Guest guest Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 A POSSIBLE BIRD FLU REMEDY THAT ALREADY EXISTS Until Hurricane Katrina came along to distract us, last year's big fearful story was the potential for a bird flu pandemic. While bird flu has again been pushed aside by the latest news from the Middle East, one thing that remains clear is that bird flu is not going away, and someday it may reach our shores. To learn what we can do to protect ourselves, I spoke with K. Alstat, RPh, ND, co-founder and director of the Eclectic Institute, a manufacturer of botanical products in Sandy, Oregon. He told me that one of the most effective potential weapons we have against the bird flu is a plant called Lomatium dissectum. Lomatium is a member of the parsley family that grows in the United States from the Northwest to the Southwest. This herb was traditionally used by Native Americans to treat upper respiratory infections. FORMS OF LOMATIUM EXTRACT AND ISOLATE Lomatium possesses antimicrobial properties, explained Dr. Alstat. The Eclectic Institute has developed a potent proprietary isolate form of Lomatium that naturopathic physicians use to treat difficult conditions such as chronic fatigue, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis C and upper respiratory infections that may not respond to more conventional treatment. This powerful and expensive version of Lomatium is reserved for physician use only due to its limited availability. It could become more valuable to doctors if a mutated form of bird flu becomes a pandemic. For general consumer, use Dr. Alstat recommends a liquid extract of Lomatium and Ligusticum porteri (Osha). Dr. Alstat recommends the occasional use of a Lomatium-Osha combination in a throat spray or liquid extract. It would be best used as soon as a person has been exposed to a virus at work or school. It is advisable to check with a trained health professional before taking Lomatium prophylactically or long term. Should the bird flu ever establish itself in this country, Dr. Alstat highly recommends Lomatium-Osha combination as a natural defense, noting that it is an unusually effective deterrent against many viral conditions. While side effects of Lomatium are not common, always be on the lookout for unusual symptoms when you take any new medication or supplement. If you already take medication, consult your health-care practitioner before taking Lomatium. Practitioners have noted that an infrequent reaction to Lomatium is a rash, but Dr. Alstat believes that this may actually be due to the body's healing response. I asked Dr. Alstat whether there was a time limit on being able to take Lomatium extract, since bird flu will no doubt be around for a while. His response was there is no known time limit on its safe use. YOUR BEST PROTECTION -- OPTIMAL HEALTH Everyone should also make smart choices about important life issues such as a good diet, regular exercise and stress management. If you are working on a flu emergency kit, you can get Lomatium-Osha extract before you need it. You could also work with a health-care practitioner to obtain Lomatium isolate which must be kept in the refrigerator or, better yet, in the freezer. It is best to have for use as soon as exposed, rather than having to wait. It is not intended for continual use. Experts disagree if or when we will face a bird flu pandemic, but one thing on which all experts agree is that we should prepare ourselves now, in advance of any epidemic. Be well, Carole Bottom Line's Daily Health News FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (©) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit. Posted by Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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