So was your mother actually correct in telling you to finish your chicken soup because it’s good for you? Perhaps.
Chicken soup has been considered an aid to the common cold and flu for centuries, by many cultures. In 2001 an interesting research paper (link at bottom of post) showed that chicken soup actually slowed down neutrophil activity and movements in test tubes.… Read the rest
I’m a big fan of those alcohol-based gel hand sanitizers. I’m already a bit of a hypochondriac so I didn’t feel as weird this year when everyone started to use them during the H1N1 pandemic. After all, everyone knows they kill 99.9% of germs.… Read the rest
There’s good news on the H1N1 front; it seems that the pandemic’s severity is less than initially feared. In fact, the worldwide numbers so far show that overall mortality is much less than the 1% we would see in the seasonal flu.… Read the rest
By now, everyone in Beijing is either: 1. recovered from having H1N1; 2. tired of hearing about H1N1; or 3. recovered and tired of hearing about it. But one common theme in discussions remains the uncertainty around the vaccine. Well, finally, there is a lot of real data last week that I wanted to share with you: hard numbers on safety that hopefully will raise up future debates with more facts.… Read the rest
Here’s a quick link to a good review from Medscape about the latest H1N1 information regarding hospitalizations and deaths. This latest paper was in November 4th’s JAMA. The gist is that hospitals are seeing complications at all age groups, including the elderly, which seemed previously to be partially immune.… Read the rest
It’s almost like a tidal wave, this outpouring of fear and misinformation regarding flu vaccines. I hope to provide evidence-based data for people to review and provide a basis for a well-informed discussion. Here’s an update: regarding pregnant women, every reputable public health agency is not just recommending but strongly recommending that all pregnant women get both seasonal as well as H1N1 vaccine (when/if available).… Read the rest