The Flu and Bioterrorist Diseases - Can I do anything about them?

  There has been a lot of interest in Anthrax and other potential bioterrorist diseases.  Also the influenza season is about to start.  The question is often asked, “I know we are living in different times, but is there anything I can do to help protect myself against these potentially devastating illnesses?”  Also I hear people ask, “how can I put the current scares in perspective?”

 Some of the advise our grandmothers gave many of is still very helpful.  Grandma didn’t know about the immune system, but many of the things she suggested we now know actually help the immune system fight infections. 

 Some of those simple things that still work:

 Get your rest - Most adults do best with 7-9 hours of rest.  Children need even more.

 Get your exercise - Regular exercising such as walking 30 minutes 3-5 times a week can improve your immune system besides all of the other positive benefits.

 Avoid excess sugar - Sugar can paralyze the white blood cells that function to destroy invading enemies in the body.  One of the most common sources of large amount of sugar is soda pop.  There are 18-20 teaspoons of sugar in every 20 oz. bottle.

 Avoid excess fat in your diet - fatty foods can also decrease your immune systems effeciency.

 Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day - The body is 80% water and can easily become relatively dehydrated which effects the immune system as well as the rest of the organs.

 Wash your hands frequently - Many of the causes of illness enter our bodies via our hands.  It is especially helpful to wash your hands before eating and after being in public places.

 These are things we have all heard in some form in the past but most of us have room for improvement and it really is worth the effort.  They can help prevent all kinds of infections

 Now let’s try and put the deaths from bioterrorism in perspective.  Fortunately, so far there have been only a few deaths from bioterrorism. What are the death rates from other things that we can use for comparison?

 Every 30 minutes in this country someone is killed by a drunk driver.  In a sense that is an act of terror.  Someone is driving a lethal weapon and you have no warning before you are struck by it.  This does not include the number of injuries from these accidents.

 Every year there are between 150-200 deaths from lightning strikes.  That is 3-4 deaths on average every week.  Your chance of dying from being struck by lightning are many time greater than  dying from a bioterrorist attack.

 Lets do what we can to protect our selves and keep it all in perspective.

DeWayne Butcher