Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu (and maybe help with coronavirus respiratory infections) – Harvard Gazette

(Click on “Youtube” for more details and reference links)

>Vitamin D protects against colds and flu, finds major global study

>Dosage of Vitamin D (Vitamin D A Rapid Review. Medscape)
2000 IU (50 mcg) per day increases vitamin D blood levels 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L). This is my recommended dosage for Psoriasis prescribed by my dermatologist.

>Summary Vitamin D and Influenza—Prevention or Therapy? (Pubmed)

Read full story of below at Source: >Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu – Harvard Gazette”

“A new global collaborative study has confirmed that vitamin D supplementation can help protect against acute respiratory infections. The study, a participant data meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials including more than 11,000 participants, has been published online in The BMJ.

“Most people understand that vitamin D is critical for bone and muscle health,” said Carlos Camargo of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital “Our analysis has also found that it helps the body fight acute respiratory infection, which is responsible for millions of deaths globally each year…

“Meta-analyses of these trials, which aggregate data from several studies that may have different designs or participant qualifications, also had conflicting results. To resolve these discrepancies, the research team — led by Adrian Martineau from Queen Mary University of London — conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis of trials in more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

“The investigators found that daily or weekly supplementation had the greatest benefit for individuals with the most significant vitamin D deficiency (blood levels below 10 mg/dl) — cutting their risk of respiratory infection in half — and that all participants experienced some beneficial effects from regular vitamin D supplementation.

“Administering occasional high doses of vitamin D did not produce significant benefits.

 

Lessons From the 1918 Flu : NPR

“Just over a century ago, a new infectious disease overtook the globe. Its history has long been buried, subsumed beneath the story of World War I. Historian Nancy Bristow believes it’s no mistake that Americans have focused on their victory in the war rather than on the devastation of the 1918 flu pandemic.

“To remember the flu (pandemic) would be to admit to the lack of control that people had had over their own health. It would be to admit that the United States was not necessarily all powerful, but was like everywhere else in the world: subject as victims to something beyond their control,” she says.

“When we exhume this history, instructive lessons for our own time emerge. As is happening now, Americans had trouble hewing to the new constraints on their social behavior.

“It was hard for people because on the one hand it’s inconvenient. And on the other, they were asking for new habits—things that they had always been allowed to do before, and suddenly you’re not allowed, for instance, to spit on the street or to share a drinking cup. That you had to cover your cough and sneeze in your elbow. These were new things people were being asked to do in 1918,” Nancy says.

“This week on Hidden Brain, Nancy guides us through the history of the epidemic, from the policies American cities imposed on their citizens, to the blues musicians who crooned, “Influenza is the kind of disease/Makes you weak down to your knees.” Bridging 1918 and 2020, we uncover the human dimensions of a pandemic.

50 Minute Podcast and Continue reading at Source: >Lessons From the 1918 Flu : NPR

Special Report: What You Need To Know About Coronavirus : NPR

>Tracking Every Coronavirus Case in the U.S.: Full Map

Host Lulu Garcia-Navarro shares some of NPR’s best practical and explanatory reporting on coronavirus in a single special report. This special addresses three key questions: What’s known about the virus itself and how it behaves? How are institutions, such as schools, businesses and the health care industry, responding? And how can you protect yourself and your household? NPR journalists and experts provide some answers.

50 minute podcast report at Source: >Special Report: What You Need To Know About Coronavirus : NPR

>The New Coronavirus Can Live On Surfaces For 2-3 Days — Here’s How To Clean Them

>Coronavirus Symptoms: Defining Mild, Moderate And Severe

>Coronavirus FAQs: What’s ‘Flattening The Curve’? Should I Travel?

>You Have A Fever And A Dry Cough. Now What?

Coronavirus symptoms compared with flu, common cold, and allergies – Business Insider

“Some symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, overlap with those of the common cold, allergies, and the flu. That can make it tricky to diagnose without a test.

“Here are the symptoms associated with COVID-19 and how they compare with symptoms of the common cold, the flu, and allergies:

“The coronavirus primarily affects the lungs and commonly causes a fever, a dry cough, and shortness of breath. If your nose is running, you probably don’t have COVID-19. COVID-19 can be most easily distinguished from colds, allergies, and the flu based on a trifecta of symptoms: fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. That last symptom is not associated with colds or the flu, though it is common for allergies.

Read more at Source: >Coronavirus symptoms compared with flu, common cold, and allergies – Business Insider

How to boost your immune system – Harvard Health

Also see: >9 Natural Ways To Boost Your Immune System

“Helpful ways to strengthen your immune system and fight off disease

“On the whole, your immune system does a remarkable job of defending you against disease-causing microorganisms. But sometimes it fails: A germ invades successfully and makes you sick. Is it possible to intervene in this process and boost your immune system?

“What if you improve your diet? Take certain vitamins or herbal preparations? Make other lifestyle changes in the hope of producing a near-perfect immune response? What can you do to boost your immune system?

“There is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response. For now, there are no scientifically proven direct links between lifestyle and enhanced immune function.

But that doesn’t mean the effects of lifestyle on the immune system aren’t intriguing and shouldn’t be studied. Researchers are exploring the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, and other factors on the immune response, both in animals and in humans.

In the meantime, general healthy-living strategies are a good way to start giving your immune system the upper hand.”

Continue reading at Source: >How to boost your immune system – Harvard Health

How to help prevent coronavirus in US, what to buy and prepare

>Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak WHO website

“Here are the steps that experts say would be helpful now before COVID-19 spreads in the U.S.:

Figure out your work situation. It’s a good idea to have a plan with your workplace about what would happen if work was interrupted due to a public health mandate, … For example, do you have the equipment necessary to work from home if you couldn’t leave for the office?The CDC says that businesses should have a way to communicate outbreak response plans to employees. “Anticipate employee fear, anxiety, rumors, and misinformation and plan communications accordingly,” the CDC’s website says.

Know how to get in touch with doctors. It’s a good idea to know how to access your own healthcare system virtually, in case you’re too ill to visit a medical facility, Dr. Weisenberg says. Establish a line of communication with your healthcare providers, through a patient portal or video chat, in advance so you’re not waiting until the last minute, he says. You should also know how to access your state or territorial health department’s website, so you can stay well-informed of any news or advisories.

Continue washing your hands. “The best thing we can do is practice prevention in all forms and fashions,” It’s still important to follow standard respiratory hygiene practices, such as washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, the CDC suggests. Refrain from touching your face with unclean hands, because the eyes, mouth and nose are all portals for the virus, she says.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue that you can throw away. If you’re sick, you should stay home and keep “high-touch surfaces” in your house clean with household cleaning spray or wipes, according to the CDC.

And if you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, it’s still a good idea to get one, because influenza cases can spread through March, Lee adds.

Shop for the essentials. While many people have taken to buying and wearing masks to prevent coronavirus, wearing surgical masks will likely not protect you from contracting COVID-19, Lee says. However, you might want to go buy shelf-stable food to have in your home that could last you a few days, Lee says. “I think it is helpful to have a small amount of food available for anything in general, just as part of emergency preparedness,” she says.

See more at Source: How to help prevent coronavirus in US, what to buy and prepare