Natural Health Solutions

Originally posted in 2011

If you suffer with seasonal allergies, you're well aware of how a sudden onset of scratchy and watery eyes, violent sneezing, and a constant runny nose can hamper your day. Sometimes called hay fever or allergic rhinitis, seasonal allergies affect tens of millions of people throughout North America every year.

What causes seasonal allergies? When an outdoor or indoor allergen comes into contact with your body, your immune system may trigger the production of an antibody called immunoglobin E, also called IgE. If this happens, the next time that you are exposed to that allergen, IgE antibodies in your body release a chemical called histamine, which sets off a series of chemical reactions that can result in any of the following eliminative reactions: Read more

Here in the greater Toronto area, I am noticing more traffic on the roads.  It appears that most countries are well on their way to systemically opening up non-essential services.

Chances are high that COVID-19 will linger and even spike again in the months ahead. Wearing a face mask when we go out and cleaning our hands with sanitizer or soap and water whenever we return home are prudent habits to maintain over the next year or three, and for the elderly and immuno-compromised, these habits should be maintained as a way of life during colder months, as they markedly reduce risk of experiencing a respiratory infection.

Anyone who doubts the efficacy of utilizing face masks to lower rate of spread should take a close look at the R0 value of SARS-CoV-2 in New York City vs. Seoul, Korea, two cities with similar population size and density. In South Korea, few people think twice about wearing a mask while out in public during cold and flu season, so the masses have been diligent about wearing masks as COVID-19 has spread globally. As of May 6th, 2020, Seoul had 2 reported deaths from COVID-19 while New York City reported over 19 thousand deaths attributed to COVID-19.

One reader asked for additional measures that we can take to stay healthy over the long term.

Beyond prioritizing getting restful sleep, taking time to breathe slowly from our diaphragm, and spend a few minutes daily opening up our spine, shoulders, and hips by hanging from a stable overhead bar, two other measures that clearly support longevity are: Read more

In striving to keep up with coronavirus developments, I believe it's fair to assume that this virus will continue to spread rapidly in densely populated countries that lie above the equator.  The heat of summer appears to be warding off contagion in the southern hemisphere.

With that said, for a variety of reasons, I also believe that reported numbers of those being infected are far lower than reality.  

My contacts in Wuhan tell me that there are countless people who have symptoms but have quarantined themselves and have no plans to get tested.   Read more

The step that is often missed is washing the tips of the fingers, which is partly intended to clean the underside of the ends of our fingernails where pathogens tend to thrive.

All things being equal, it's best to keep fingernails trimmed, as longer nails pick up and hold more potential pathogens. Read more