Avian Flu - A Selenium Deficiency Disease
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Image credit: Fons Reijsbergen
The way we raise chickens in factory farms has been named as the cause for the spread of avian flu or 'bird flu'. Wendy Orent, the author of "Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease" writes in an editorial titled "Blame Big Chicken" in PittsburghLive:
According to University of Ottawa flu virologist Earl Brown, lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially produced poultry in Italy in 1878. The highly pathogenic H5N1 is descended from a strain that first appeared in Scotland in 1959.People have been living with backyard flocks of poultry since the dawn of civilization. But it wasn't until poultry production became modernized and birds were raised in much larger numbers and concentrations that a virulent bird flu evolved. Somehow, the virus that arose in Scotland found its way to China, where, as H5N1, it has been raging for more than a decade.
Industrial poultry-raising moved from the West to Asia in the last few decades and has begun to supplant backyard flocks there.
Chinese researchers Qu Yuan, Qu Lai and Qu Shaozhong have come to a similar conclusion, but they go further. In recent history, China has experienced a human epidemic of keshan disease, which manifests as cough, difficult breathing, pulmonary edema, and eventually death by heart failure. There was some controversy over whether the disease was caused by Coxsackie virus - which normally is quite benign - or by a deficiency of selenium. It turned out that, when selenium was supplied, the disease practically vanished. The virus seems to have been an innocent bystander, rather than the cause.
Yuan, Lai and Shaozhong point to this experience and to the fact that bird flu presents a very similar set of symptoms. They also explain that China has very low selenium content in much of its soil, and consequently in the feed that birds are raised with. They point out that factory-farm treatment of chickens further depletes the birds of this vital mineral, since eggs have a high selenium content. When chickens are made to lay eggs 24/7/365 by hormones and constant lighting, the selenium depletion becomes extreme, leaving them susceptible to what superficially appears to be an infection.
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Infection or deficiency?
Whether we should speak about infection or about a simple deficiency of a vital mineral is a question that must be resolved in time, but I shall let that rest for now - the whole edifice of viral causation of diseases might come crashing down.
Anyone interested to follow that particular string of thought might start with an interview of Stephan Lanka, a German virologist, who believes that a virus is not the cause of bird flu.Pub Med lists 22 studies that show selenium has preventive and protective properties against a number of viral agents. Again, whether a virus becomes more virulent in the absence of selenium, or whether it is the primary mineral deficiency that does the damage which we then attribute to a virus is not the immediate question. Fact is, when selenium is given, the organism can more effectively cope with infections.
Health authorities are groping for a pharmaceutical solution to what they say is an inevitable epidemic or even pandemic in the wings. Tamiflu is being stockpiled by governments the world over. The drug has been shown to be effective in increasing pharmaceutical revenues but to be rather useless in protecting people from avian flu. A vaccine for humans is not available yet and won't be until several months after the virus takes on a form that allows it to transfer between humans.
A controversy has recently erupted over whether selenium could indeed protect people from the pandemic. Nutraingredients.com reports about it.
No preventive strategy
It appears that the World Health Organization, the pharmaceutical industry and practically every last one of our national health authorities have no other preventive strategy in mind than stockpiling tamiflu and waiting for a vaccine. They are issuing dire warnings - "don't say we didn't tell you" - prepare to die! Research is largely done in secret, it is exclusively directed at the viral causation angle. Prevention is centered on quarantine, if needed with the help of the military, and on "killing the virus".
Obviously, we are unlikely to see any real preventive strategy coming from government health authorities, so we better get ready for whatever is in store. Here are my suggestions:
Protect yourself
1. observing normal, basic hygiene rules (wash your hands, as your mother said).2. get sufficient rest and avoid stress. If you do get stressed out, remember to get back into balance.
3. Eat well and regularly. Eat proper food that is nutritious. If you don't know what nutrients your body needs, find out!
4. Be sure to include selenium and vitamin C in your daily food intake.
5. Stock up on your preferred herbal anti-virals, colloidal silver and other protective goodies, just in case.
6. When someone offers you an experimental vaccine, tell them to stick that needle you-know-where...
7. Oh yes, remember the birds! Start agitating for a change from factory farming practices to keeping chickens in a humane way. Biodynamic and biological agriculture is the trend of the future.
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Links to further information...
Global Poultry Industry is the Root of the Bird Flu CrisisIndustry caused the flu; why blame wild birds?
The supplements - bird flu debate: selenium
2/27/2006 - Following last week's claims and counter claims that dietary supplements may offer protection from avian flu, Stephen Daniells looks into statements that selenium supplements may offer protection. Many novel virus have been found in selenium deficient populations, with experts suggesting that relatively harmless viruses can mutate into deadly versions on passing through a selenium deficient host.Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium
provided by the Office of Dietary Supplements • NIH Clinical Center • National Institutes of HealthNUTRIENTS ARE EFFECTIVE IN INFLUENZA
Nutrient mixture containing vitamin C, Green tea extract (EGCG ), amino acids : lysine, proline, arginine, N acetyl cysteine , selenium, and other essential natural components can directly decrease viral multiplication in infected cells and limit their spread by curbing enzymatic degradation of extracellular surroundings.BIRD FLU: Public Health Information for The Governments of the World
Matthias Rath, M.D.
A potential bird flu pandemic poses a global threat.Since there is no vaccine available, there is an urgent need for effective, safe and affordable treatment of a bird flu pandemic. The most promising approach to immediately reach this goal is the use of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, plant polyphenols). Their effectiveness to improve the immune function is already part of every textbook of biology. At our research institute, we tested a micronutrient composition for their effectiveness, specifically in blocking influenza infection.Prepare for Avian Flu!
A Natural Therapy for self-protection and treating Avian InfluenzaDr. F. Cathcart's page on
AVIAN (BIRD) FLU8 Ways To Avoid The Flu Naturally
Bird flu vaccination could lead to new strains
19:00 24 March 2004
New Scientist Print Edition
Vaccinating chickens may be the only way out of the bird flu nightmare in Asia. But it could also lead to the evolution of new strains, the latest researc
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