Joe Biden Was Right

Joe Biden was right

This week, a flourish of backpeddling by the Obama administration tried to make up for the “gaffe” that VP Joe Biden made on morning TV, saying that he wouldn’t advise members of his family to use airplanes, subways or other “enclosed spaces” as a prevention for the spread of the swine flu.

In an age where the airlines are losing money, and public transportation saves air quality, the administration doesn’t want panic on behalf of those industries, and doesn’t want to incite even more fear in the public.

So what are the facts? Any place that re-circulates air also re-circulates viruses of all types. This includes your car, your home or your office building when the windows are closed. Most of the time, our immune systems and general health can handle it. So Joe wasn’t doing anything but truth-telling to a public in desperate need of the truth.

So is it time to panic? No.

Most of us are healthy enough to withstand a virus doing battle with our bodies. If we do get the swine flu, it is likely that most cases will be mild, because we are healthy and can fight this battle easily. If your immune system is compromised, you should be concerned about exposure (including being in closed spaces), and should take precautions to prevent contracting the flu. You have probably heard about hand washing ad-nauseum, but it is the most effective strategy for prevention of contracting the flu AND for limiting the spread of the virus to your family and friends.

WebMD’s website is a wonderful resource to let us all know about further steps to take to limit the spread and keep us from getting sick. Here’s the link for a slideshow about the swine flu: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/slideshow-swine-flu. The CDC also has an informative website that is updated constantly. This one is about prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm.

Now back to Joe, and his admonition about “enclosed spaces.” We can’t always avoid enclosed spaces, such as office buildings whose windows don’t open, public transportation, hospital visitation, etc., but we CAN use the precautions advised by t he CDC and keep ourselves as healthy as possible. This is a social (ie: public health) problem, and it takes everyone doing his/her part to protect all of us.

Generally prevention is so much easier than fighting an infection once it has come aboard. So if you want to consider measures in addition to those recommended by the CDC, here’s what this acupuncturist advises:

1. Eat right. You should know what this means for you. Often, lots of fruits and veggies, limited fats, little if any sugar, food that you brings you joy and good health.
2. Get necessary sleep.
3. Be with friends. Don’t eliminate your social life because of fear. Be responsible, however, and think about having a picnic outdoors rather than in the office basement lunchroom.
4. If you must travel by public transportation, then use common sense. Anti-bacterial wipes will clean the tray table and arm rests on a plane. Anti-bacterial lotions can clean your hands after touching the pole in the subway. And don’t touch your nose, eyes or mouth (entryways to your insides) before you have had a chance to wipe your hands clean.
5. Wipe down all surfaces that you commonly touch or breathe on. Examples: your cell phone, telephone, computer keyboard, remote controls, desktops, doorknobs, etc.
6. Use some Vaseline or other “sticky” product at the entryway of your nose. When you breathe in, you can trap particulates (viruses, bacteria, pollen, etc.) and they won’t get into your lungs.
7. See your acupuncturist. Regular treatments can optimize your immune responses. And generally good health limits the receptivity of your body to disease.
8. Take precautionary supplements. Maybe some additional Vitamin C? Make sure your Vitamin D levels are up to snuff (this might require testing by your doc.) And your acupuncturist may have some herbal supplements that will help you ward off invading viruses. If you don’t have an acupuncturist handy that can prescribe the appropriate supplements, you can get Airborne at the drugstore. It will chase off many viruses that make us sick.
9. And lastly, don’t let fear grip you unnecessarily. We have the best healthcare in the world, which brings together the gifts of the ancient medicine of the first century AD and the modern scientific advances of the 21st century AD. It is VERY unlikely that Americans will suffer the degree of illness, overall, that has already been found in Mexico because of the quality of our healthcare, and the better overall health of our citizens.

So Joe was right. Just not politically correct.