Submitted by DivineEarth on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 16:13
By: J. J. Cannell
In early April of 2005, after a particularly rainy spring, an influenza epidemic (epi: upon, demic: people) exploded through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where I have worked for the last ten years. It was not the pandemic (pan: all, demic: people) we all fear, just an epidemic. The world is waiting and governments are preparing for the next pandemic. A severe influenza pandemic will kill many more Americans than died in the World Trade Centers, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, and Hurricane Katrina combined, perhaps a million people in the USA alone. Such a disaster would tear the fabric of American society. Our entire country might resemble the Superdome or Bourbon Street after Hurricane Katrina.
It's only a question of when a pandemic will come, not if it will come. Influenza A pandemics come every 30 years or so, severe ones every hundred years or so. The last pandemic, the Hong Kong flu, occurred in 1968 - killing 34,000 Americans. In 1918, the Great Flu Epidemic killed more than 500,000 Americans. So many millions died in other countries, they couldn't bury the bodies. Young healthy adults, in the prime of their lives in the morning, drowning in their own inflammation by noon, grossly discolored by sunset, were dead at midnight. Their body's own broad-spectrum natural antibiotics, called antimicrobial peptides, seemed nowhere to be found. An overwhelming immune response to the influenza virus - white blood cells releasing large amounts of inflammatory agents called cytokines and chemokines into the lungs of the doomed - resulted in millions of deaths in 1918.
Read full article here http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php
1 comment for "Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D".
1. Vitamin D ~
My prayers and wish, Divine Earth, that we may be fortunate and protected from such a devastating pandemic that would darken our world ~ Your attention to this reality brings to light a very important awareness - and that is the growing evidence of the power of vitamin D !! ~ (A much overlooked and underestimated vitamin.)
I have been hearing more and more about the importance of vitamin D to so many vital aspects of our health! Your article is consistent in revealing the latest findings ...I found a couple of related articles on some of the newly discovered benefits of vitamin D to share ~ In addition to your light on combating influenza, Divine Earth .. I have also read about its benefit in fighting cancer ~ May you stay safe, well and blessed always ~
~ Coralina ~
From CBC News - Vitamin D - By Georgie Binks ~
As evidence of the health benefits of Vitamin D continues to grow, running out and catching a few rays of sunshine has never felt healthier.
In the past, vitamin D was known to reduce the risks of osteoporosis, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Now there’s strong data to suggest it’s a formidable weapon in the fight against cancer.
In its latest news release on the subject, Health Canada recommends adults 19 to 50 need 200 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day. Everyone over the age of 50 is advised to take a daily supplement of 400 IU of vitamin D, and parents are told to give children over two years of age two cups of milk a day (one cup of milk has 100 IU of vitamin D).
However, the Canadian Cancer Society recommends 1,000 IU a day and the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors goes as far as recommending 2,000 to 4,000 IU a day.
The most efficient way to take and absorb Vitamin D is through a supplement, says Dr. Michael Holick, a professor with Boston University School of Medicine and author of The UV Advantage.
Another article from Science News ~
Vitamin D Found To Stimulate A Protein That Inhibits The Growth Of Breast Cancer Cells ~
ScienceDaily (Feb. 5, 2009) — Calcitrol, the active form of vitamin D, has been found to induce a tumor suppressing protein that can inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a study by researcher Sylvia Chistakos, Ph.D., of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.
Chistakos, a professor of biochemistry, has published extensively on the multiple roles of vitamin D, including inhibition of the growth of malignant cells found in breast cancer. Her current findings on the vitamin D induced protein that inhibits breast cancer growth are published in a recent issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Previous research had determined that increased serum levels of vitamin D are associated with an improved diagnosis in patients with breast cancer. Prior to the current study, little was known about the factors that determine the effect of calcitrol on inhibiting breast cancer growth, she said.
During the study, Christakos and co-author Puneet Dhawan, Ph.D., examined the protein involved in the action that can reduce the growth of vitamin D in breast cancer cells. “These results provide an important process in which the active form of vitamin D may work to reduce growth of breast cancer cells,” said Christakos. “These studies provide a basis for the design of new anticancer agents that can target the protein as a candidate for breast cancer treatment.”