I can't say the word
virus and it's characterized bycough and some people wheeze.
But it can be respiratorydistress and then you can have
oxygen problems.
(05:31):
But it's the main cause ofbronchiolitis, which is
inflammation in your bronchioles, and normally you know it's
going to.
It affects almost everybody,but the people who really tend
to be more symptomatic are goingto be babies and old people and
people with underlying immuneissues.
(05:53):
So RSV will often just presentas a cold right Head cold where
you might have congestion cough.
But it can move to the lungspretty quickly and cause a cough
with wheezing, and so that'swhere you know it can get
problematic for somebody who,say, has asthma, a baby or an
(06:16):
old person with COPD oremphysema or something like that
.
But really they say nearlyevery child has been infected
with RSV by two, two years old.
So the thing about RSV thatpeople, I want you to remember
this.
Um, rsv is generallyself-limiting.
(06:37):
Now, it will last a while, andviruses often do.
It could last 10 to 14 daysbefore it fully resolves, and
many times you just need to, youknow, stay at home and take
care of yourself, doingsupportive things, but there is.
(06:58):
I guess the reason I say thatis because there's so much fear
mongering around RSC.
It is something to be aware ofand if you have already, um,
known breathing problems, thisis something that you need to
really be vigilant aboutavoiding.
So, um, that's, that's a bigdeal.
(07:19):
But even as far as babies whoget hospitalized for it, they're
usually doing that to keeptheir oxygen levels up, but they
don't generally have to stayhospitalized for 10 to 14 days.
They may just be in there twoor three days.
They're getting supportive carelike breathing treatments,
(07:41):
whatever.
But you can have RSV like mildillness, you can have moderate
or even severe, and severe, ofcourse, is where you are going
to the hospital.
Um, but the problem, yeah, thatwe really need to worry about
the cough is not the problem.
Right, the cough is a sign that, hey, there is a problem.
(08:01):
But we want to make sure athome that you're breathing okay,
and this is something that Ifind, um, it can go for any of
our respiratory viruses.
I I think that one of the mosthandy tools to have at home I
should have brought mine in hereis a pulse oximeter, and it's
(08:21):
just the little, the littlesqueezy thing when you go to the
doctor and they put it on yourindex finger and it tells what
your oxygen rate like at yourcapillary beds, how saturated
are you with oxygen, and it alsogives your heart rate.
Now it's important to know thatif you're struggling to breathe
(08:42):
, your heart rate is going to goup right.
And for adults, if you'rebreathing, you know, faster than
like 20, 22 breaths per minute,then you're in respiratory
distress to some degree.
And same thing like if yourheart rate is over 100 beats per
(09:02):
minute, that's, you know,tachycardic or a fast heart rate
, and that could be indicativeof breathing problems.
So if you're not counting yourbreaths per minute which is hard
to do to yourself because thenyou're just thinking about
breathing, but you can put apulse oximeter on and you can
see oh, my oxygen saturation is100% or maybe it's not.
(09:23):
You want it above 95%.
So for those of you at home, ifyou have a respiratory issue
and maybe you don't know is itbacteria, is it virus, is it
allergy?
You know, having a little $20pulse oximeter from Amazon or
the drugstore is a great way tojust quickly find out.
(09:46):
Do you need to be worried Ifyour oxygen saturation is lower
than 95%.
You need to be careful.
It's time to take some deepbreaths.
If you have respiratory issues,then you need to probably do a
breathing treatment.
But what's important to know is, if you go below 92% sitting up
(10:06):
, you're going to be sufferingfrom the effects of not enough
oxygen, because when you laydown, your oxygen saturation is
going to drop by at least fourmore points, and that puts you
in the 80s, and that's not good.
So nobody wants their brainstarving for oxygen, right.
So nobody wants their brainstarving for oxygen, right.
(10:26):
So, yeah, just being able tomonitor at home is really
important.
A pulse oximeter is a great wayto do that.
But especially for people withbabies, old people and those who
have high you know, high riskissues whether it's immune,
compromised cancer, lung issues-we need to be careful, you know
(10:57):
, and protect yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, so I mean basically anyone can be affected
by it, but the babies andelderly are going to have more
extreme symptoms.
How contagious is it?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
actually that's a good question and I think that
question you know we're going torevisit it with each one.
It's spread through droplets,right, it's when you get coughed
on and sneezed on.
So this is why it's soimportant to cover your mouth
and when you sneeze, don't coveryour mouth with your hand.
(11:27):
You want to do it into theelbow and you can teach little
kids how to do this.
I think that's the mostimportant thing for little kids
is teach them how to sneeze intotheir elbow and coughing it's
the same thing.
So, yeah, if you're going to bearound groups of people and you
have a baby or an old person inyour group, I think it's
(11:51):
important just to make surepeople around them are using
good hygiene, right, and if youdo cough or sneeze into your
hand, please don't shake handswith anybody.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right, Please wash your hands.
I mean, we went through thiswith COVID.
It was amazing how many peopledidn't wash their hands.
You know you would observepeople and see they didn't wash
their hands, so we should all dobetter on that.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know this.
I think the natural progressionof this is well, why don't
people just wear a mask?
Just wear a mask and the mask.
A mask will protect you fromdroplets, meaning spit right,
(12:36):
that's flying through the air.
A mask is good for that, but amask is not going to stop a
virus.
I mean, they can't even see avirus, you know, under you have
to have an electron microscopeand you think that a mask is
going to stop that?
It's not, but that it's notlike air transmission, as far as
that goes, it's droplets, it'sit's in our spit, it's in our
body fluids.
So that's how, that's how weavoid it.
(12:57):
Use good hygiene.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, and even beyond that right, that's the first
place to start good hygiene.
But then there's plenty ofother things we can do.
Sharon, where would you start?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Well hygiene.
If you have children, make themwash their hands every time
they come inside.
If you've been to the store andyou get home, everybody just go
wash your hands.
You don't need to wash yourhands 15 times a day, unless
you're in healthcare, and thenyou do at least.
But that helps to prevent somany things, because we all put
(13:31):
our hands on our faces and sogood hygiene is going to be
important.
If you have babies and you'reable to keep them out of crowded
places like daycare centers orthe church nursery, it really is
ideal during the cold weathermonths.
And depending on where you live,like for us in Texas, I would
say October to February andMarch is really our cold and flu
(13:55):
season, and I just recommendthat families with little babies
stay home, becauseunfortunately, parents don't
feel.
I think we have this sense ofinvincibility and we feel very
confident oh, my daughter justhas a cough, or she just has the
(14:15):
same stuff he knows everybodyelse has, and then you just put
them in the room where they'reall slobbering on the same toys
and you just spread more illnessand you don't know what else is
circulating either.
So I'm I'm not a fan of takingbabies in crowded places or, if
you have to, my daughter had oneof those car seat covers and
(14:36):
she covers the car seat up inthe winter months so you can't
see the baby.
Well, that's good, that workstoo, and then you don't have
people putting their face in thebaby's car seat and that can be
helpful.
But as far as like the daycarecenters, you know not everybody
has that options.
So many families require bothparents to work and daycare is
(14:58):
just a necessity.
So you have to do all thethings you can, and that's where
good hydration, and hydrationmeans drinking water.
It doesn't mean fruit juice.
It doesn't mean other drinks,sodas, whatever it's water.
Practicing good nutrition,giving your children really
clean protein and lots of wholevegetables and fruit foods Not
(15:24):
the powder, you know, the lessprocessed you give your kids in
general, the healthier they'regoing to be.
But giving your kids goodnutrition day in, day out, that
does make a big difference.
And then sleep, of course allages.
Sleep is so important andsleeping at the right time is
also important.
So not staying up late, notburning the candle at both ends,
(15:47):
and this is for all ages.
All of this becomes moreimportant because we don't live
in a perfect world and sometimeswe have to go to crowded places
or we have to be in groupswhere we can't choose who's
going to be there, and so youhave to have a really good
foundation.
And I think back to the thingsthat we do and and I think you
know, back to the things that wedo.
The things that we do, we washour hands and we do practice
(16:11):
good nutrition, good sleep and,you know, lots of hydration,
just so there's always somethingum else that we can say okay, I
didn't do this, but at leastI've got this, so you're, you're
giving your body something,yeah, and then let's say you do
get RSV.
We got to talk about treatmentsand, and I'm going to assume
(16:35):
treatment, let's say it's athome, right, elena?
Maybe it's just the mild ormoderate.
So we're paying attentionwhether it's an old person or a
baby, pay attention.
Are they in respiratorydistress, you know?
Is there wheezing?
Um, those are.
Those are times when you doneed to call the doctor or go to
(16:57):
urgent care and and get thingschecked out.
But treatment is mostlysupportive.
It's going to be supplementaloxygen, possibly right, with a
nasal cannula or nasalirrigation.
If you're at home and stuffyand you just can't breathe, do
the nasal irrigation, like theNeomed sinus, rinse the sinus?
(17:18):
Um, sinupulse is a good one.
And then they have theseaerosol cans now and I haven't
used one of the aerosol cans,have you?
Oh, I have.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I keep those on hand, you like it.
Yeah, I've got airway problemsso I might not get the bad cough
, but I've got breathingproblems and that makes a big
difference.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, my husband swears by those aerosol cans.
Probably not the cleanest thingin the world, but they make a
difference.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
When you're congested and can't get oxygen, an oxygen
can you.
Got to breathe.
You got to breathe, the betteralternative to suffocation.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah, and then nutritional support, and I think
you know nutritional supportbeing vitamin D, which that's
what we make when we're in thesunshine, and so if you live
your life indoors, you need tobe supplementing vitamin D.
It's going to help you.
And, just again, like we talkedabout, just good nutrition.
So if you're advanced and yougo to a medical doctor, you may
(18:22):
get recommended some antiviraltherapy, depending on how long
your symptoms have been presentand some other factors, like you
know, immune capability and allof that.
But it is always important, nomatter where you're at, to
provide the supportive care athome.
And I think I want to stressthis because I see so many
people suffer because they getsent home from the doctor.
(18:42):
You know, or they couldn't getinto the doctor or they were
told well, it's just a virus, gohome and rest.
And they go home and do nothingand eat pizza, but that's the
worst thing you can do.
You can do so many things athome that can make such a big
difference in healing fromrespiratory virus, whether it's
RSV COVID influenza, it's RSVCOVID influenza Plus.
(19:09):
It's so easy to keep an eye onyour oxygen when you have a
pulse oximeter.
It's so simple.
I do want to mention.
There is a vaccine and forpregnant women and older people
over 65, you know, generallythey're going to recommend that.
We have other feelings aboutvaccines, but I just read an
(19:31):
article getting ready for this.
Fda just updated the warninglabel of both Pfizer and
GlaxoSmithKline's RSV vaccinesbecause there are increased
incidents of Guillain-Barresyndrome in the 42 days
following vaccination.
So Guillain-Barre it's, it's arare neurological disorder but
(19:51):
it's basically, you know, startsat the starts at your feet,
moves up, it's an ascendingparalytic condition and it is
bad.
Um, you can't, just just becauseyou get a vaccine, you can't
assume you're not going to getthe disease, and that goes for
anything, because you're notguaranteed that the immunity is
(20:14):
going to last.
And I think that we would allbe wise to still focus on
supportive care and preventionthrough good, healthy living.
We don't want to put all oureggs in one basket.
So if you have underlyinghealth conditions, you know
you're probably going to getmore care regardless, just
according to your provider'sinstruction.
(20:36):
But that's more the medicalside of things.
Like, if you come into urgentcare or primary care, it's a
virus, go home, nasal rinse, youknow, steam, sauna, pain relief
, analgesics, all that.
But now let's talk about theother side of the coin.
So if I don't go to the doctorall the time, or I couldn't get
(20:59):
in, and you know, with wheezingand cough, elena, what would you
tell somebody to do?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Oh, there are so many things you know.
The first thing and you alreadytouched on this would be
nutrition.
You know, when, when there'scolds and flu going around, you
have no business eating a ton ofdairy and sugar things that
create mucus or an extra tax onthe immune system.
This is a time to really workon increasing veggies and
(21:26):
quality proteins.
And broths bone broth, I mean.
It's the best time it's it'scold outside sip some bone broth
.
But you know you can't make ababy do all of that.
But you can.
You can do a lot of naturalapproaches to help support a
baby when they might be comingdown with something or are
dealing with a cough.
And you know we have to begentle and careful with babies
(21:47):
and elderly people, butespecially for babies, you can't
just give them a bunch of herbs.
So don't feel helpless.
There are things you can do,but you've got to have the right
tools, like humidifiers andthose are so easy to get.
You can get them I think, aboutany pharmacy or drugstore and
you just put that in the roomand just create a little more
moisture.
But then essential oils a lotof people think, oh, I can't use
(22:09):
them at all on babies, and youare right to be careful and
cautious.
But you can diffuse them.
That's putting a little moremoisture in the air with the
essential oils and things thatcan kill viruses and help clear
mucus.
And then you can put them ontopically, but very, very, very
little and the best ones wouldbe frankincense, lavender, lemon
(22:31):
, eucalyptus and you're onlyusing one drop, one drop and
then you're diluting it in acarrier oil it could be olive
oil or coconut oil and you rubthat on the baby's feet.
You never want to put essentialoils right on the chest or near
their mouth and their nose,where they're breathing, because
that's when it is reallyoverwhelming.
But on the bottoms of the feetyou can hit all the reflexology
(22:53):
points and it's just so cool howwell that works.
You're thinking, okay, the feet, but it's for the lungs.
Yeah, because on your feet wehave different points on our
feet that reach the differentorgans via the meridians and on
your foot if you get on like thebottom of the middle toe, that
is a great point for sinuses.
(23:15):
So if you grab those oils atthat point and then the middle
of the foot on the bottom, likekind of right in the middle,
that's the point for the lungs.
Foot on the bottom, like kindof right in the middle, that's
the point for the lungs.
So if you were to take theessential oils mixed in a
carrier oil and rub that allover the little baby's feet,
it's going to open up sinusesand lungs.
(23:36):
And you know, it's great forelderly people too, because
sometimes their skin's gettingmore sensitive and they can't
handle the oils directly put on.
And always test a little areabefore you try to apply.
You know thieves, which hascinnamon and cloves.
You put that all over yourchest and you can start burning.
So always be moderate.
Less is more with essentialoils, in my opinion.
(23:56):
Would you agree, sharon?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Oh yeah, for sure, we overdo it all the time.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Yeah, but then you know, for for elderly you could
or adults, right, you could usea nebulizer.
Those became really popular inCOVID but they work for any kind
of upper respiratory ailmentbecause that's going to help
drive some nutrients directlyinto your lungs and it can bring
a lot of relief.
But then you know, there'smodalities that we have here If
(24:24):
you're local, we've got Rifetechnology, which we have an
entire podcast on thatpreviously, and it's just a
great frequency modality whereyou can use that on babies and
elderly and pregnant women.
I mean, it's safe for everybody.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I think technically they say don't use it on
pregnant people.
But lots of pregnant people doit, it's just not studied.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Right, I mean nobody studies herbs on pregnant people
, but lots of pregnant people doit, it's just not studied.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Right, I mean nobody studies herbs on pregnant people
or drugs.
Who wants that risk?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, it's not me, but this is also a good time to
consider a clearing, and we wedo clearings for allergies and
for viruses and bacteria, colds,flus and we do those virtually
and in person, and it's just asimple little tool to help
desensitize your body's reactionto whatever toxin or illness
(25:12):
you're dealing with.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And to clarify that's an acupressure technique that
we do to distract and kind ofreboot the system, if you will,
to make the body focus onsomething different.
Right, other than an allergensensitivity viral process?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, and they're really effective.
It's easy, it's simple.
But another thing is lymph work.
Don't ever forget lymph work.
I don't know if we've ever hada podcast where we haven't
mentioned lymph, because it hasto do with everything.
Your lymph is your body'sgarbage can and it needs help,
especially when you're fightingsomething, because your lymph
nodes are the little washingmachines in your body.
(25:53):
They're cleaning all of theviruses in your blood, all the
toxins, and it's trying to cleanit out.
So give it a little boost dryskin brushing, vibration
platform, or come into ouroffice.
We've got lymphatic therapies.
We have lymph star and flowpresso, and then there's also
frequencies on rife for lymph,and for some people that's a
better option because you knowit's.
(26:14):
It is a little more affordableand more passive, but it can be
very helpful.
And you know, beyond thosethings, if you're an adult who
can handle some strongerremedies, you can do the
essential oils that are applieddirectly to the chest or don't
forget those feet, even foradults.
And then there's herbs.
Some of the top ones that welike to use would be mullein or
(26:36):
NAC, quercetin, thyme, ginger.
There's a lot of blends thatwill have that in it, and if you
can get those at the verybeginning of you know, feeling
like you're coming down withsomething you're going to have a
lot shorter time, that you'refeeling under the weather.
But then colloidal silver lovecolloidal silver that's.
(26:56):
that's such a mainstay in mymedicine cabinet.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Because that that can be very helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
And I like to use it up the nose and in the ears,
because that's how a lot ofviruses enter the body.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
I love and hate it, if any of our listeners haven't
tried it.
The colloidal silver up thenose is so effective and it'll
burn for a couple seconds, butthen it clears everything out
and you get this relief.
So it is worth doing it, butyou might need a little guide
the first time you do it.
Yeah, for sure.
But then steam saunas, you know,or just a hot bath or shower
(27:33):
for anyone of any age.
If a baby can't take a shower,at least put them on the edge of
a bath or a shower where theycan breathe in some steam.
And you can put some essentialoils in the bath or in the
shower.
That'll bring out, you know,eucalyptus or thyme or different
oils that will help open up thelungs there.
But you can also use these samethings in herbal tinctures and
teas.
(27:53):
I mean, there's just so manythings you can do, but here's
the biggest one I should havementioned First homeopathics.
I think homeopathics getforgotten.
We always think we have to domore.
But there are homeopathics thatwill help relieve all the
different symptoms as well asprotect you from coming down
(28:15):
with viruses.
And you know, there's a lot ofinformation out there and
there's a lot of availability.
Go to any health food store.
I think even Kroger hashomeopathics.
So it can be hard to know whichone to use when, but that's
when we can help, and those areeasy appointments to do,
virtually to see, okay, whathomeopathic should I have on
hand in my medicine cabinet forthe symptoms of XYZ, and then we
(28:39):
can customize it for eachindividual, because some people
will react and respond better toothers.
So it's just good to know whatyour body's going to need.
And then one of my favoritesnature's cough syrup honey.
You know you don't want to usethat for babies, right?
You don't want to use it forany baby that's 12 months or
younger, but anyone older thanthat, don't forget about that.
(29:01):
I think almost everyone willhave honey in the pantry or the
cupboard, and it's a great toolwhen that cough is becoming
unbearable.
So just remember all the toolsthat you might have in your
cupboard as it is.
There's so many other thingsyou can do, but I think that
(29:23):
hits on the biggest ones.
And then I think you mentionedalready, sharon, the sinus
rinsing.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah, sinus rinsing.
Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
It is.
It's just a great way to cleanout what is festering in your
sinuses.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Yeah, listening to you talk about the essential
oils it reminds me of this.
It's an old fashioned folkremedy but they used to have you
rub, like Vicks, vaporub ormentholatum on your feet at
night, at bedtime, and then putsocks on and just go to bed.
And it's interesting because itwas all of the.
Was it camphor and menthol andeucalyptus in those products?
(29:55):
I mean, it is in petroleum jellybut it acted on again those
same meridians, thosereflexology points, and it has a
global effect on the body andit does help with suppressing
cough.
It's so funny that, you know,across the ages, everybody
recognizes that there arecertain elements that do have an
(30:16):
effect on the body and forcough especially, like that
associated with RSV.
That's a you know it applies.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah Well, there's so many folk medicine
remedies that people can dismissbecause it's like oh, it hasn't
been scientifically proven.
Well, anecdotal evidence ispretty convincing.
When things have worked Like,another old remedy is putting a
slice of onion on the bottom ofthe foot and putting socks on a
bedtime.
Yeah, I know, I've had greatsuccess with that in the past,
(30:44):
and if you Google it, they saywell, there's nothing to support
that.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Okay, yeah, because who's going to throw money?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
at a research study for onions who's making money?
Exactly, but you know, that'sjust one of the many things as
well, but let's talk aboutanother big one flu A and B, or
rather the seasonal influenza.
We typically see this in thewintertime, and although there
can be surprises that pop upthroughout the year.
What exactly does this virus do?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Well, I think we all know what this does, right it's
going to be the fever, theheadache, the sore throat or the
cough.
More often than not you're goingto see.
Well, this year flu A is waymore prevalent and flu B we're
(31:32):
not seeing quite so much You'regoing to have.
You know, most people come incomplaining of malaise, meaning
they just feel lethargic andtired.
They have a cough, they have afever, they have a headache,
they have body aches.
They generally will have someswollen lymph nodes and they may
have breathing problem too.
(31:54):
And you know, if you go to adoctor's office where you're
probably going to get a swab inthe nose to check you real quick
for flu A or flu B, they'retested together.
Check you real quick for flu Aor flu B, they're tested
together.
And it's again that wholeOctober to springtime really
times of the year that you'regoing to see it.
(32:14):
So flu A, yes, very prevalentright now.
It's also more contagious, andthat's according to CDC.
So I don't know, is it moreprevalent?
So we think it's morecontagious because there's just
more people running aroundcoughing and sneezing on people?
I don't know, but it is morecontagious.
(32:38):
Anyone can be affected by flu,right?
Of course, if you have loweredimmune function or you work
around big groups of peopleyou're at a higher risk for
catching it People over 65, kidsunder age five they're higher
risk.
And anybody who has a chronicrespiratory condition or a heart
(33:00):
problem or heart condition theyare going to be a greater risk
for flu.
But overall, like the fatalityrate of flu and RSV, it's like
under 0.02% overall in the US.
So it is a very low rate andthat's not to make light of
anyone who does succumb to theseillnesses Unfortunately do.
(33:24):
But this is why we're doingthis podcast we want everybody
to feel empowered andknowledgeable and able to
prevent or treat, you know,these illnesses, um, and
hopefully prevent anexacerbation or a worsening.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
So yeah, yeah, well, and it's and it's you know how
is it different than rsv, is it,you know?
For our listeners, I think, isyou're saying you know more, the
fever perhaps, and the swollenlymph nodes.
Is there a big?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
difference.
It has more of um.
The body aches and rsv isn'talways going to have a fever.
I mean, sometimes it does andit's hard to tell sometimes, you
know what does this person?
have.
Is this flu or RSV?
And ultimately, does it matterbecause you're still providing
supportive care?
Because there is that argument,right, right, I think, just
(34:19):
yeah, the fever, the body aches,the headache and the swollen
lymph, those are a little morevisible when you have the flu,
but it's, it's the same, youknow, as far as how it's spread,
it's the same as RSV becauseit's droplets spread through the
air.
So, again, with the coughingand the sneezing, and also I
think we should mention, likesharing food and drinks, because
(34:42):
kids do that a lot and that'sprobably not the time of year
you want to be doing it.
Don't share a fork, or yoursandwich or whatever.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
There's a time and a place to build up your immune
system, and we do that bysharing food or hugging, kissing
.
You know being close like that,but when you know that viruses
are going around, just use alittle common sense and maybe
don't share so much.
But you did say something,though I would love for you to
touch on fevers, you know,because we live in this medical
(35:14):
world where fevers are so badbut it's actually a defense
system, so could you expound onthat a little bit?
Speaker 1 (35:21):
Right, our body resides at a certain temperature
.
And you know, without goingdown a rabbit hole, there's a
lot of, you know, discussionabout what is normal body
temperature.
But for all intents andpurposes of this discussion,
we're going to say, hey, 98.6.
Okay, so 98.6 is our normalbody temperature.
(35:44):
Why would our body heat up?
Well, our body heats up to tryto kill a pathogen, and a
pathogen is any germ that may becausing disease or stress on
the body.
So a fever is actually a goodsign that your immune system
recognizes something is wrong.
And now it's going to mount aresponse to the presence of the
(36:09):
flu virus.
And fevers aren't fun.
In general they don't feel good.
But you can safely run a feverfor the most part if you don't
have, you know again, underlyingextenuating circumstances.
That would suggest that runninga fever is not okay.
But ideally you want to maybelet the body run a fever, just
(36:36):
so your natural defenses cankick in.
And when your fever breaks,that's when, you know, people
will get real sweaty and thentheir body temperature cools
back off.
But this is a part of ourbody's natural immunity.
This is helpful.
When is it not helpful?
Well, when you go over 104.7,you're risking, you know, brain
(36:59):
damage or seizures.
And now in this discussion, Ithink we should recognize that
there is something called afebrile seizure and children can
have this and some childrenwill hallucinate at 101
temperature or some kids willeven have a seizure.
And febrile seizures are, youknow, innocuous in as much as
(37:24):
there's no permanent damage.
But it's scary to see somebodyhave a seizure, especially if
it's your baby having theseizure.
But if you have a healthy kid,I know for myself, raising my
kids, I tried to let them run afever and when they were just so
miserable then we would dosomething about it.
And mainstream it's going to.
(37:45):
Medicine is going to say okay,acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and
that's how, and you dose itaccording to weight and you know
however many hours apart.
But really and truly you can doother things.
Um, when you have a high feverand you're just, you've said
enough, I can't do this anymore.
(38:06):
And for me that's like 103.7.
I'll run.
If I'm going to run a fever,it's going to be high fever.
It's not fun, but I realized mybody is done Like I cry uncle,
103.7.
And for me I'll go get in justa lukewarm bath because it's
cooler than my current bodytemperature, but it's not so
(38:28):
cold that it's going to causeshock.
Now some people will put an icepack on their feet.
You know, you've probably seenTV shows or movies where they
put people on ice.
I think you risk puttingsomebody into shock when you do
that.
I wouldn't do that withoutmedical supervision.
Into shock when you do that?
I wouldn't do that withoutmedical supervision.
(38:49):
But there there is definitely aplace for fevers, you know, in
a normally otherwise, normallyhealthy person, and this isn't
again.
You know, like our disclaimersays, this is not medical advice
.
You should everybody shouldtalk to your provider.
You should have a providerwho's knowledgeable and able to
help you make these decisions.
But if you're comfortable youknow facilitating a fever, then
(39:09):
do it.
There are a lot of clinicsaround the world that have
hyperthermia chambers to helpthe body achieve a fever, to
cook off some sort of germ orwhatever else is going on.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
I mean look at sauna use.
Sauna use is essentiallycooking out the bad stuff,
sweating it out.
You heat your body up so highit has to let it go.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Exactly, exactly so, really and truly.
You know we do want to let thebody do its thing, but we can
help our body along in many,many ways, but ultimately you
don't want to spread it.
If you have it, and so we can'tstress enough, take care of
yourself at home and don'tspread it around by not covering
(39:53):
your mouth or practicing goodhand hygiene.
Wash your hands after you'vebeen to the store.
Wash your hands If you go outto eat.
Wash your hands before you eat,no matter where you are.
But I do also want to point out, you know, we talked about the
RSV vaccine and and there areconcerns with it because it is a
new vaccine and and I'm notsure I really don't know about
(40:13):
any long-term studies on it.
I haven't really gotten intothat.
But flu shots have been aroundfor a long time and they're not
a guarantee either.
They are there and there arepeople who swear by them and
there are people who get the flushot and then get the flu and
say I'm never getting the flushot again and the.
(40:34):
It's the same thing.
You can't rely on one vaccineto prevent, you know, other bad
decisions from ending in disease.
But with the flu shot, you knowsome estimates this year that
it's maybe 25% to 35% effective,which isn't really good.
(40:55):
I promise you, if your vitaminD levels are up and your
nutrition is up and your sleepis caught up and you're drinking
water and not eating a bunch ofsugar and junk food, your
chances of not getting the fluare a lot higher.
I will say this is my secondcold and flu season in urgent
(41:15):
care and I have not been sickand in my primary care in a
traditional clinic I was theonly one who didn't get a
respiratory virus and I didn'tmask, but I did eat healthy and
sleep well and drink lots ofwater and you cannot put a price
on that.
It makes up for a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
It does.
And the D3 thing you know youthink about in the summertime,
when we have access to moresunshine, it's boosting our D3.
Then the days start gettingshorter, just as we're coming
into flu season, and so it's.
It's really important toremember.
D3 is a simple supplement totake.
It is not that expensive, it isso easy to take and I know for
(42:01):
me I think you would agree,sharon some of the healthiest
people I see have higher D3levels, like 80 to 100.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Those are the healthier people, yeah.
And they say I think with COVID, even like Dr Brownstein I
don't remember if Dr McCulloughsaid it, but they were saying if
your vitamin D levels were over60, you were like 89% less
likely to end up hospitalizedfrom COVID.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
That's a pretty big number, yeah.
So take your D3, and it's easyto give babies too.
You know low, low dose.
But you can give little peopleD3.
You can give older people D3.
Just keep that in your medicinecabinet and start taking it the
beginning of the fall.
And I always say take it untilyou can get outside and get
sunshine again, when the weatherstarts warming up, because
(42:51):
sunshine is so powerful, so sopowerful.
It's light and heat that'sgoing to kill off viruses and
bacteria.
But don't forget just gettingoutside, getting fresh air and
grounding, touching the earth,getting your nervous system to
calm down so it can focus onhealing.
But then, one of my favoriteones, that I text all my
(43:13):
siblings who have children atthe beginning of flu season,
like, hey, beginning of fluseason, before the holidays,
start doing a little parasitecleanse on your children and
yourself, but especiallychildren, because they are such
little snotty kids that shareeverything and that's a really
easy thing to do.
We've talked about that beforeas well and there's there's a
(43:35):
lot of different ways you can doit.
It doesn't all have to be a big, overwhelming thing, but doing
those parasite cleanses ahead oftime are a great way to stay
healthy.
But yeah, I just can't put aprice on what to prevent, right?
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Absolutely, it's so true I've noticed that our
clients who have done a parasitecleanse this fall or have done
two or more, like with the fullmoon, we're not seeing the level
of respiratory illness in thatsubsection of our clientele,
like we are with new peoplecoming in or who have no
(44:13):
experience with parasites.
Um, necessarily, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Yeah, but you know, lymph though too.
It really doesn't matter whatvirus, what ailment, lymph is
always the answer.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
You go like should I?
Speaker 2 (44:28):
dry skin brush yes.
Should I come in for lymphatictherapy?
Yes, yes.
Unless you, you know, arehaving a raging fever or
coughing your lungs out to wheremaybe you shouldn't be around
people.
You should stay home.
Otherwise, come get some lymph.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
And let's you know.
Back to the homeopathyBelladonna is I call it
homeopathic acetaminophenbecause it will help reduce a
fever and it helps with pain.
Pulsatilla is good for any kindof fever that has snot
associated with it.
There's a lot of mucus.
That's a good one, but for theflu, oselococcinum, and I can't
(45:04):
say that very well, but I thinkI said it right.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
But you can see it.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
You'll recognize it at the health food store because
you're going to go.
What in the world is that?
And it's spelled well I don'tknow how it's spelled
O-S-C-I-L-L-O-C-O-C-C-I-N-U-M.
Maybe I'm close.
(45:31):
A lot of people will take thisonce a week as a preventive, but
you can also treat in the veryearly stages of respiratory
illness or flu-like cold orflu-like symptoms.
You can take this and hopefullyshorten the duration and kind
of mute the effect.
Speaker 2 (45:44):
Really good for babies.
Yeah, once again, becauseyou're getting ahead of it.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
And you're not going to hurt a baby with it.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Yeah, yeah, okay.
Well, that was flu.
Let's talk about the big one,right, covid?
How do we even have aconversation about it
differently than we do the flu?
Let's start there.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
Well, it's mainly differentiated by test results.
That's not a fair statement allthe way around, but symptoms
are very similar to flu andsometimes RSV.
But there are a fewdistinguishing factors.
For me, you know, a lot oftimes in urgent care I have no
idea until I just test people ordon't even know what it is,
(46:26):
because you can have any ofthese symptoms with any of these
illnesses.
But COVID is a little betterknown for people who say, oh, I
woke up and I had no sense ofsmell, like smell and taste were
gone, and that seems to befairly unique to COVID.
But I think it is a goodquestion and we kind of
(46:46):
struggled with this.
But COVID is a manipulatedversion of a coronavirus.
Coronavirus is a virus that isresponsible for colds.
Right, there are so many upperrespiratory viruses like
rhinovirus, adenovirus,coronavirus, metanumavirus,
influenza, rsv.
(47:07):
They're all upper respiratoryviruses.
Covid is different because itwas manhandled and manipulated,
right, and so for people whowere compromised with regard to
other health issues, it didprove to be more detrimental.
But it, you know it does affectpeople differently.
(47:29):
But still, most people who getit, you know it's mild to
moderate illness and you'regoing to treat it the same way,
it's still going to besupportive care, short of you
going in the first 72 hours andgetting tests.
You know, first 72 hours ofsigns and symptoms, um and they,
they, you can take an antiviral.
(47:51):
I, as a naturopath, am not afan of these because they're not
proven to greatly shorten theduration and they're biologic
drugs and I think those are veryunproven as far as long-term
outcomes.
But COVID can involve extremefatigue, cough fever, headache,
(48:14):
body aches, breathingdifficulties and we still want
to treat it.
Support, you know, with support, supportive therapies.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
And that's where you know I hope my listeners, our
listeners, know I'm not makinglight of it, but we often can
think, oh, this is a specialcase virus, upper respiratory
type virus.
It's not.
You really do a lot of the samethings.
And I mentioned parasites.
I didn't mention the big I word, ivermectin.
It's a great time to bring upivermectin.
(48:47):
It got popular with COVID, butit's been useful and effective
long before then for cancers andviruses and you know it's not
just livestock People have usedit and this isn't, you know,
always a popular opinion.
But when you are trying toboost your immune system, you do
really want to take awayanything that could be stressing
(49:08):
your body from healing itself.
And you know the supportiveeffect of a parasite cleanse,
once again, is one of the mostvaluable things that you could
possibly do, especially beforethe holidays.
But just even when theweather's changing, it's a good
time to think, hey, let's buildmy immune system, and we do this
all the time.
We can walk any listenerthrough the best way to build
(49:29):
your immune system ahead of timeand then, when you're in it, we
can also guide you on what'sgoing to be the best tools for
you.
Being sick doesn't have to bethis big scary thing, and I can
attest to when my grandparentsgot COVID.
My grandmother had COPD andtype 2 diabetes, my granddad had
Parkinson's and he had recentlybroken his hip.
I mean they had a lot of riskthere when they contracted COVID
(49:53):
.
But by doing a lot of thesupportive care we did it for
two weeks and pulled themthrough.
They both lived to tell aboutit and it didn't take much to
pull all those tools together.
It just took a lot to do themand a lot to know.
But once again, that's whywe're doing podcasts like this.
We want our listeners to havethese tools and be ready.
But if you want help on how todo that, just give us a call.
(50:14):
We want our listeners to havethese tools and be ready.
But if you, if you want help onhow to do that, you know, just
give us a call.
We're we're always happy to dothat, because keeping people
healthy that's why we do this.
We'll take, we'll take you whenyou're sick, but if we can keep
you from getting there, it'seven better.
But ivermectin I I'm a huge fan, huge huge fan.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
Well, I can tell you I mean having married someone
who grew up in the cattleindustry.
He's my husband.
You know he wrote a poem I callmy husband a cowboy poet and he
is a poet and he wrote a poemin high school called Ivermectin
, and my husband graduated inthe 80s, so it was a while ago.
But ivermectin has been used bylots of humans for lots of
(50:59):
viruses and lots of issues for avery long time.
And you know I will say I'm justgoing to make this statement I
do not believe that healthcareand medicine should be political
, should not be politicized, andI think that with ivermectin,
politics and pharmaceuticalprofit concerns and government
(51:21):
tie-in got in the way ofivermectin really being able to
shine like it should have duringthe pandemic.
Instead, it got beat up on thedaily and it was withheld and
people suffered for it.
It's been used for years inautism and for malaria, for
viruses, for parasiticinfections, and used by humans.
(51:44):
Okay, and yes, it is also usedin livestock, but I think it
just got a bad rap.
So that's all I'm going to sayabout it.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Yeah, yeah, don't knock it till you, try it.
Speaker 1 (51:56):
Let's go even deeper.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
Okay, let's talk about bird flu, because this one
also just raises a lot ofquestions on my part, like, okay
, what are they doing now?
So do we really need to worryabout this one?
Speaker 1 (52:13):
I think that's the question.
What are they doing now?
So do we really need to worryabout this one?
I think that's the question.
What are they doing now?
It's one bit to me it's like,seriously again.
I mean, remember I, what yearwas it the swine flu?
They tried to make the swineflu this big pan, I call it the
pandemic.
That wasn't because thelethality was so low.
And my thing is again I'm goingto hearken back to my husband.
(52:37):
You know, we've been together32 years and um, he's from the
panhandle of Texas and the veryfirst case um was a D, a dairy
worker in Demet Texas.
Why were they testing a dairyworker in Demet Texas for H5N1?
(52:57):
Why, you know, and and therethat's my first question how
that happened and why.
And there, because there wasn'tlike this big death toll in the
cows.
But we have record of animal tohuman transmission, but there's
no human to human transmissionand the only people who have
(53:19):
gotten it seem to have gotten itfrom being around sick cats or
eating sick chickens.
That I've read.
And so to me it's like, well,well, how did this one get
manipulated?
Because I don't think this is,you know, it's not from a wet
market.
We haven't said it's started ona dairy.
I think that, you know, mostpeople have enough wherewithal
(53:43):
to question these things now,knowing that gain of function is
a thing, knowing that there areentities out there who are
curious enough to go to the darkside to see how bad they can
make a virus, and I think thatwith H5N1 or the avian flu or
(54:03):
bird flu or whatever you want tocall it, there's just way too
many inconsistencies andunknowns.
There's a distinct, distinctlack of human cases.
I think California declared acrisis because there was one
case, and I think that that'sjust.
I think it's sensationalism andI'm not going to take part.
(54:24):
I felt like.
You know, that happened in 2020.
We worked all the way throughit.
We helped a lot of people withsupportive care, um, and no
matter what happens with thiswhole age five and one, we're
still going to be here providingsupportive care, education and
resources, because and as welearn more, we'll do better, um,
(54:46):
but with this we just have notseen something that demands a
different answer.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yeah Well, and that just brings it back to whatever
new virus is out there.
Whatever immune system supportisn't a new thing.
Speaker 1 (54:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:59):
Taking care of your health and being proactive.
That's not a new thing.
That starts today.
You know if you're not alreadydoing it.
It is easy to do, and that'sthat will make you feel like
you're in charge of your healthmore than anything.
If you know, know you're takingthe steps and doing the things
that are going to boost yourimmune system.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
Yeah, yeah, and so I think this is good.
Let's, we'll wrap it up here.
I hope that everybody took awaysome tools, some tips.
It's time to go stock yourcabinet.
There are certain things youalways want to have on hand,
like a pulse oximeter, anebulizer, and go get you some
(55:40):
essential oils.
But if you watched this episodeon YouTube, please like and
subscribe to our channel.
Also, check us out on Rumble,facebook and Instagram, and if
you'd like more information onhow to take better care of your
health and avoid gettingsidelined with respiratory
viruses, you can visit us atk6wellnesscom and you can
schedule an appointment or afree discovery call.
(56:00):
But until next time, take careof yourself, because your health
is worth fighting for.
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