swine flu

[Arthur Haines]

Hey all,

I forget if I already posted this or not (sorry for the duplication if I did). I've had a fair number of requests lately for plants that can be used to help with swine flu (H1N1 virus). Rather than answer everyone individually, I've posted a small article about this topic on my website. If you have any questions, feel free to email or call. Visit http://www.arthurhaines.com/articles.htm to read the article.

Arthur

[Mike]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the article Arthur. It seems to me from the people I have been talking to recently that a major concern in dealing with the flu viruses (other than prevention, of course) is congestion of the lungs/chest. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions regarding this danger and herbs or other treatments in dealing with it.

An herbalist I was chatting with at Common Ground last weekend suggested the use of Skunk Cabbage root to deal with the lung congestion which may cause dangerous problems in his patients dealing with the flu. I thought that was pretty interesting. There were some other herbs mentioned too, like Mullien.

I guess besides herbal treatment suggestions, it would be really helpful if anyone would be able to explain why a virus (or bacteria for that matter) would want to infect the lung area, and what exactly is happening in the body when it produces mucus there.

Thanks a lot,
Michael

[Chris Plath]

I am no biochemist, but I have read a bit about the differences between the seasonal and pandemic H1N1s due to personal interest in biochemistry from school. Although I do not believe the CDC has outright offered a solid reason "why" the virus would want to attack the lungs as they are concentrating more on "how", some theories have been presented by the scientific community in recent publications.

Viruses target specific tissues based upon the receptor structure. The 'regular' seasonal flu, as you point out, cannot really infect lung tissue. Seasonal prefers to go for the nose and throat, most likely to aid in its spread when the host sneezes or coughs. The Pandemic mutation of H1N1 can bind to nose/throat cells as well as lung tissue due to a multiple receptor configuration (alpha 2-6 receptors.) Although not unique on the whole for viruses in general, this multiple receptor ability is something new for the "Pandemic" H1N1. The source I read also states they believe Pandemic H1N1 also has the ability to replicate at inner airway temperatures. If you want to read it in scientific speak, I follow many pages but the easiest to read is the University of Minnesota's HERE

The going 'theory' that I read was that the ability to infect more than one type of tissue could be that it is a natural mutation which could help the virus spread even quicker. That is of course pretty much the only thing that viruses are interested in...spread quickly and efficiently. This statement is further bolstered by the mutation allowing replication at host airway temperature. A nasty side effect is that bacteriological infection can quite easily set in when a deep lung tissue H1N1 infection has already set in. (Source CDC )

I can't really offer anything with the mucus question other than the body producing mucus is a standard reaction of any infection to try to isolate and flush the baddies out. The presence of fluids in the lungs always presents its own issues. A secondary infection at this point spells trouble for the host.

Of course research is always ongoing; For every CDC and independent study published I'm sure there are two other people disagreeing and publishing something else.