Your immune system is an amazing fighter, it has already protected you from millions upon millions of threats that have infected, and tried, to harm you.
Some viral infection can be extremely serious, however, if we can boost our own defence systems, we stand a fighting chance.
Sadly, its often our own health, or lack of it, that is the fuel for the fire, with the addition of a virus being the match. Sometimes it is just one extra thing that topples our immune system, sending our health into a downward spiral, to the point where it cannot fight anymore.
Have you heard the term 'comorbidities'?
A person is said to have comorbidities when they have 2 or more diseases at one time. These are those pesky underlying health conditions that slowly deplete our body of the nutrients it needs to build a strong, and supportive, immune system.
Currently, 1 in 4 Australian live with comorbidities, with 60% of these and 65 or over.
Comorbidites over run the immune system and leave it vulnerable to infections.
Most of these viral infections normally would not impact a healthy person in a serious way, however, when the immune system is down, especially with one or more chronic disease (comorbidity), the body just can't keep up.
Common comorbidities in Australia include:
Cardiovascular disease
Arthritis
Back pain
Asthma
Diabetes
Cancer
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Mental health conditions
COVID-19 is a viral infection that sees higher rates of mortalities, or hospitalisation, in those with comorbidities. The most common ones being cancer, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, chronic pulmonary disease, liver disease and diabetes. Smokers and those with obesity also have a high prevalence of hospitalisation rates.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect time to look at your overall health by boosting your immunity, thereby providing extra support during these times, regardless if you have comorbidities or not.
The following are recommendation that have been researched and supported by many naturopaths and integrated medical professionals. These do not replace medical advice or treatment, but are valuable nutrients to support your immune system, providing a chance at fighting infections.
Boost your Immune System with these Nutrients.
Vitamin D3 - a well researched vitamin required for a variety of the body's immune responses. Therapeutic doses are required to gain a good result, with a vitamin D blood test result of around 100 nmol/L considered best for strong viral immunity.
Vitamin C - often forgotten, vitamin C has amazing immune boosting qualities for both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Valuable daily to increase overall immunity, vitamin C when used in the case of acute viral infection, can be used until bowel tolerance.
Zinc - those low in zinc are often susceptible to illness, reducing our innate and adaptive immunity. Zinc should be taken with food to reduce risk of nausea. Zinc is found in brasscia vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, and is also found in green tea (loose leaf tea).
In the event of an infection, anti-viral herbs may reduce acute symptoms, with Andrographis a well researched anti-viral herbal medicine.
Amino acid N-Acetyl Cystiene (NAC) is immune specific for respiratory type infections and illnesses. It provides the building blocks to make glutathione, our master antioxidant, and has been recognised to reduce the length of acute colds and flu's.
For individual advice and dosing to improve your immune health, please book in for an acute or initial consultation at www.thenaturopathiccareclinic.com