Thursday, 30 April 2009

• Swine/Mexican/H1N1 Flu Treatment Theory

  So I'm going to jump right into this.  I figure knowledge is power and hopefully talking about this and getting good information is better than either freaking out and doing a million things or sitting there and doing nothing.  Rather than become a hypochondriac or just try to remain calm (dismissive?), I figured it would be good to just be informed and make some good decisions.  Hopefully.  Prayerfully.
  
  I will say at the outset I'm definitely NOT a doctor or med professional in any way. So take my "theory" with a large grain of salt.  Do your own reading and make your own informed decisions.
  
  So as for my theory: If you do catch this flu it may be good to take a statin drug like Lipitor (for cholesterol).
  
  First, check out this video. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Essentially what she stated about the "bird flu" and what I think is true with the flu we have currently is that the deaths do not come from the virus itself, but our bodies reaction to the virus.  In a sense, our body sees this as a very foreign and very dangerous virus and it freaks out.  It focuses it's battle at the lungs and you may die from your own immune system.  It's like what happens when you get an allergy except in this case this really is a flu virus.
  
  Then she takes a question about statin drugs and that it may help, but she doesn't know why.
  
  So I looked through a few articles.
  
  First, this article (Statins And Our Immune System) talks about how statin drugs work and they work in a sense by inhibiting the immune system:
  
  

  Key to this is a substance known as nuclear factor kappa B. All statins inhibit this vital step in our immune system's ability to defend us from alien forces. Whether by being the recipient of a donor kidney or under attack by bacteria or viruses, our immune system has evolved a defensive strategy in which suppression of inflammation, triggered by nuclear factor kappa B, plays a vital role. Such stimulants to inflammation include the foreign by-products of arterial inflammation and damage. Statin drugs are known to suppress this nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) response and thereby open a veritable Pandora's box of unpredictable consequences.
  

  
  This would not be good information in general, but it may be good news in this situation.  We have been hearing that many of those who died in Mexico where young adults.  Those who should have been very healthy.  However, it would seem that having a good immune system may work against you in this circumstance.
  
  Nevertheless, weakening your immune system to not overreact may not be a good idea when you also need your immune system to still fight the virus.  So this is not a perfect answer or it may not even be an answer at all.  Just a thought and a theory.
  
  Here is a second article that talks about how statin drugs have helped with lung damage: Taking Statins May Help Smoker's Lungs.
  
  So clearly there seems to be a link to statins and lung function. 
  
  Just a thought and a theory. 
  
  

  • 11:14 AM
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