Shingles Natural Treatment - Natural Alternatives to Prescription Drugs and the New Shingle Vaccine By Dr. Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Virus Basics for Shingles Natural Treatment

All living organisms play host to viruses, even including bacteria. It is a certainty that you will be affected by multiple kinds of viruses throughout your lifetime. The most prevalent human viruses will show up as the common cold, flu, cold sores, chickenpox, and shingles. Less common, and more deadly, viruses are blamed for such diseases as ebola, AIDS, bird flu, SARS, and hepatitis.

Scientists are also suspicious of viruses that are associated with multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, neurological diseases, cancer, and many more. Finding the best natural shingles treatment for you depends on knowing about the basic interactions between you and your virus.

One of those interactions comes from your childhood chickenpox virus when it breaks out into a shingles later in life.

Main Factors That Influence Infections

Your body is one of the main determining factors for whether you will suffer from shingles or any other viral disease. You are exposed to viruses on a daily basis, and most of the time your immune system or other defense mechanisms help you resist infections. Otherwise, you would be sick all of the time.

Another main factor for infection is the type of virus and its response to your defenses. Shingles, for example, is caused by the chickenpox virus that has infected millions of people. Out of all of the people who have had chickenpox, only about 1-3 per thousand healthy individuals under 65 years old will get shingles. This number goes up to as high as 12 per thousand for those older than 65. Such survey data just mean that the vast majority of people who have been exposed to the virus do not develop symptoms, due to the combination of their bodies' defenses and to the response of the virus to them.

Your best strategies for fighting viral infections must be based on whatever you can do to help your own defenses and whatever you can do to address the behavior of the virus itself. Antiviral prescription drugs have side effects resulting from their suppression of the immune system, which undermines your defenses. The new shingles vaccine, Zostavax, is only approved for people over 60 years old, because clinical experiments focused only on this group. Even so, it is only effective for about half of the people who are injected with it.

Even though Zostavax has been approved in Europe as well as in the U.S., it is not widely used in such places as the U.K. even though it is licensed there. This caution is based on the long-term unknowns, the interactions with other drugs and vaccines (esp. the chickenpox vaccine) and worries about affects on those with already weakened immune systems.

Cautions About Zostavax

Follow-up studies are in progress. The long-term effectiveness and potential complications of Zostavax are unknown At this time it is not recommended for women who are pregnant, people with active untreated tuberculosis, or those with weakened immune systems. It is also not recommended for anyone who has had a life-threatening allergic reaction to gelatin or to the antibiotic neomycin, which are components of the vaccine formula.

Focus on Herpes Viruses

The chickenpox and shingles virus is known scientifically as Herpes zoster (or Varicella zoster), which means it shares many characteristics with all of the members of the herpes family of viruses. The same antiviral drugs are prescribed for shingles, cold sores, genital herpes, and Kaposi's sarcoma because they are all herpes viruses.

Herpes viruses target the same kinds of tissues (skin and nerve), although in different parts of the body. They also have the same basic appearance and genetic composition and respond to drugs and natural treatments the same way. This just means that a successful remedy against one type of herpes infection has a good chance of being successful against other types.

Natural Antivirals for Shingles Treatment

Scientific literature over the past century reveals thousands of plant natural products that have antiviral activity. This is to be expected, since plants have their own viruses to deal with. Nevertheless, plant viruses and human viruses have much in common, so hundreds of the antivirals that plants make in their own defense also inhibit human viruses.

Most of the research-level results are not practical at this time because the majority of antiviral plant compounds are not yet available in herbal formulas. However, a few herbs that show positive clinical results against shingles have been available for several years.

The classic herb against shingles is lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), which produces an oil that has anti-herpes activity for topical use as well as for internal use. It is an ingredient in several formulas, sometimes by itself and often with other oil-producing herbs. Recent research in cell cultures shows that lemon balm can overcome herpes infection in cells that have become resistant to prescription antiviral drugs.

The newest herb, and maybe the best one, against herpes is the creosote bush (Larrea tridentata). It is also available in a lotion for topical application as well as in a capsule for internal use. The active ingredients in the creosote bush have general activity against several types of herpes infections as well as activity against HIV and several other types of viruses. This herb is definitely a rising star in the realm of antivirals from plants.

What About Shingles Pain?

The pain of a rash, which can sometimes last weeks or months after an outbreak has already subsided (i.e., "post-herpetic neuralgia"), responds very well to a paste of red pepper powder or to creams containing its main active ingredient, capsaicin. Capsaicin is well-known for blocking pain signals between nerves just under the skin. The only drawback to applying capsaicin-containing formulas is that it makes the burning sensation worse if the skin has been broken or is still has open blisters.

Medical researchers are finding out a lot about capsaicin vs. shingles pain. More than 70 research articles have appeared on this topic since 2002 in PubMed, the U.S. government's medical database.

Dr. Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

http://naturalshinglestreatment.com

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Ebola Epidemic: Causes, Symptoms and Precautionary Measures By Troy A. Anderson

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) that has wreaked havoc across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia is considered "a severe, often fatal illness in humans" by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It weakens the immune system and causes bleeding inside and outside the body. In fact, it puts even health workers at risk if they are properly protected.

Previously known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, Ebola was first reported way back in 1976 in Nzara, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

What Causes Ebola

It is believed that the fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family living in tropical rainforests are the natural hosts of the EVD. This deadly virus is transmitted to people from wild animals as well as through other infected humans. It was passed on to humans by coming in close contact with the secretions, sweat, blood and other bodily fluids of EVD infected humans and various infected animals which include fruit bats, porcupines, chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys found either sick or dead in and around tropical rainforests. Other ways to getting infected with Ebola is by touching contaminated needles.

It's also true that Ebola is less contagious than other diseases; it is transmitted by bodily fluids, not by air, water or mosquitoes. In other words, Ebola doesn't spread by just being in proximity with someone infected. It's not like the flu. As mentioned above, there has to be direct contact with the bodily fluids. In recent times, most of the cases reported have occurred in people who were nursing their infected family members and also those who prepared an EVD infected dead body for burial.

Signs and symptoms

At first, Ebola may feel like normal flu or any illness. But symptoms begin to appear few days after getting infected. These symptoms include fever, joints and muscle pain, acute weakness, stomach pain, lack of appetite, sore throat and headache.

As the situation aggravates and the Ebola infection worsens; the patient begins to experience diarrhea, vomiting, impaired liver function, rashes and worse of all internal and external bleeding.

Some patients may also experience red eyes, chest pain, hiccups, trouble in breathing and swallowing.

Diagnosis & Treatment

Several tests are conducted to diagnose Ebola such as serum neutralization test, antigen detection test, electron microscopy and so on. There is no vaccine available to cure Ebola virus. Infected patients generally experience dehydration often. They require intensive care and need to be given oral rehydration solutions (ORS) containing electrolytes that helps treat dehydration in EVD patients.

Hope of Vaccine

There is no proven vaccine to cure Ebola. But many doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine have been developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada. The WHO has approved using the untested vaccine, calling it ethical to use it at such times.

As Dr. Marie-PauleKieny, an assistant director-general at WHO said in a press conference, "If there are drugs that can save lives... shouldn't we use them to save lives?" But she added, "(It is) very important to not give false hope to anybody that Ebola can be treated now. This is absolutely not the case."

Preventive Measures

Prevention is always better than cure. During the break out of epidemics, it becomes all the more necessary to take preventive measures seriously. The WHO has urged for strong measures to be taken to curb the outbreak, else the virus can spread from Africa to other regions as well.

Restricting the movement of Ebola infected animals from farms to other areas may help curb the spread of the virus.

Avoid getting in close contact with EVD infected patients. Take good care of patients or any infected member of family but make sure you use gloves and other protective equipment so that you end up getting infected with Ebola. Wash your hands after visiting patients in hospital.

Taking precautions with air purifiers

Ebola is a warning sign of the delicate state of Africa's health and sanitation systems that have seen slow development due to chronic poverty, illiteracy, neglect, ignorance about health measures afflicting the region. As result, the fragile health system is unable to cope up adequately with epidemic outbreaks. The hospitals and health workers are under-equipped and under-staffed to handle such emergencies.

Though the Ebola virus is not airborne or does not spread through water either, the outbreak of the epidemic does reiterate the need to keep our environment safe and healthy and to take adequate precautionary measures.

Airborne pathogens or allergens often cause inflammation in the nose, throat, sinuses and the lungs. These airborne pollutants could be viruses, bacteria, pollen, dust mites, smoke, and molds that affect health and weaken immune system.Many common infections can spread by airborne transmission at least in some cases including Anthrax (inhalational), Chickenpox, Influenza, Measles, Smallpox and Tuberculosis.Personal air purifiers emit healthy negative ions that help remove airborne pollutants away from your personal space providing you with cleaner and healthier air.

Air purifiers act as a preventive guard against airborne pathogens. Whether you are going to the supermarket or traveling; use travel air purifier to keep yourself safe from any virus or pollutants.

Troy recognizes the importance of creating a healthier zone of clean air whether at home, traveling, in hospitals or in poor air quality environments. He writes about the preventative measures one can take by using personal air purifiers and home cleaning appliances to breathe cleaner, healthier air free of airborne pollutants everywhere you go.

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