An excellent article written (link below) on the inflammatory affects of the 1918 flu epidemic and how similar the symptoms are to cv. While I am not an osteopath physician I am trained in CranioSacral Therapy, designed by osteopath physician John. E. Upledger, as well as massage therapy. The combination of which, according to the article, provides the movement in blood and lymphatic circulation needed to remove the excess dead cells that could result in a cytokine storm.
EXCERPTS FROM LINK BELOW…
“The object of manipulation is to improve circulation (blood and lymph) to and from organs, the movement of joints and muscle and in fact all tissue.
“Briefly this is what seems to happen:
* For various reasons the mucus membrane of the upper respiratory tract becomes weakened and a relative acidosis begins. Usually, a structural disturbance (joint, muscle, circulation, nerve supply etc) from stress, poor nutrition, cognitive dissonance, to name but a few.
* Virus “enters” person.
* Virus settles mainly in nose and throat region.
* Virus enters epithelial cells (ECs): the cells lining the nose and throat.
* Virus kills ECs by RNA disturbance.
* ECs die.
* An accumulation of dead ECs leads to a response from your immune system to clear these dead and dying cells.
* White blood cells are generated from the lymph glands in the body. This is why your glands swell, to produce more white blood cells.
* This is what is known as an inflammatory response.
* Your natural response to everyday dead cells is low so the glands do not swell.
* You enter into a shock and stress situation of sweating, shivering, stiffness, and headache. This is because the whole body is becoming toxic due the accumulation and circulation of dead cells and the subsequent response by your body to destroy them.
* This is known as a Cytokine Storm
“So influenza is the response of the body to the accumulation of dead cells caused by the virus; not the virus itself.
“The osteopath helps to keep the circulation and white cells moving at their best to deal with the rapid accumulation of dead ECs. As long as the ECs are cleared at a rate that your body is comfortable with you will not exhibit the signs and symptoms of influenza…
“The osteopath knows how to feel the movement and obstructions to the function of the sympathetic nervous system. This is of paramount importance in the treatment of influenza.
“Additionally, because the body is going into a style of shock and stress there is an adrenaline overproduction. It is this overproduction of adrenaline that makes your muscles stiff and quickly results in fatigue and exhaustion. Adrenaline moves the circulation into the muscles and away from the vital organs, liver, kidneys etc. In extreme cases the organs collapse due to poor circulation and an excess of toxins from dead cells and the person dies. Young adults produce more immune cells and adrenaline than infants and the elderly; this was a characteristic of the 1918-19 pandemic.
“‘…this epidemic was largely a young adult’s disease. The life insurance companies report their death claims from this cause average at thirty-three years of age as against fifty-five to sixty years of age of deaths from general causes.’” H. L. Chiles, D.O., A New Survey of Public Health, (JAOA, Jan. 1919.)
“’The physiological picture of influenza centres around one of the smallest but most important and interesting organs of the body – the adrenal gland. …Its nerves come chiefly from the eleventh dorsal segment of the spine, just above the waist line. That is why the first symptom of this disease is usually backache in this region….In the female, it is the partner gland, the pituitary body, that is correspondingly more important. And you will notice there is a marked difference in the “flu” in males compared to females.’ E. E. Tucker, D. O., New York, N. Y. Spanish Influenza – What and Why? (JAOA, Feb. 1919.)
“The osteopath has to literally ‘decompress the system.’ Treatment is aimed at reducing obstructions to circulation caused by tight muscles, ribs that are not moving, organs (spleen) that are not pumping, nerve bundles (sympathetic nervous system) that need stretching, and immune (lymphatic) channels that need unblocking. All this happens at once during the treatment and treatment should be two to three times in two to three days.
“Is the virus removed? No. But the cause of the signs and symptoms is reduced and the reason for the virus to continue multiplying, resulting in immune suppression, is also drastically reduced. Osteopathic manipulation will get you back on your feet and there is no sign of that two week fatigue that most of us go through after the crisis is over….
“‘As Ward (1937) wrote, “By retarding the virulence of the invading organisms, appropriate osteopathic treatment reduces the incidence of complications and forces down the mortality rate in these cases.”
“They used to call osteopaths ‘bloodless surgeons’ and ‘fever fighters’ in the nineteenth century and especially during the 1918-19 pandemic. Osteopaths have the history and the skill to make a major contribution to the reduction of deaths during an epidemic, pandemic or isolated cases of influenza.
Article Excerpts Source:
https://waltermckone.wordpress.com/osteopathy/osteopathy-and-influenza/?fbclid=IwAR1WXvWSwbBjIQ7iB7e-9mEkjU0FhMAltbCxwh_N1SnAdf7TtOuMrPwlkMo
More about Dr. Upledger:
https://www.upledger.com/about/john-upledger.php
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While the herbal remedies remain unrecognized on mainstream media radar, thousands of years of folk medicine have remained intact because it works. Herbal teas, tinctures and capsules, used with respect to their strengths, their contraindications, and quality of sources have proven their ability to help the body maintain health and balance, if taken in combination with a healthy lifestyle, adequate hydration and body movement. Many plants help the body reduce the symptoms of flu and/or boost the immune response as needed.
A helpful link to herbal relief that may be sitting in your kitchen cabinet right now!
Regina Chante 