Photo by Shermeee.

Concerned parents have been calling my office asking for advice on how to best treat their feverish, sniffling tots. Knowing what to look for will help you decide if home remedies are appropriate or if a visit to the doctor is in order. While it’s a natural instinct to give a sick child medicine, holding off at first is the best bet for their still developing immune systems.

“Illness is a natural part of life,” notes integrative pediatrician, Roy Steinbeck, “Suppressing symptoms at all costs is not a good idea.” When a pathogen invades the developing immune system, specialized memory cells are created to later recognize and ward off the invader. Parents will be happy to learn that about 80% of children’s immune related illnesses will heal on their own without the need for antibiotics.

Boost and protect your child’s immunity every single day

• Supplement with vitamin C and vitamin D3. Both are available in convenient chewable and naturally sweetened forms. 
• Eat plenty of superfoods rich in antioxidants
• Exercise activates the immune system. Get them running, jumping, and bouncing!
• Encourage frequent hand washing and keeping hands away from mouth
• Wash toys and pacifiers frequently 
• Give seasonal acupuncture treatments to protect and enhance immunity

Common ailments and what to do

The Common Cold: often begins with sore throat, a clear runny nose, body aches and fatigue. Fever or chills may be associated, although not as common as with flu. Here’s how to keep the cold from causing secondary respiratory infections:

• Acupuncture, cupping, and Chinese food therapy for prevention and maintenance 
• Black elderberry syrup for a sore throat
• A washcloth in warm water with 5 drops peppermint essential oil for chills

Ear Infection: marked by continual pulling on earlobes, cranky behavior, congestion and a possible fever. What to do:

• Acupuncture
• Ear drops

The flu: marked by fatigue, fever of 103-105 degrees, achy back and legs, nasal congestion, loss of appetite, possible nausea and vomiting. What to do:

• Homepathic oscillococcinum at the first signs and symptoms
• Contact your child’s primary care physician to discuss the development of their symptoms and decide what plan of action is best for your child’s individual case.
• Keep your child hydrated
• Watch that fever! If the fever steadily rises or lasts for more than 3 days consider this serious and contact your physician.

What do all three of these have in common? They all tend to be viral in nature, meaning your child can skip a round of antibiotics this year.

To help know the difference, here’s a guide to distinguishing the signs and symptoms of bacteria and viruses. Remember, it’s best to err on the side of caution, so if you’re feeling unsure, seek the advice of your primary care physician. Bacteria  or Virus?

While some symptoms can overlap, these major signs and symptoms as a pattern will help you distinguish between the two.

Bacteria

• Thicker, yellow or green secretions
• Fever
• Coughing of mucous
• Swollen lymph nodes

Virus

• Muscle aches
• Runny nose
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Cough

Still not sure or have questions? Don’t ever feel too shy to call your doc. All this aside, a little TLC goes a long way. Wrap your little one in a cozy blanket, place a washcloth on their forehead to soothe a fever, and spoon up some yummy home-made chicken or vegetable soup.

Like to look at the research? Pediatrics study cites ear drops more effective than other common treatments

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by samantha celera.

When it comes to the H1N1 flu pandemic this year, it seems like a lot of our patients have vaccine-related questions. Who’s at risk? What’s in this vaccine? Should I get it?

Tune in below as Dr. Natasha Kassam gets to the bottom of the H1N1 vaccine kerfuffle. Still have a question? Leave in the comment section.

Dr. Natasha Kassam is dedicated to facilitating the healing and wellbeing of her patients. Her passion is cardiovasular and pulmonary medicine. She practices at Bloom Natural Healthcare in NE Portland Oregon and is the host of askdrkassam.com.

Photo by Ruta & Zinas.

I was recently on business in Bangkok when I awoke with the type of bone aching pain I thought could only happen in cheap Halloween movies.

I felt as though I had some form of the plague, avian flu or swine flu. With no idea where to go or who to see in Bangkok I made this simple -yet extremely powerful- antiviral, immune enhancing, microbe-crushing tea. I drank about a liter a day and was on my feet in 48 hours. Here’s how to make some of your own:

• Juice  a bunch of citrus for some serious vitamin C. Grapefruit, orange, limes or lemons work (I had to use pomelo in Thailand). Find your own proportions depending on what tastes good
• 3 inches of ginger peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons honey
• Pinch of cayenne powder if you’ve started running a fever 

Add ginger, garlic,  to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and add the fresh juice, cayenne and honey. Sip until you feel human again!

For some more tips read Dr. Gibran Ramos’ awesome tips to maximize your immunity and Christine Dionese’s Chinese medicine immune boosting tips and Treating kids this flu season.

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.

Photo by jpcolasso.

If you turn on your TV it would appear that there is an apocalyptic event starting with swine in Mexico.  Swine flu itself is not an uncommon occurrence, people with direct contact to pigs often have antibodies to H1N1 (the specific strain of this swine influenza virus).

The big questions:  Why have there been deaths in Mexico and not the U.S.?Why did the strain kill young adults (as a pose to the more susceptible young and elderly).  This is what has the CDC on a code red along with the fact that they do not have a vaccine, and 2 out of the 4 commonly used anti viral drugs are not effective against this strain.

Cause for concern or not, here are some simple precautions which will only do you a lot of good anyway.

1.  Wash your hands frequently, don’t rub your eyes and have children especially avoid putting their hands in their mouths.  If you are accustomed to greeting with an exchange of kisses, and extensive handshaking – don’t.  CDC has recently confirmed human to human spread.

2. Pack, and I mean seriously pack your diet with these easy to get anti viral foods;  Garlic, thyme, shiitake mushrooms and ginger.  Not a sprinkle of thyme from a year old dried up jar.  Try a bushel of the stuff in a stew, don’t be shy.  Start now to give your immune system time to ramp up.

3.  Don’t panic.  There is no reason to at this time, and doing so will only lower your immune system, and stress you out – which will then really crash your immune system.  Remember, everyone in the U.S. who contracted this has recovered and only 1 person has been hospitalized.  Deep breath.

4.  Find a Naturopath near you , or acupuncturist and book an appointment to work on specific preventative medicine for your body using botanical herbs, homeopathy and a number of immune boosting treatments.  Anti-viral medicine is a realm where alternative medicine really shines as there are millions of complex biochemicals which when working synergistically with each other can knock influenza out cold (pun intended).

5.  Don’t fly to Mexico…

Here are a couple of recipe ideas for those anti-viral nutrients.

Anti H1N1 Soup for 2

1 handful dry shiitake mushrooms, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced, 1 onion thinly sliced, 1 small piece ginger thinly sliced, 3 cups pork stock (lol kidding, this is hard to find – any stock will do), 4 glugs of sake, 2 spring onions.

Soak the mushrooms in boiling water until tender.  Remove the soaking liquid.  Saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic in a tablespoon of oil until tender but not browned.  Add the stock and the ginger and simmer on low heat for about ten minutes. Season to taste and just before serving add the sake and spring onions.

Anti-H1N1 Raw Thyme Pasta

1 packet spaghetti, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, 2 cloves garlic sliced, half a bunch thyme washed and picked, 1 tablespoon Parmigiano

Boil the pasta (or gluten free variety) in salted water.  Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan and toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown.  Turn off the heat and add the garlic, thyme, salt and Parmigiano.  When the pasta is ready, toss with the mixture, saving a little extra mixture for the top.  You could easily add in shiitake mushrooms in this – loads and loads of them.

Happy immunity

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.