Chinese Medicine has many treatment options for all stages of swine flu H1N1 and other types of influenza.

Ideally, treatment may be sought prior to exposure to Swine Flu.  This preventative treatment helps to strengthen your body’s immune system and protective energy (wei qi).  By strengthening your protective energy, the influenza pathogen is less able to penetrate your system and make you sick. Continue common sense precautions:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Avoid close contact with sick people.

Once you have been exposed to the virus, the aim of treatment is to kill the virus before it reaches its full strength and symptoms.  Most influenza viruses take 1-4 days from exposure to onset of symptoms.  This period of initial exposure is vitaly important, and treatment is primarily aimed at killing the virus.

According to “The Swine Flu and Chinese Herbal Medicine” by John Heuertz, OMD, ” Once the virus reaches the lung tissue, however, or symptoms do not abate within the first 24 hours…viral replication has reached peak production, and the body’s immune response is now occupying or even consuming all available qi.” At this stage, the aim of treatment is to disperse heat and regulate the body’s immune response.  This helps the body deal with the most common symptoms such as racing pulse, headache, body aches, low appetite, fatigue and weakness, fever, and chest symptoms. Use common sense precautions to limit the spread of the virus:

• Wash your hands often, especially after coughing, sneezing, and wiping or blowing the nose.
• Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
• Use paper tissues when wiping or blowing your nose; throw tissues away after use.
• Stay away from crowded living and sleeping spaces, if possible.
• Stay home and avoid contact with other people to protect them from catching your illness.

One of the beauties of Chinese Medicine is that it works on its own or in conjunction with oseltamivir and zanamivir, the two antiviral drugs useful against H1N1.  (Remember that aspirin is not recommended due to the risk of Reye syndrome.)  As this is a novel strain of influenza, it is likely to spread especially in the Autumn and Winter months.  Luckily, the CDC expects that most people will recover from H1N1 without needing medical care.

Take Care and Stay Healthy!