Re: ~*Online WACOC News*~

Health Supreme - http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/

Could specialization in medicine be keeping us from finding an
effective way to prevent a potentially disastrous bird flu epidemic?
Specialization in medicine - as in other branches of science and art -
is an asset, but it also has its drawbacks. Invariably, specialized
knowledge tends to develop where the money is, where grants and
facilities are available. We have a myriad of experts analyzing the
latest virus in great detail, dissecting it, defining its genetic
sequences and its potential dangers. That is where the money is:
development and manufacture of vaccines and drugs to counter that one
specific threat, that specific mutation of the virus. With all this
attention on the details, we seem to miss the bigger picture. Could
there be other, much better means of preventing a pandemic than
tailor-making a vaccine or drug? Perhaps yes, but we are not looking -
because all the money is in vaccine research, drug development and
genetics. A real preventive strategy would look at three areas:
It would look at where the constant supply of ever new viral strains
comes from. Consequently, it would strive to make the bird population
less prone to developing viral outbreaks. Chicken farms come to mind
with their crowded conditions that promote the spread of any virus.
Hygiene, better conditions for the birds, better nutrition for the
birds, whatever is needed. It would seek to develop and deploy a
non-specific, all-encompassing immune enhancing strategy in humans.
Some herbal or nutrient combination - not a vaccination - that actually
makes persons more resilient and healthy. Strategies abound. We just
need to decide on the best one, find the right combination. It would
seek to apply known effective anti-viral agents in those humans who
have contracted a potentially pandemic virus. Vitamin C in megadose
therapy comes to mind. It has been shown effective and should be given
routinely by medical doctors and in hospitals - certainly until we find
something better.
Too many virologists and not enough thinkers Virologists will do what
they were trained to do. They will come up with a vaccine that takes
months to produce and routinely is of more than dubious effect. This is
becoming more and more apparent in the yearly race for a flu vaccine.
Guesswork is rampant and as often as not, the vaccine is useless or
worse. Why is it we don't think in terms of a sweeping strategy that
starts with the source of contamination and strengthens human immune
capacity in a general way while using what has already been proven
effective? Because all the money is in pharmaceuticals. All the
research is about pharmaceuticals. All government regulators hear is
the advice of pharmaceutical advisers and advertisers. We have lost
common sense, it seems, and are all worshiping the virus-god. We have a
love-hate relationship with it. We study it and analyze it. We develop
poisons to destroy it. We wage war against it. The war is fought right
inside our bodies. It's poison against virus and incidentally, our body
becomes the battle field. I bet if we really looked we could see the
wounded and the dead... Yet we have bodies that are immensely capable
of dealing with any bacteria and any virus. It's routine, day in, day
out. It has been going on for as long as human bodies exist. If we only
supported our bodies in their vitality and in their capability of
taking care of intruders, we would be fine. The proponents of
pharmaceutical intervention will say "bollocks you need to fight the
virus". Make war on the virus, much like make war on drugs and make war
on terrorism - affront and destroy the invader. Only - it doesn't seem
to work. By directly opposing a generic threat, we end up perpetuating
the problem instead of solving it. The next pandemic is as certain as
the next sunday ball game, according to the experts. My challenge is:
Where is your comprehensive strategy? Are we not focused too narrowly
on the virus of the moment while we forget to look at the larger
picture? Here are two recent articles to illustrate my point. One is
short and full of hope, and it goes a long way of starting us out on
the way to a more sane strategy to get a grip on the problem. An
Indonesian researcher has actually found a concoction - strange as it
may seem - that has shown a promising effect. It apparently prevented
"infected" chicks from getting sick. This was first published on
Xinhuanet and later re-posted on the Curezone Forum. The second article
is a special report, recently published in the Scientific American. It
is an illustration of what we are doing, how we are getting into the
most minute detail, figuring out the moves of the "enemy", the virus
and planning our counter-moves. The article does make fascinating
reading but it also shows how we are eternally behind in finding a
vaccine, and how we never seem to arrive at a real solution. Why? Read
and make up your own mind. Even the comics are starting to weigh in on
the discussion. And at times the comics - court jesters in the old
times - are the only ones who dare say what the emperor does not want
to hear. Here are links for you to enjoy Jon Stewart's scathingly
brilliant Daily Show piece on the bird flu. Quicktime Movie Link (106
MB) MP3 Audio Link (6.7 MB) So here is my question - why not look at
the bigger picture? Pharma's profits are not ALL there is in this
world! Let me also give credit where credit is due. Here is an email
from a friend in the UK, which did play a role in making me write this
article. Otto says: "There is a lot of talk on the subject of "Bird
Flu", most of it hyped-up media reports, scare mongering and the
Pharmas being fed hundreds of millions in consequence, for drugs which
have no track record of successfully combating this human variant of
that bug, the Pharmas don't even know yet which type it is and how to
provide a cure. They must be laughing all the way to the bank ! But
nobody is asking the question why this bug is not prevented from
infecting birds in the first place and where and how it originates.
It's like the old Malaria. It's more effective eliminating the breeding
grounds of mosquitoes spreading it rather than providing a cure for it,
which needs constant adjustments to cope with new strains of it."

~

Enjoy the sunsets and sunrises,

Diana Saba
Retired Nurse
FM ME/CFIDS
Related Neurological Disorders
CDC's Wm Reeves Must Go
Bring Back the GAO

Please Support NCF's Research Plans
http://www.ncf-net.org/

Please Sign Petitions
http://www.petitiononline.com/MEitis/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com.cfs2004/

May 12th Awareness Day
http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/4277/

The One Campaign
http://www.one.org/

The HHV-6 Site
http://hhv6.freeservers.com/

Betrayal By the Brain:
The neurological basis of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia
syndrome and related neural network disorders.
by Dr. Jay A Goldstein
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mecfs/general/goldstein_summary.html

Reading, Researching, Posting
1997-2005
http://hometown.aol.com/dgsaba/myhomepage/profile.html

~*I truly hope the January 2006 CFSAC meeting will be addressing our
continued efforts and concerns about our nations blood supply and FM
ME/CFIDS and all related neurological disorders*~

"What lies behind us and what lies before us, are tiny matters,
compared to what lies within us" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

.

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